Howdy readers š
In this newsletter: our latest guide to the C9 Tile Roof, Box Gutter and Flashing checklist, a new energy efficiency tool, a backup system we actually use, and the week's housing and construction news.
If you're new to Constructor, welcome. You've come to the right place to learn about residential construction and quality management. If someone forwarded you this, subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss the next one.
āļø Protect your roof, protect your home
Small mistakes during roof installation lead to expensive repairs later. Our latest guide walks through the C9 Tile Roof, Box Gutter and Flashing Inspection Checklist, so you can spot problems like poor wind tie-down, galvanic corrosion and inadequate flashing before the roof is finished and the problem is hidden.
Anthony Painter
š Limited preview: The Passive Aggressor š„
This is our second AI-powered tool. The first, The TermiNator, explains construction terminology. The Passive Aggressor explains energy efficiency: thermal mass, R-values, passive design, whether solar is worth it, and the rest of the jargon you'll hear when designing a new home. Handy for getting through a meeting with your builder without Googling every second word.
š¾ Software of the week: BorgBase + Vorta
Not sponsored. Just software we use.
Not backing up your computer is asking for trouble. BorgBase hosts encrypted Borg backups, and Vorta is the desktop app that runs them on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Why we like it:
- Cheap. 10 GB free to start, and the paid plans are very affordable. We back up three Linux computers to the medium 1 TB plan and it works a treat.
- Private. Your data is encrypted before it leaves your computer, and you control access with SSH keys.
- Easier than it sounds. Despite the techie name, setup is straightforward and there are good YouTube walkthroughs.
How it works:
- Create an SSH key pair.
- Set up a repository on BorgBase and link your key.
- In Vorta, create a backup profile, add the repo, choose your files and set a schedule.
- That's it. Your backups now run automatically.
Vorta has a quick-start guide if you get stuck.
š¾ Browser extension of the week: start.me
(Works in Brave and Firefox too. Avoid Chrome if you can.)
start.me turns your new tab page into a dashboard of bookmarks, widgets, RSS feeds and to-do lists. The built-in RSS reader is the standout, keeping you up to date without visiting a dozen websites. The free version is enough for most people. With a paid account you can share pages with collaborators, so the whole team works from the same bookmarks.
š„ News
The theme this week: Australia's housing and construction crisis, challenges and opportunities.
The challenges are familiar. Average workers are priced out of hundreds of suburbs, labour shortages and rising costs are pushing builders into insolvency and developers onto the sidelines, and government housing spending keeps falling short on delivery.
There are some positives:
- Innovation. New materials like mass timber and different housing designs show the industry is looking for smarter ways to build.
- Policy focus. Victoria's Big Housing Build and NSW's new Housing Delivery Authority suggest governments are finally looking at the bottlenecks.
- Public pressure. People are demanding solutions, not just more talk.
- A market reset. A slowdown gives some breathing room to rethink affordability.
Less doom and gloom, more focus on what we can actually do.
3-01-2025
Our comment: you can assess your builder before you sign with them. Our C4 Asking the Right Questions checklist gives you the questions, and BuilderPulse helps you check their financial health.
Anthony Painter
Anthony Painter
'More than buying a home': final blocks for sale within premier estate - LINK
2025's top property trends - LINK
Article excerpt: forcing Australians into poor-quality shoeboxes won't fix supply, which is bottlenecked by costs and labour shortages, with home builders competing against state "big build" infrastructure projects for workers.
PropTrack Home Price Index, December 2024 - LINK
Our comment: something is happening at Lendlease. A CEO change followed by operational consolidation suggests a major restructure. A buyout or merger? Time will tell.
Why Australian property prices have dropped for the first time in two years - LINK
House fires disproportionately kill public tenants - LINK
4-01-2025
Rate cuts and FOMO to drive property prices in 2025 - LINK
Housing crisis deepens as average Qld worker is priced out of 846 suburbs - LINK
How a 45-year-old act is holding Sydney hostage on housing reform - LINK
Our comment: it didn't seem to bother anyone for the previous 44 years.
Demand for granny flats proof of desire for housing options - LINK
The key changes homebuyers will need to keep an eye on in 2025 - LINK
Baby Boomers overtaken on housing wealth ladder as young Aussies struggle - LINK
Melbourne to become cheapest housing market - LINK
Residential Tower & Shafston House Reuse, Castlebar Street, Kangaroo Point - LINK
Nursing, IT, creative arts: careers that can kill or save home dream in 2025 - LINK
5-01-2025
Our comment: no housing stock and not enough public, affordable or social housing means nowhere to go but back home. That's wrong on so many levels.
Horror reality in Australian mortgage crisis - LINK
Our comment: so traffic will explode. One major motorway north to south, years of ongoing roadworks and more people moving to Queensland for affordability. We may soon rival Sydney for the worst traffic in the country. Pack your patience.
Adelaide lands in the 10 most expensive cities around the world to buy property - LINK
6-01-2025
NT government urged to ensure all remote houses meet National Construction Code - LINK
Our comment: an interesting use of materials combined with a clever form factor.
Warehouses with Offices, Progress Road, Wacol - LINK
Our comment: finally, someone presenting a solution instead of just restating the problem. We know there's a housing crisis. Let's spend more time on fixes and less on talking points.
