Hopes Riding on Steel Factory Go-Ahead to Boost Housing

House build times could drop drastically with 80,000 new steel frames and 240,000 Colorbond steel rooftops to be produced in a Western Sydney factory each year.

The NSW government approved the $320-million extension to the BlueScope Western Sydney Service Centre at 25-55 Templar Road, Erskine Park.

The extension, to be funded privately, would co-locate the factory on the 10.3ha site within the Penrith local government area.

The approval was granted as peak body Master Builders released its data showing the average build time for detached houses was still rising although steel prices were stabilising.

BlueScope chief executive, Australian steel products Tania Archibald said the plan was to have the plant commissioned and operational by the end of 2025.

“The NSW planning minister’s decision to provide planning approval for this State Significant Project will allow BlueScope to progress the construction of a new, state-of-the-art metal coating line, the first to be built in more than 30 years,” Archibald said.

“Construction of the manufacturing facility will allow BlueScope to better meet the growing demand for steel building and construction products.
 
“In particular, Truecore steel for light-gauge steel framing and feed for the company’s Colorbond steel products for roofing and walling applications.”

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn said the supply chain, labour shortages and restrictions all contributed to slowed home delivery.

“While we are seeing a stabilisation of some building product prices primarily around steel, some products such as cement continue to escalate,” Wawn said.

“During 2022-23, the average build time for detached houses increased from 10.3 months to 11.7 months.
 
“For new townhouses, it now takes 14.9 months from approval to completion. This compares to 13.5 months in 2021-22.

“There was slightly better news for apartments, with build times shortening to 28.8 months from a record 30.6 months in 2021-22.”

▲ Pace Architects designed the addition for BlueScope’s Western Sydney site.

Master Builders forecasst home starts in 2023-24 would decline 2.1 per cent to around 170,100, well below the 200,000 needed a year to meet population growth.

“With a housing target of 1.2 million homes in five years, to realistically achieve this goal, we need to reduce the time it takes to build,” Wawn said.

The average time to build a house in NSW was below the average at 11.19 months but behind Victoria at 10.92 and Queensland at 10.2 months.

However, build times for houses in NSW had remained relatively unchanged over the past 10 years, only increasing or decreasing by slightly more than a month.

NSW minister for planning and public spaces Paul Scully said steelmaking would play an important role in supporting future housing, infrastructure projects and build times.

“This planning approval signifies another step in the right direction for supporting increased housing supply and economic growth,” Scully said. 

“The demand will be met with a higher volume of materials able to be sent from Port Kembla to the new factory, which is being built on the existing BlueScope site.”

Meanwhile, AV Jennings is also working on its plans to reduce build times in the state with a prefabricated factory to start manufacturing on the Central Coast early next year.