Month: August 2020

NSW Planning proposes no barrier to who lives in Exclusive Sydney Enclaves

/ caa4nsw

NSW  Planning proposes no barrier to who lives in Exclusive Sydney Enclaves

COUGH … cough … choke ….

How credible is this coming from NSW INC Planning?

FOR almost a decade now we have been subjected to Developers controlling the Federal Liberal Coalition, and rewriting policies of the ‘divide’.  With the 100% overseas sell-off of ‘new homes’, and enhanced foreign competition for Australian housing esp from the UHNW and HNW from China …

Together with the shelving of the second tranche of the Anti-money laundering laws for the Real Estate Gatekeepers for more than a decade … followed by an exemption for them in October 2018 by the Morrison Government

Even though the Real Estate Tour Migration is now negligible that money laundering exemption remains …

Does NSW INC believe we will swallow this ‘new benevolence’?  With the spinmeisters turning and twisting to make it read like this state government cares for its poorer constituents having forced them out of public housing … made many public servants redundant … and bulldozed communities for high-rise, toll roads, tunnels and stacks … ?

IS this the ‘Developers’ SIXTH TRANCHE?

Has this piece been put together now that they have read the reports from ACOSS, and others … have the Mob yet another spin on ‘social/public housing’ and affordable housing to fast-track ‘Build-to-Rent, Co-housing, Boarding Houses’ cheap, higher density housing all across Sydney … esp. for young Australians locked out to become life-long tenants?

Looks like the next chapter in overdevelopment will be supported by the disgruntled ‘Investor Class’ having lost out to Covid-19 are seeking to make a motza with investment in Build to Rent, Co-housing and boarding houses.  It appears it matters not to them that money launderers own so much of this Nation’s real estate;  that a whole Cohort of Australians have been locked out of home ownership … are these Australians there for the uptake to ensure their investor lifestyle?

It matters not to them that the money launderers may have property back home in high-rise precincts … that they can come to Australia to buy homes here increasing CO2 emissions

Will this mean the mob can come in and bulldoze our low-rise suburban streets for developments housing 28 people or more where there were 4 or 5? 

P.S. … NSW INC subsidises developers to sell ‘boarding houses’ after a mere 18 months as flat developments …

P.P.S.  Scattered across Sydney we still have workers cottages alongside mansions from Watson’s Bay to Riverstone … it’s not new … we had it all!

READ MORE!   https://bit.ly/31u1YQ6

IS there more to the new Building Reforms … than meets the eye?

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THE NSW Building Commissioner will be able to issue stop work orders, order developers to rectify defective buildings and stop occupation certificates from being issued.

With three goals …

-the first to focus on the accreditation regime for designers

-the second to give insurers the confidence to ensure the work

-the third decennial liability insurance with 10 years coverage for defects for consumers

The new legislation has been described as complicated however, when companies contravene the legislation the directors and any involved in company management can be personally liable!  This may also be retrospective!

IT would seem due to community-wide awareness of the shoddy work of this Sector … with the word having gotten around … across the Globe … and the consequent pull-back that the TaskForce had to concede somewhat … and it could be this is as far as they have let the Commissioner get to …

Read more!

https://bit.ly/3gm4OLm

No photo description available.
CAAN Photo: development underway in Lindfield.

FIFTH TRANCHE to be Fast-Tracked for Assessment by NSW Government

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$3bN worth of 10 ‘shovel ready’ projects! 

Including:

$2.4 billion Sydney Gateway project tops a list of 10 projects in the NSW government’s fifth tranche of projects to be fast-tracked for assessment.

Also included are:

–Charter Hall’s 157,000 sq m Light Horse Interchange Business Hub

-a hand sanitiser factory by Shoalhaven Starches

-a digital technology hub at TAFE Meadowbank

The Parramatta CBD:

-the fast-tracked assessment of $178 million plans by Dyldam for a 430-apartment high-rise at 87 Church Street.

WSA:

– 5 employment and environmental precincts incl. the Aerotropolis Core, Badgerys Creek, Northern Gateway and Agribusiness and Wianamatta-South Creek.

Priority is to be given to those exhibiting public benefit and ability to create jobs;  to transport infrastructure and green infrastructure, public spaces and social and services infrastructure

READ MORE!

https://bit.ly/2Ywqb6B

Artist's impression – view of the proposed Multi Trades and Digital Technology Hub looking North West on See Street

Artist’s impression – view of the proposed Multi-Trades and Digital Technology Hub looking North West on See Street

IS NSW INC going far enough to Stop Defective Development?

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THIS Report in the SMH sounds good with the new NSW Building Commissioner, David Chandler having the power from 1 September 2020 to enter and inspect building sites, to prevent the issue of ‘occupation certificates’, and order work to be stopped!

However distraught home buyers/owners (*Constituents) have more to say about the system being stacked against them!!

A summary of their comments …

-the building commissioner should look at the ongoing issue of insurers fighting claims with the aim of wearing down claimants; the ongoing legal costs were going to exceed any forecast insurance payout; the payout has barely covered 50% of the real costs of remediation.

