Australia-based body for builders in the state of Victoria, Master Builders Victoria, has said to media that they are ‘alert’ but ‘not alarmed’ by the recent spike in insolvencies in the state’s construction sector.
The number of building companies collapsing in Victoria has risen by 74% in the past year, with 619 firms affected, according to Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) data.
Master Builders Victoria anticipated an increase in builders going bankrupt from financial pressures. Ballarat-based residential home-builder Bond Homes is the latest in a string of companies entering administration, liquidation and receivership in Victoria.
Major Victorian home-builder Porter Davis entered liquidation in March, at the same time Lloyd Group also entered voluntary administration.
Ballarat-based Bond Homes is the most recent company to join the list as more than 2,500 Australian construction companies have gone into liquidation, administration or receivership since mid-2021, says the ASIC.
Megan Peacock, the executive director of public affairs at Master Builders Victoria, said she anticipated the rise in insolvencies. “There was lots of support put into industries keeping them open during COVID. Once those [measures] have stopped we have seen businesses struggling under the weight of the pressures,” she said.
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