Free Lunch by The Peak

Why Does It Cost So Much To Build Housing

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One of the big factors driving our housing affordability crisis is that it's become much more expensive to build new housing than it used to be. But why? To get an overview of what's driving growth in housing costs, we're joined by Russell Hixson, the editor of SiteNews, a trade outlet covering Canada's construction sector.

  • 2:12 - What it costs to build housing in different cities now, and why it's increased so much.
  • 5:53 - Where builders are seeing their costs grow the most.
  • 7:59 - What's happening with lumber prices.
  • 10:06 - How builders have responded to higher costs.
  • 14:14 - How costs break down between materials and labour.
  • 19:56 - How a shortage of construction labour is driving up costs.
  • 23:33 - Potential technological solutions that could lower costs in the near term.
  • 28:57 - What policy changes could be made by governments to lower costs.

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    Links:

    • SiteNews
    • More episodes of Free Lunch by The Peak: https://readthepeak.com/shows/free-lunch
    • Follow Taylor on Twitter: @taylorscollon
    • Follow Sarah on Twitter: @sarahbartnicka
    • Subscribe to The Peak's daily business newsletter: https://readthepeak.com/b/the-peak/subscribe


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