-deregulation and self regulation simply doesn’t work; Regulations exist for a reason

-the only real fix is to have truly independent supervising professional inspectors signing off at every stage of construction

-the introduction of self-certification by builders with final sign off by someone paid by the builder has always been dodgy.

-the use of substandard materials, bad building practices, mistakes and shortcuts have long been concealed by the time of final certification

-the buying off the plan system needs to be banned because the developers/builders can have millions in their pockets before they pick up a shovel and there is a wish to spend as little as possible of it on actual construction.

-will the shonky developers, builders and certifiers be named?  Future buyers need to know whose work to avoid

-the old Home Owner Warranty scheme should be applied to apartments; for the builder/developer to have enough money set aside for 5 years to cover defects

-nowadays they make huge profits shuffled to shelf companies and they are liable for nothing

-when a builder/developer goes broke they lose everything except their money

-is the ‘tough talk’ a NSW INC PR campaign to allow the industry to continue to build sub-par work at high profits (a 2-bed apartment costs $200,000 to build)

-will the list of dodgy developers/builders/certifiers be released publicly? Will on-going transparency reports be publicly made available?

-councils should be the only organisation to nominate certifiers

-what will happen when developers withdraw their political donations?

-could this NSW INC exercise be about restoring public interest in buying apartments?

-looks like it is about protecting the construction industry and investors rather than protecting home buyers from defective development

-when will criminal charges and gaol terms be imposed?

-why isn’t the government taken to task for privatising certification?

-now we have red tape + building defects + bankrupted home owners

READ MORE THEN SHARE!

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/signatures-for-sale-days-are-over-warns-sydney-s-new-building-commissioner-20200818-p55mur.html#comments

PRE PANDEMIC 1 MILLION AUSTRALIANS MISSED IN UNEMPLOYMENT STATS

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PRE PANDEMIC 1 MILLION AUSTRALIANS MISSED IN UNEMPLOYMENT STATS

The one million Australians forgotten in the unemployment statistics

https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/work/2019/10/17/unemployment-figures-marginally-attached-australia/

Dr Jim Stanford said:

“This says to me that one in five potential workers in Australia, or about 20 per cent, are people who want to work, want to work more, aren’t working at all, or working less than they want to.” 

Search for: Macro Business: ‘One Million Aussies Forgotten in Unemployment Statistics’

Read more: ‘Jobs Drought for Older People’  

https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2020/02/19/jobs-drought-for-older-people/

Urban Health may take precedence over Development

/ caa4nsw

CAAN Photo: Parkview second development; Herring Road Precinct, Macquarie Park; neighbour to the site of former Ivanhoe Estate. Photo taken from a distant reserve through the trees

DESPITE a recent history of pandemics reaching Australia the property sector through its lobby groups have changed government policies throughout the 2000s to boost population growth through migration and create a housing market for them.

Storey upon storey … as high as 63 … 80 storeys, how can the open spaces provided prove to be adequate to prevent transmission of communicable disease through close public areas of foyers, lifts, gyms, pools, boutiques?

And air-conditioning throughout these towers?

A recent report from the UN reveals that more than 90% of CoronaVirus cases have come from urban areas.  And Melbourne and Sydney with much higher densities have largely shared Australia’s cases of CoronaVirus …

Pharmaceuticals and biomedicine have not been adequate to address this Pandemic alone … and in order to combat it we have had to return to isolation principles!

In the second half of the 19th Century a movement came about for urban reform of industrial cities not only for better sanitation but recognition of the value of ventilation for fresh air and light …

However, during this recent Australian housing boom through deregulation and loss of adherence to Australian Standards with many high-rise apartment developments not only cramming hundreds of people together but room sizes have been cut, and in some cases windows either eliminated, or unable to be opened!

It would appear ‘Urban Planning’ needs to be resurrected to ensure the health and well-being of inhabitants otherwise ‘prosperity’ may have no meaning …

Image may contain: sky and outdoor
CAAN Photo; April 2020; Parkview ; vegetation cleared from site; Herring Road Precinct, Macquarie Park

Read more!

Pandemics will change the architecture of health

https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/what-is-the-the-impact-of-urban-design-on-health-architecture-design-pandemics?utm_source=TUD+Master+List&utm_campaign=78789dcc25-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_07_03_11_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9f25b32131-78789dcc25-188322339

How did we Australians lose control of Our Housing Market?

/ caa4nsw

CAAN Photo: 10 townhouses under construction where a home was demolished

‘It may be time to revisit the credit controls used in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s, which directed investment into new rather than existing housing and helped increase home ownership.’ 

That is what Labor proposed prior to the last Election!  To limit negative gearing to new housing.  Investors would only deduct net rental losses from ‘new homes’ from their wage income.

And all investments made before the changes would be grandfathered to claim losses against wage income.

Here the authors go even further! 

‘Tax advantages extended housing investors, such as negative gearing and discounted capital gains taxes, should be scrapped. ….

Challenging vested interests will be hard, but the current downturn offers hope.’  

We note no mention of ‘foreign buyers’ who have taken advantage of financial returns from buying our real estate with ‘hot money’ often through a Proxy buyer.

