One way to build a home in eight weeks, for a 10 per cent discount

First home buyer Kayla-Marie Tadros, facing long delays in her traditional house build from rain and the Christmas and New Year holidays, was startled to hear her construction company was also working to pioneer a 59-day, off-site construction model.

“We’ve had the weather and other setbacks, so we started in October, but delivery of the house has been pushed back to mid, or the end of, 2026,” said Tadros, 24, a TAFE teacher also working in disability support.

“It’s lucky, though, as I’ve been living with my parents, and my partner is living with his, which means we’re not having to pay rent for an extended period.

“But I think that idea of off-site construction is very good for the future. It’ll be much better for the customer and means the new home buyer will be able to move in much sooner, rather than later.”

The company engaged by Tadros, Rawson Group, ranked at number 10 for NSW in the latest Housing Industry Association’s Housing 100 report covering Australia’s largest home builders, has partnered with its ultimate owner, Japanese off-site manufacture specialist Daiwa House.

Rawson Homes, part of the Rawson Group, is experimenting with prefabrication, or Modern Methods of Construction, at a price point aimed at first time buyers.

Prefabrication would slash the wait time from the traditional – weather and holidays permitting – 21 weeks to about eight. The average build cost of around $400,000, represents a saving of 10 to 15 per cent.

“We see this as a game changer for first home buyers, who are keen to move out of rental accommodation or living with parents or friends into a house of their own,” said Paul Hendry, Rawson Group chief executive and managing director.

“It saves on labour costs, site supervision, scaffolding and security, while the significantly faster completion time also gives them an accelerated and much more predictable path into the market.

“Traditional construction is under a lot of pressure from rising costs and labour shortages which slows down delivery, but we’ve been exploring off-site construction for the past two to three years, and we think it has a lot of potential for the Australian market.”

Most of Rawson’s traditional two-storey, four-bedroom house and land packages sell for between $900,000 and $1 million – a price point designed to appeal to those hunting out relatively more affordable houses. But there will likely be further savings when its prefab homes come onto the market.

Housing policy expert and senior Western Sydney University researcher Dr Ehsan Noroozinejad said while many companies were working in this space, only a relatively small number currently have the capability to manufacture homes at scale.

“Greater involvement from major builders can help accelerate adoption and improve confidence in modern construction approaches. Despite growing interest, Australia’s off-site construction sector is still relatively small compared with the scale of the housing challenge,” he said.

“Expanding local capability, improving policy co-ordination, and encouraging international collaboration and investment will all be important if this approach is to play a major role in addressing Australia’s housing shortage … A 59-day construction timeline is certainly impressive if it refers to the actual manufacturing and assembly process, but it is important to clarify what stages are included in that timeline.”

Rawson’s advance comes as new KPMG analysis showed the number of new properties for sale at $1 million and over now make up about a quarter of construction. The number starting at $2 million almost doubled in the past six years.

Rawson conducted a trial last year in NSW town Orange, constructing two four-bedroom houses on side-by-side lots– one traditionally, and the other built off-site. Both looked identical, but the second was completed in less than half the time of the first.

Rawson is now building a factory for manufacturing bathroom, kitchen and pantry pods at scale. They’re already using them in some of their newly built homes to sell on completion.

“For first home buyers, building a new home can prove very expensive,” said Hendry.

“If you’re paying for somewhere to actually live at the same time, that can be double the cost. Dealing with uncertainty in a regular build is a challenge too.”

Other savings come from earlier grant access, 60 per cent saving on waste, greater production efficiencies, quality standards without defects, a lifetime structural guarantee offered, and design flexibility.

Damien Crough, prefabAUS executive chairman, said Rawson’s prefab builds could be an excellent first home buyer opportunity.

“A number of the large construction companies are now looking at also expanding into this market,” Crough said.

Rawson will offer turnkey products put on customer-bought land, or in their own master-planned communities in NSW, ACT and Queensland, aiming to produce 80-100 off-site homes annually, but will keep investing to scale up.

Meanwhile, Tadros is making the most of the wait time for her house in western Sydney.

“So it gives us more time to save,” she said.

“My partner and I want to get married before we move in together and buy some furniture.”