Builder appointed for Burleigh high-rise - LINK
Our comment: around $18,195/mĀ² for the largest 743 mĀ² unit. Interesting.
Our comment: whatever you think of the Opposition, promising to slow immigration might just win them government. Four years isn't long to plan and deliver much, but investing early in plans that deliver real results would build more confidence than throwing the kitchen sink at voters at the last minute.
'Keep our curtains drawn': Residents block social housing for seniors - LINK
Our comment: good for thee but not for me.
'They've lost hope': One in three young Australians believe they will rent for life - LINK
7-01-2025
Our comment: I'm critical of developers who build for yield over quality, but even they're hurting. A developer friend told me they're sitting out of the market for the next 12 to 18 months. Costs are up and returns are down. When the margin that protects a project from a market sneeze has been eroded that far, the risk of project finance isn't worth it.
Our comment: the market is already overheated, and now trades are expected to hire unskilled workers and spend time training them? If anyone were serious about this, it would have happened years ago.
Builders have paid a training levy for years, which was meant to secure the future of trades like bricklaying. How much was collected, and where did it go? I suspect it ended up as another indirect tax that consumers paid.
A friend's son is 18 months into a carpentry apprenticeship and is still being used as a cheap labourer on landscaping and menial jobs instead of learning the trade. Apprentices need proper supervision, and that's hard to provide on a busy residential site. Large commercial companies can afford it, which pulls talent away from building homes.
The fastest way to fix trade shortages is skilled migration. But that has its own problem: where will these workers live when we're already short of housing? If it were up to me, I'd recruit skilled tradespeople from places like Indonesia, South America and Mexico, and let competition reset prices. Aussie trades charge what they do because they can.
China's property crash a warning for Australia's housing market - LINK
Construction of new aged care home at RFBI Cessnock Masonic Village to start soon - LINK
Home project delivery - LINK
Will national property price decline be a blip on the radar? - LINK
Our comment: great to see Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar giving back to their community by supporting this project.
The top eight new apartment developers to watch in the Gold Coast in 2025 - LINK
Our comment: when staff can't afford to live near work, businesses feel it too. Maybe that's what it takes to get housing sorted.
Here's what key market players are expecting for Australia's housing market in 2025 - LINK
Domain reveals its property predictions for 2025 - LINK
Our comment: at 2:14 they say living in build-to-rent is a premium, but you get a far more premium experience. You couldn't make this up. BTR is being sold as an answer to housing affordability, and the pitch is "pay more and enjoy the experience". People need to be able to afford housing in the first place.
We're also giving tax breaks to overseas investors to build here. Will they pay tax here, or will the returns go offshore while local taxpayers fund the community's running costs? Look at how BTR has played out in the UK before treating it as a cure-all.
Aussie CEOs complain about housing, demand more immigration - LINK
2025's business game-changers: AI surge, costs and housing - LINK
8-01-2025
Today's news was all about the ABS building approvals data.
'Worrying': home building figures drop as government housing crisis plan continues to fall short - LINK
Housing supply under the spotlight as building approvals drop - LINK
Article excerpt: dwelling approvals fell 3.6% in November, down from a 22-month high the previous month, according to the ABS.
The Housing Delivery Authority has been launched - LINK
Dwelling approvals fall in November - LINK
Building approvals dip, volatility remains - LINK
Empty nest to a family home: how downsizing could solve Australia's housing shortage - LINK
Australian housing market falls below growth targets - LINK
Victoria's Big Housing Build is tipping $5.3bn into social accommodation - LINK
9-01-2025
Australian building approvals show mixed results in November 2024 - LINK
Our comment: yes, I'm biased towards this author. Well argued, backed by data and no waffle. Read it after the CoreLogic article below.
Housing approvals fall across the board, deepening supply concerns - LINK
Crunch in building approvals sounds warning for Australia's housing crisis - LINK
Building Blues: new dwelling approvals are still falling short - LINK
(Literally) moving house: how home relocations can help address the housing crisis - LINK
Our comment: relocating a house does save time, but making good and renovating it afterwards costs a fair bit in labour.
Perth Concert Hall set for major redevelopment in 2025 - LINK
WA government delivers 16 new social homes in Albany - LINK
'Concrete shell' on Adelaide's Golden Mile sells in $3m+ deal - LINK
Housing market struggles persist in Sydney and Melbourne into 2025 - LINK
'Cooked': Anthony Albanese grilled on big housing plan - LINK
Our comment: we're expecting an overstretched residential industry to deliver more with less while costs keep rising. You can't expect more output from less capacity. It's pre-election spin.
Australia housing market enters mild downturn - LINK
Article excerpt: underlying these economic factors is a fundamental shortage of homes relative to the population, and a squeeze on delivery amid weak capacity in the construction sector.
Our comment: if you only read one article this week, make it this one.
The U-turn on Sydney's housing crisis no one saw coming - LINK
Requests from you
Your shortcut to this week's blog post
Anthony Painter
And don't forget to give the Passive Aggressor a try.
Access our checklists
All our checklists are on the Checklists page, also linked from the menu. C1 Before Buying Land is free, and you can preview each paid checklist before you buy.
Each checklist is formatted for A4 printing. The files are larger than typical PDFs, around 25 to 35 MB, because they're saved print-ready in CMYK.
Thanks for supporting our work.
