Directors Cut – A World Turned Upside Down

The WA housing industry was experiencing it’s biggest downturn since the end of the mining boom.  The HIA predicted housing starts in 2020 to be around 11739 – that’s a 64% drop from the record number of starts in 2014 and an 18% drop on 2019 figures.  Despite all of this, green shoots were starting to appear with rentals vacancies dropping below 3% and rent increases on the cards.  Then, along came COVID-19 and a world turned upside down.

Jobs were being lost, businesses were being closed and health and economic fears were hitting hard.  As a team, we could see that the future pipeline of building works was drying up fast.  At Activa Developments, we still had jobs on the ground but, with most jobs now taking 3 – 6 months to get to contract and more months to get to site, we could see the looming cliff that was facing the industry as a whole come September.

So, we swung into action.  Letters were written to Government Ministers (both State & Federal).  Discussions were had with industry bodies such as the HIA and MBA.   We outlined our concerns, put foward ideas on how the industry could be supported and we were successful.  In early June, both Federal & State Governements announced stimulus packages that would see new home building given the lifeline it needed to survive this crisis.

At Activa Developments, we wanted to do more than just survive.  Through good management and forward planning, our ambition was to come out of this pandemic, not “business as usual” but “business is better”.  Our phones are now ringing off the hook as we assist our investor clients to make the most of the bonuses available; maximising opportunity and return on investment.