"A perfect storm" is the common refrain being used to describe the pressures facing Australia's building industry right now.
Langford Jones is one of many high-profile building companies that have gone under this year. The most well-known is construction giant Probuild, which went into administration in February.
But a combination of factors has also left many smaller home builders on the brink. Phil Dwyer is President of the Builders Collective of Australia, a not-for-profit group representing small builders and consumers.
"At the moment, we've got a very delicate situation, because of a number of issues which start with COVID. But also, the issues such as a heated building industry, you can't get a builder anywhere, a skills shortage of people within the industry, the supply chain of materials. And also, cost escalation of materials is a major issue as well. So all these rolled into one, have created what we might term the perfect storm. "
Data from credit agency Equifax shows construction insolvencies increased by more than 30 per cent in the 12 months to May.
The construction sector's share of those figures has grown and now represents 28 per cent of all insolvencies in Australia.
But while these numbers may sound dire, Equifax's Scott Mason says they actually represent a correction to pre-pandemic levels.
"Obviously, there's been a couple of high-profile insolvencies or businesses go bankrupt. So there is some reason for concern. However, I'm probably a little bit more moderate than some others because what you've got to remember is that we had record levels of low insolvency for the last two years during COVID. And even if you look at the increase month on month in April and May, we saw an increase 47% and 43%, we're still just getting back up to the levels of pre COVID."