Perhaps despite so much material raising these concerns with sadly no changes by the Morrison Government apart from exempting real estate gatekeepers from the AML Laws (in October 2018) … the authors have chosen to focus on the incumbent rentier class?  Who until recently were outnumbered by those from overseas …

It is not only the ‘tax advantages’ that foreign buyers seek but ‘Permanent Residency’… for now international travel is very limited … but buying online still maintains … now targeting homes sought by Australian First Home Buyers!

READ MORE!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-18/house-prices-how-we-lost-control-of-the-market/12566552

Survey Key Points on Young Australians Share Housing hit Hard during Pandemic

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Survey undertaken in June 2020

-close to three in four have lost their jobs or lost hours

-one in five share-house residents skipped meals to afford necessities

-around 50% reported reduced mental health

-82% of the demographic are aged 35 or less

-some 50% in insecure work

-a fifth are visa holders  –

Further …  

-a fifth pawned or sold some possessions to pay for necessities; similarly some were unable to pay the rent or mortgage on time

-two in five moved house or changed occupants in their home

-68% transitioned to working from home or working longer hours for the same pay!

And …

-prior to the Pandemic they were vulnerable but now more are suffering with rental stress!

-they are in insecure work within the most impacted sectors of arts and hospitality

–obviously JobKeeper and JobSeeker current payments need to be maintained

-and the Pandemic has highlighted the need for more social and affordable housing

–with our Youth having the highest unemployment; little savings; and in housing stress with long-term implications!

.

     READ MORE!

https://www.domain.com.au/news/young-australians-in-shared-housing-some-of-the-hardest-hit-during-covid-19-survey-finds-975992/

Little Manly Residents oppose Stuart Street Boarding House

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… there are more people wanting this style of accommodation.’  Said that with the vested interest …

WHAT this really means is that AUSTRALIANS, as we know, have been priced out of HOME OWNERSHIP …

… by both the investment and property sectors … and money launderers …. and in order to live close enough to where they work it is proposed that AUSTRALIANS have to board, or become life-long tenants in Build-to-Rent schemes … that are not so affordable …

HOW IS THAT ON?

Residents in low rise residential areas on the Northern Beaches have formed a GROUP to fight back.

Say NO to Boarding Houses in Low Residential Areas on the Northern Beaches

WHY not do the same in your area to stop this before it starts? To forever change where you live ….

IMPORTANT! This is what the Group writes has happened:

‘ … due to current SEPP loopholes. Northern Beaches Council overwhelmingly voted for change on 27/2/18. They want affordable housing but they want to have a plan and the infrastructure in place to support any changes.  ….

We are against Council’s Planning processes being by-passed.

We ARE against State Government Laws and Policy being exploited by opportunistic developers under the guise of affordable housing as “boarding house” applications.

OUR MISSION Our goal is to prevent Developers building what they term “boarding houses” under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009 (AHSEPP).

These developments are not affordable and they are not traditional “boarding houses”. They are micro-apartments rented out at $450-500 a week for a term of 3 months. ‘

They are sold in 10 years for $500k each. They are built in quiet residential streets on R2 residential low density zoned blocks (that’s your next-door). They are 29 square feet. They can be built anywhere within 400 meters of a bus-stop on the Northern Beaches.

Parking is insufficient at 1 spot to 5 apartments. They don’t have enough green space. They don’t meet community needs and destroy quiet family streets.

Again they are NOT affordable.

OUR URGENT FOCUS To work with our Community, Council and the State Government to have the State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009 (AHSEPP) revised.

This is to ensure Developers don’t circumvent Council designated planning and process through appeal in the Land and Environment Court.  … ‘

AND … view this article: ‘No more Monster Boarding Houses in R2 low density zones’

https://www.bartier.com.au/insights/articles/no-more-monster-boarding-houses-in-r2-low-density-zones/?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=LinkedIn-integration

READ MORE!

‘Revealed $2.6M Boarding House with 12 Rooms proposed for Prestigious Spot in Manly’

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/manly-daily/revealed-26m-boarding-house-with-12-rooms-proposed-for-prestigious-spot-in-manly/news-story/bd7012a934f48ad022a108d997477d57

Wealthy Sydney grows Richer X 2 the Worst off …

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Image may contain: bridge, plant, sky, grass, tree, outdoor and nature

CAAN Photo: Homeless … yet a very neat camp was set up in this Glebe park in March 2020

KEY POINTS on what has emerged since the Coalition won the Election in 2013 …

-the void between the have and the have not Sydney suburbs has grown

-low interest rates have brought huge capital gains to a few hundred in Double Bay and the like …

-median incomes of Sydney wealthy suburbs grew at more than twice the rate of the worst-off

-the average income of Double Bay residents grew by 85% between 2013/14 and 2017/18

-RBA Governor, Philip Lowe ahead of the Pandemic advised that wage stagnation causes some to question Australia’s economic success …

REMEMBER THIS!  LET OTHERS KNOW …

READ MORE AND SHARE!

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/incomes-in-sydney-s-richest-suburbs-growing-at-twice-the-rate-of-poorest-20200731-p55h8q.html