Industry Issues 09-04-26
WA Advocacy: Federal Help to Buy Scheme
UDIA WA has been engaging with our committees and members around the cost escalation, supply chain issues and potential project delay challenges associated with the current conflict.
Concerns have been raised by some members around the potential risk of increased cancellations associated with delays and eligibility and application process and timeframe requirements for the Federal Help to Buy scheme.
UDIA WA has engaged with Housing Australia to raise the concerns and potential opportunities. The following initial advice has been received from Housing Australia:
Under Help to Buy, an applicant first secures a reserved place (conditional approval) through their participating lender. The lender applies to Housing Australia on the applicant’s behalf. Once a reserved place is issued, the applicant generally has 90 days to enter into an eligible contract of sale (either for an established dwelling, off the plan purchase or a land and build contract).
Reserved places may be extended up to another 90‑days, subject to eligibility and bank finance (bank loan conditional expiry date).
After the applicant enters into a contract of sale, the lender progresses the application to final approval, provided the applicant remains eligible and the property purchase price is within the applicable price cap.
Title and settlement requirements
Having registered land and property title in place is a condition of settlement where title has not already been issued (i.e. for vacant land lots or off the plan dwellings). As a general principle:
- The expected settlement date in the contract of sale must be within 90 days of the Help to Buy final approval date in conjunction with the unconditional first mortgage approval.
- This requirement aligns with standard market practice, as most first mortgage finance approvals are typically valid for approximately 90 days.
Where land titling delays occur that are outside the applicant’s control, Housing Australia may consider discretionary extensions to the Help to Buy approval on a case‑by‑case basis and is contingent on the first mortgagee confirming that finance remains unconditional and valid through to the revised settlement date.
Housing Australia cannot proceed to settlement under Help to Buy if first mortgage finance approval is not in place.
Off the plan and vacant land lots where settlement is not reasonably anticipated within the standard finance validity periods of 90 days from final approval, are not accepted at the outset.
Managing title timeframe risk
If delays arise after contracts have been exchanged and both unconditional bank approval and Help to Buy final approval have been granted, Housing Australia will work with the respective lender to explore a potential settlement extension. Evidence will be required outlining the reason for the delay.
With these settings in mind, off‑the‑plan and vacant land-lot purchases are typically only feasible where title and settlement are imminent, such as developers’ final‑stage stock sales with clearly defined and near‑term settlement dates.
Under the Program Directions, settlement risk has needed careful management given applicants’ limited access to alternative finance and the requirement to maintain Scheme eligibility.
Housing Australia provides guidance to lenders, brokers and applicants on title and settlement expectations to ensure these considerations are addressed upfront. The Help to Buy Customer Guide and Help to Buy – Building a New Home Guide are available public references on the firsthomebuyers.gov.au website.
Ongoing engagement is occurring with Housing Australia, particularly regarding the challenges relating to buyers with Help to Buy deals only really being able to purchase land where title and settlement is imminent. Few lots are available in the Perth market with a title timeframe less than 90 days and pre-approvals are being provided at point of sale, but the framework does not adequately account for the longer timeframes once buyers are under contract.
It is being recommended to Housing Australia that for buyer confidence, scheme effectiveness and to better reflect the reality of what first home buyers are faced with entering the WA market at present, the initial reservation period needs to be extended, there should be a structured 90-day checkpoint aligned with standard bank pre-approval timeframes and the upfront eligibility assessment by Housing Australia should be reviewed.
Boardroom Lunch with Minister Sanderson
UDIA WA was pleased to host a Boardroom Luncheon at Frasers in Kings Park with the Hon. Amber-Jade Sanderson MLA, Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation; Manufacturing; Skills and TAFE; Pilbara last week with members.
Discussion focused on the State Government’s energy transition, skills and labour challenges and the acute impacts of the current crisis in the Middle East on fuel costs and supply chains in particular.
We appreciate the Minister’s willingness to engage in robust discussion with our members at this time, and a big thank you to sponsors ATCO and Western Power for supporting the event.
Feedback request: ATO’s new Practical Compliance Guidance (PCG) on contrived Property Development Agreements (PDAs)
The ATO has put out a new Practical Compliance Guidance (PCG) on contrived Property Development Agreements (PDAs). UDIA National has been working with the ATO, Treasury and the Assistant Treasurer on this since mid-last year.
UDIA National is concerned the new PCG is so broad that it will hobble housing developments if it is not clarified.
The ATO PCG wants to target all past, present, and future property development arrangements that defer the recognition of income and exploit tax losses, but it is so wide and unclear that industry cannot be sure which PDA arrangements are safe.
