Richard O'Donoghue backs developer-led infrastructure to fix housing
Richard O'Donoghue praised the introduction of developer-led infrastructure in the bill and argued it offers a business-model solution to the housing crisis. He said the policy would enable cost comparisons with providers such as Ishgairn and create accountability to build on budget and on time.
He told the minister he would praise somebody who started to listen and welcomed that the bill brings in developer-led infrastructure, describing it as a small but important step forward.
He said introducing a business model into development lets officials put delivery costings against the likes of Ishgairn, creating a competition network to see how much similar projects actually cost to deliver.
He insisted the only way out of the housing crisis is a business model that enforces accountability for building on budget and on time, drawing on his lifelong experience in business and construction.
He cited Murphy's Homes as an example where buyers pick from a catalogue and houses can be delivered cheaper and on schedule, and suggested that the same delivery principles could be applied to larger projects - even hospital building.
Praise for minister and bill
He told the minister he would praise somebody who started to listen and welcomed that the bill brings in developer-led infrastructure, describing it as a small but important step forward.
Competition and cost comparison
He said introducing a business model into development lets officials put delivery costings against the likes of Ishgairn, creating a competition network to see how much similar projects actually cost to deliver.
Business model and accountability
He insisted the only way out of the housing crisis is a business model that enforces accountability for building on budget and on time, drawing on his lifelong experience in business and construction.
Catalogue delivery example
He cited Murphy's Homes as an example where buyers pick from a catalogue and houses can be delivered cheaper and on schedule, and suggested that the same delivery principles could be applied to larger projects - even hospital building.
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Transcript
Minister, I said to you earlier on that I would praise somebody if they actually started to listen, and I'm going to give you a small bit of praise from the point of view of the part of the bill that brings in developer-led infrastructure. Why am I so glad that that's going to be introduced and that you're looking at that and that you're encouraging that? I'll tell you why. Because when you bring a business model into a development, you can then use the costings of that delivery of infrastructure and put it against the likes of Ishgairn, what they're delivering. So you create a competition network where you can actually see how much it's costing, how much can be delivered for, and then you can look at the likes of Ishgairn and say, why is it costing more for them to develop something that's the same? That's what I welcome. The only way that we're going to see ourselves out of a housing crisis is a business model. Accountability for building on budget on time. That's the only way. I'm in business all my life. I've said it here. I don't do any government contracts. Never have. But I'm building all my life, and I'm accountable for the work that we do. I'm accountable for the people that work with me, and I'm accountable to their families, and I'm accountable to make sure that at the end of the year that the business lasts into the following year to make it accountable. This model is the only way that we're going to get out of a housing crisis. It's developer-led infrastructure where the business model then is used against our departmental models to show what we can deliver, even on systems where we can actually come up with a system for even hospital building. You go back, somebody rang me today, they said that they're getting a house built by a Murphy's Homes. They can actually go to the catalogue, pick out the house, they can deliver a house cheaper because it's out of a catalogue. It's the same. You pick this house, this house, this house, this house. That's why it's delivery on budget, on time. . .