What makes Canberra houses more expensive? Having to fix shoddy builds

However, there has been abundant evidence over the past 13 years that home buyers have incurred significant additional costs for rectifying defects arising from sub-standard construction practices.

Such remediation costs add more to the overall cost of home ownership than building to a quality standard from the outset - especially in the strata sector where defects can be multimillion-dollar problems and affect many owners and renters.

Better building standards to well-documented, peer-tested designs and greater care by property developers in managing and resourcing the delivery of construction could significantly reduce these defects and achieve a positive impact on home affordability.

The government sees making property developers more responsible by licensing the directors of these companies as one of several measures to address the problem.

In a recent Canberra Times poll, 90 per cent of respondents agreed that such measures were necessary.

However, the Property Council argues it is not reasonable to hold company directors personally responsible and liable for rectification of defects.

One of the core objectives of the government's proposed approach is to address the problems that result when development companies are voluntarily dissolved or go into liquidation.

There are plenty of instances where the directors responsible have "vanished" along with their company - leaving home buyers and the community to pick up enormous costs.

The directors of development companies have several legitimate ways to protect their personal interests. These have been identified by the ACT Owners Corporation Network (OCN ACT) in many of the submissions it has made since 2010 when building quality/defects was first identified as a serious problem for the community.

Capable and trustworthy developers can:

Some developers in Canberra already follow these approaches.

OCN ACT agrees with the Property Council that the ACT government should have comprehensive licensing of key professionals and extra trades (such as water proofers and roofers) in place.

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OCN ACT also supports the need for more homes in Canberra - but these homes must be free of costly problems (like structural defects, water ingress, black mould, fire safety issues and use of products not-fit-for-purpose etc) and is confident that builders and tradesman can rise to the challenge of delivering quality outcomes.

Even if these homes cost a small amount more to purchase, the reduced added costs within the first few years will make them much more affordable for both owners and renters in the longer term.