Key messaging for UDIA National’s engagement with the Federal Government is emphasising:
- With the housing supply crisis being made worse daily by supply chain shocks, it is important to avoid more uncertainty that legitimate PDAs could be caught in audits with no way to safeguard housing projects.
- Critically, PDAs are legitimately used throughout the property industry for staged housing developments with landowners, providing the same (unintended) tax effect. It is widely used as an effective way to develop land with landholders that do not want to take the risk and expense of developing land in a joint venture. PDAs are also used extensively by Government nationwide for their own development projects.
- Around 20-30% of all developments use PDAs and that increases when at-scale developments are involved.
- The industry is unclear how to ensure PDAs are not considered tax avoidance and this throws industry practice into confusion. Worse, it has the potential to up-end old arrangements, significantly upping the risk and audit cost.
- Developers with PDAs that fail ATO audit, will face tax bills earlier than anticipated with no project income to pay, penalties, the risk that contracts cannot complete and potentially unexpected transaction taxes.
- Industry needs more certainty, not less, and the ATO PCG on PDAs will throw the industry into deeper difficulties, making it much harder to establish the housing projects Australia needs.
UDIA National will continue its advocacy on this, seeking to work with the ATO to set out the criteria and guidance for “arms-length” PDAs that are safe in the eyes of the ATO.
The draft guideline is available here and comments are due by 15 May 2026.
Feedback is sought from affected members – please contact policy@udiawa.com.au to share any insights and comments to support UDIA’s advocacy.
Advocacy to government regarding RMD Transition
UDIA WA and HIA have been working on a joint advocacy piece in the lead up to the expiry of the transition period impacting R60-coded lots on 10 April 2026.
In March, HIA and UDIA members came together to discuss some immediate and practical challenges impacting hundreds of new home buyers. To support our advocacy message, we have framed our position on this issue through the lens of consumer impacts, housing supply risks, and the critical need for practical flexibility during the current ongoing housing crisis.
Whilst industry accepts that there has been a two-year transition period, known delays around land titling across multiple stage subdivisions, along with structure plan approval and modification delays have resulted in a significant increase in the number of affected lots than originally modelled. These challenges are now further compounded by significant cost escalation from fuel price impacts across the supply chain.
Industry is now facing a situation where many hundreds of consumers have purchased a small lot on the basis that they would be able to construct a 3 bed x 2 bath single storey home that after the end of the transition period, will be limited to a 2 bed product. With two storey product currently cost prohibitive for many buyers, the purchaser is being forced into a home that doesn’t suit their needs, combined with associated valuation impacts that may prevent them ultimately proceeding to construction.
As such, we have jointly written to the 10 growth area councils to encourage them to adopt the City of Wanneroo’s approach to managing the transition from the RMD60 provisions, which has been deemed acceptable by DPLH as a pragmatic response to housing delivery while maintaining appropriate planning oversight:
For subdivisions approved by the WAPC on or before 10 October 2024 that include R60 coded lots and where the RMD is afforded to the lot through a local structure plan or other mechanism, the City will continue to apply the RMD60 provisions and associated transitional arrangements. The additional six-month window ensures that the majority of subdivision applications lodged prior to the gazettal of the 2024 R-Codes and approved following this are able to be assessed against the provisions of RMD60.
To enable this the following is required:
- A Development Application will be required for any single house designed in accordance with the RMD60 requirements; and
- The application must include justification demonstrating the subdivision approval timeline and how the proposed development will appropriately integrate with the existing or emerging streetscape.
The City will not accept Development Applications for single houses on balance lots prior to the issue of titles. Further, where RMD is not already afforded to the lot via a local structure plan or other mechanism, this approach will not be applied.
By applying this approach, the City will continue to provide a streamlined development approval pathway and ensure that RMD60 lots can continue to be titled and developed in accordance with the prevailing RMD60 standards. This will also minimise the need for R60 coded lots to be redesigned to comply with Part C of the R-Codes.
The above approach will remain in place until 31 December 2027 after which time R60 coded lots will be assessed against the applicable planning framework.
Further, UDIA WA and HIA have been jointly advocating to the State Government to extend the 10 April 2026 transition deadline to align with any changes that may eventuate from the current R-Codes review, while allowing the Special Transition Provisions operating on an ‘opt-in’ basis between 10 April and that future date.
We have been informed Government is not in a position to extend the transition date without wider consultation and potential impacts to homes that have or will adopt the new code. However, there is support for encouraging the broader adoption of the City of Wanneroo’s approach.
We are working through the responses from the growth area councils, with the ones received thus far being broadly aligned, and we will keep members informed of developments.
