Citizens Budget Commission’s Post

Not as nice as jingling bells 🔔, the sound New Yorker knows too well: street construction outside your window. We support joint bidding because help helps those projects wrap up faster, with fewer disruptions—and at a lower cost. Joint bidding lets NYC bid out capital projects and related utility work simultaneously, cutting delays and saving money. The City Department of Design and Construction estimates this reduces utility-related delays from an average of 𝟮𝟴 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟳 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀. Without joint bidding, contractors must negotiate directly with utility firms, causing long delays and higher costs. Joint bidding streamlines the process, benefiting the City and most importantly, New Yorkers. Learn more about how joint bidding can make NYC construction faster and less disruptive in our testimony to the Assembly Standing Committee on Cities: https://lnkd.in/d5NdDcR2 

According to an analysis of a new government report by the Associated General Contractors of America, national construction spending increased 0.4 percent from September to October as a pickup in single and multifamily residential development outweighed declines in public outlays and mixed results for private nonresidential categories. Association officials said construction has yet to begin on many federally funded projects amid lengthy regulatory reviews.

Ninth District construction firms are reporting less demand for their services and rising construction costs, but our recent survey has found a growing number reporting demand and costs stabilizing. Tu-Uyen Tran shares more survey takeaways: https://bit.ly/4aBxigg #Construction #RegionalEconomy #NinthDistrict

At a time when completed product pricing is facing considerable headwinds, particularly for condos, construction costs have risen, interest costs are higher and now many municipalities are piling on substantial increases in DCCs, CACs and now new ACCs. This is certainly making some projects uneconomic to build at a time when most levels of government are encouraging developers to build more housing. If governments are serious about that, don’t undermine the economics of these building projects with these substantial increases in municipality charges. https://lnkd.in/gJX4TiUT

Great article by Noble Francis on the churn of construction ministers. If proof was ever needed that government don’t really care about our industry this is it. Like I keep saying. It’s our house we need to clean it. That being said they had better get this sorted as I will be pushing for major reform of the Construction Act this year!! #government #specialist #contractors #construction #legislativereform

The new Construction Minister is Alan Mak MP, which makes him the 10th Construction Minister in the last 5 years lasting an average of just 8 months each (Upper Chart). Alan Mak replaces Nusrat Ghani, who was Construction Minister for 16 months after replacing Jackie Doyle-Price, who was Construction Minister for just 2 months and who replaced Lord Callanan, who was also only in place for 2 months. The new Construction Minister is also the 15th Construction Minister in the last 10 years, averaging just 10 months each (although the average is heavily distorted by the first two of those 15 ministers staying considerably more than double the average, bringing the average otherwise up from 7 months). Alan Mak is also the 24th Construction Minister in the last 20 years lasting 12 months each (Lower Chart) so it is clearly a persistent problem but, equally, it is a problem that has been getting considerably worse in recent years. The constant churn of construction ministers leads to poor policy development and delivery, given the complexity of the construction industry and the time needed to fully understand it. Plus, it also means that the government focuses more on a constant stream of public relations announcements (stating that it wants more homes and infrastructure) rather than actually delivering (more homes and better infrastructure). In addition, the constant churn of construction ministers leads to endless councils, taskforces, hubs, groups and workstreams plus a constant stream of reports, reviews, strategies, plans, pipelines and playbooks but with little real improvement (although with lots of backslapping and self-congratulating plus congratulating from all the bluffers and chancers that are just happy to raise their own profile by being in the pointless meetings with the minister). The constant churn in construction ministers also illustrates how little government and MPs with aspirations value the construction minister position as they see it merely as a stepping stone to a position that they consider more important. Given that construction is an industry that directly employs more than 2 million people in a construction supply chain that employs over 3 million people, as well as being critical to delivering more homes, Net Zero transition and the £700-775 billion infrastructure pipeline plus it provides the wider UK economy with economic and productivity growth. Construction deserves far better. It is also worth noting the equally bad churn in housing ministers that I wrote about when the housing minister last changed (see link below): https://lnkd.in/e5393gSU

The Lone Star State’s construction industry is thriving, with significant growth in commercial and multifamily housing markets.   However, workforce availability remains a challenge, especially for management-level positions. The demand for skilled labor persists, even as the sector faces ongoing labor shortages. Additionally, the recent US Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could further boost construction jobs, creating millions of new opportunities across the nonresidential construction value chain. Please make sure to connect with Brooks Black for more insights in the Construction Industry. #realestate #construction #commercialconstruction #residentialconstruction #newhomes #sanantoniorealestate

A decline in new #commercialbuilding starts such as apartments is making a dent in the short-term outlook of Northeast Ohio #construction contractors, but their long-term outlook is staying strong thanks to other types of building in the region. https://bit.ly/3UakLLk

Springtime is historically busy for building permits, but this spring was busier than ever! 🔨 Between April and June, 352 building permits were approved, 49 per cent more than the same period last year, including permits for 211 🏘️ new dwelling units. The total construction value of all those permits was $68 million. Despite the increase in demand for service, permit processing times improved ✅ in the second quarter after City Council approved a spring budget adjustment that re-invested permitting revenue into additional resources. Permit processing times decreased in the second quarter, most notably for new residential construction which went 👇 from 31 days to 23 days. The City’s reporting dashboard has been updated with the latest data from the second quarter and is available at https://lnkd.in/g8jhNjpr.

Ontario is set to roll out significant updates to its 2012 Building Code in January 2025. This will undoubtedly drive up housing costs (ceteris paribus). -Energy Efficiency: Tougher standards for insulation, windows, and heating systems mean pricier materials and more work. -Safety Add-Ons: New components like radon gas systems and safety mesh for septic tanks will add to the bill. -Sustainability Push: Using eco-friendly materials and more rigid waste management standards. More red tape and bureaucracy. Builders are going to spend more to deliver homes, and costs will be passed down to buyers/renters, otherwise developments are not financially viable. Where do we go from here? We need tax incentives to drive down the cost of housing. Construction costs and land prices will remain sticky. Over the last two decades, development charges in the GTA have risen between 250 and 900 per cent (depending on municipality). Other forms of housing taxes have grown significantly as well, collectively making up 30% of the average cost of a home. This is heavy handed, and concessions are needed to turn housing supply back on.