Western Power: Update on Material Costs & Supply Timeframes
March 2026 has seen an unprecedented number of severe, overlapping disruption events with direct implications for energy costs, logistics reliability, and regional operations.
The escalation of the Iran conflict into open maritime confrontation resulted in the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, removing up to 20% of global seaborne oil and LNG flows from the market and triggering the most significant energy supply shock since the 1970s. Fuel markets responded immediately, with Brent crude surpassing US$100/bbl and peaking near US$126/bbl, driving sharp increases in diesel, marine bunker fuel and freight operating costs worldwide. Emergency oil reserve releases have tempered volatility but have not restored confidence in short term supply stability.
The knock-on effects to global shipping have been immediate and material. Hundreds of vessels remain stranded or diverted, war risk insurance costs have multiplied, and carriers have rerouted major services via the Cape of Good Hope, adding 10–14 days to transit times and reducing effective global capacity.
Beyond oil and gas, the Hormuz closure has also exposed a major vulnerability in global plastics and petrochemical supply chains. The Middle East accounts for roughly 22% of global petrochemical production, and more than 80% of its polyethylene and polypropylene export capacity depends on the Strait of Hormuz for seaborne transport. Disruption has already pushed plastic resin prices up 15–20%, with impacts expected to flow into cable insulation, electrical components, packaging, and industrial equipment over coming months. This represents a secondary inflation channel that typically lags energy price shocks but proves more persistent.
As of 1 April, Western Power have not had any direct impacts on inventory items from the Iran conflict, and we are working closely with our suppliers.
Ongoing Inventory management
Globally, supply chains remain fragile, lead times remain extended. These factors which are volatile and unpredictable are key contributors to low stock scenarios impacting our inventory management and recovery strategies. Beyond common management strategies of assessing holdings at depots, suppliers and customers, potential to expedite (air freight), alternative designs and products, Inventory & Logistics seeks to minimise business disruption by way of project and program prioritisation with business sponsors, focus on demand planning across streams of faults, volumetric programs, UPP, projects and customer streams, extended order forecast horizons, increased safety stock levels and assessing supply risk for future orders over 12 month horizon.
Sustained lead time challenges
- Instrument Transformers – extended lead times GFF – Arteche – 294 days
- Voltage Regulators – XA2601 to XA2607 – Lead time to be advised. Contract negotiation in progress with new suppliers, prototypes ordered. ETA Apr 2026 to Jul 2026
- Tx Surge Arresters – lead time extended to 580 days
- Tx Circuit Breakers – (220/330kV) – Engineering and Commercial are working closely with new supplier. Contact inventory specialists for latest updates for delivery. XA1433 from GE is replacing XA1430. XA1429 is from China (Different process to order)
- Tx Disconnectors – long lead time 280 days
- 132kV Transmission Cable – Significant global demand is contributing to extended lead times of 16-18months PLUS. There are also increased minimum order requirements. All procurement in this category is subject to an RFQ process
- Transmission Wooden Polies – Next 6 to 12 months limited supply of Tx wooden poles on certain types. E&D actively reviewing other species/ alternative solutions.
Short term delays/ potential availability risks
- Ethernet Switch – VR0059 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- Termination Kit – FE0110 – Low Stock Until July 2026
- Joint Box – FJ0238 – Low Stok Until May 2026
- Joint Box – FJ0236 – Low Stock Until April 2026
- Joint Box – FJ0624 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- Joint Box – FJ0056 – Low Stock Until July 2026
- Insulator – IH0208 – Low Stock Until July 2026
- Disconnect Switch – GS0319 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- Circuit Breaker – GS0319 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- Power cable – EC2171 – Low Stock Until April 2026
- Power cable – EC1105 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- Antenna – GS6023 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- Wire – EL0024 – No stock. ETA to be confirmed
- Insulator – IC0020 – Low Stock Until July 2026
- Wire – CT0254 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- RMU Kiosk – XA2950/51 – Low Stock of new format. Previous kiosk is available as alternative (XA2650/51) and compatible with new RMU’s
- Control Cable – EC1656 – Low Stock Until June 2026
- Clamp – CC0851 – Low Stock Until May 2026
- Surge Arrester – GA3008 – Low Stock Until July 2026
Property Education Foundation Internships 2026
Applications are now open for Host Organisations interested in hosting interns over the June/July period.
This program is a great opportunity to provide students with the knowledge and skills to propel their studies in Property.
As many will agree, experience is extremely valuable not just to students but to organisations seeking to employ in future.
Please contact secretariat@pef.org for more information.