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Residential tenants and landlords facing financial hardship due to COVID-19 will receive limited support from the NSW Government’s new temporary rental support measures announced on Easter Monday.
The six-month support package includes a moratorium on applications for forced evictions due to rental arrears for those financially disadvantaged by COVID-19.
There are new requirements for landlords and tenants to enter into negotiations over rental payments in good faith.
The six-month support package will include an interim 60-day moratorium on evictions when landlords will have to negotiate with households prior to seeking a forced end to a tenancy.
Where a household has suffered a loss of income equal to or greater than 25 per cent due to COVID-19, there is a new obligation to enter into negotiations with their landlord or managing agent, prior to seeking a forced end to the tenancy.
The Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation Kevin Anderson suggested an interim 60-day moratorium on finalising existing matters, or making new applications to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for forced evictions over rent arrears related to COVID-19, sends a clear message that the process is not optional. 
“We know many people are worried about meeting their financial commitments at the moment. That is why we need more stability for tenants and landlords while the new Commonwealth income support payments are rolled-out, and landlords talk to their bank about mortgage relief,” Mr Anderson said.
Tenants will be protected from eviction until NCAT is satisfied that negotiations have concluded. Any unpaid rent will accrue as arrears during this period. 
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the Government was allocating around $440 million towards rent relief in the form of land tax waivers or rebates – with the expectation that this would be split approximately evenly between business and residential landlords.
Mr Perrottet said residential landlords would be eligible for a land tax waiver or rebate of up to 25 per cent if they passed the saving on to tenants in financial distress.
“This is effectively a $220 million commitment in the residential sector from the NSW Government to help encourage both landlords and tenants to reach agreement on rent reductions during this difficult time,” Mr Perrottet said. 
Mr Anderson said it was important that both landlords and tenants continued to honour existing agreements to the extent possible. 
“No reasonable person wants to end a tenancy right now, which is why we are supporting renters and landlords to negotiate new temporary terms, so tenants keep a roof over their head, and landlords aren’t left without rental income for the next six-months.
“For some people this may be a daunting experience, so to boost available support we’ve announced a one-off $2.5 million boost to tenancy advocacy and advice services across the state.” 
Tenants and landlords will also have access to assistance from Fair Trading and access to the NCAT to resolve matters after the end of the 60-day period: 
<ul>
<li>       NSW Fair Trading’s dispute resolution service will be available to assist if the parties are unable to re-negotiate and agree on new rental arrangements, backed by Fair Trading’s existing legal powers; </li>
<li>       NCAT will be available to make appropriate orders in light of the current circumstances where the parties are unwilling or unable to reach an agreement and action is taken to seek an eviction; </li>
<li>       Action is also being taken to ensure that evictions for reasons not related to rent arrears are also stayed to minimise avoidable housing disruption and movement. The usual periods of required notice under the Residential Tenancies Act will be increased from the minimum of 30 days up to 90 days for terminations due to fixed or periodic leases ending, or other agreement breaches.</li>
<li>       Landlords will however continue to be able to seek to recover premises due to their own genuine hardship. Tenants will also continue to be able to apply to the Tribunal to terminate a fixed-term tenancy on the basis of hardship.</li>
<li>       Tenants will be protected from being added to tenancy databases (or ‘blacklists’) for breaches of agreements resulting from COVID-19 impacts.</li>
</ul>
“I encourage landlords and tenants to approach this new process with an open mind and an empathetic ear. It is important to learn about each other’s current position in order to better support each other during these extraordinary times,” Mr Anderson said.
Around 20 percent of NSW landlords currency pay land tax given <a href="https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/land-tax" target="_blank">the $734,000 threshold.</a>
NSW Parliament will be recalled to pass the measures, which include upcoming land tax payments being deferred for three months.
NSW Labor welcomed the moratorium on evictions, but expressed concern about unpaid rent accruing and leaving a tenant who lost their job with a rent bill.
 
 
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

NSW land tax paying landlords can get relief if cash-trapped tenants get rental discount

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The ban by the Victorian chief health officer on holding private inspections of occupied homes listed for sale or rent was set to be scrapped, the REIV announced today.
The ban reduced the capacity of Victorian estate agents to conduct by appointment open houses.
The new ban was issued late on Thursday, but was set to be abolished Easter Monday, the REIV president Leah Calnan said.
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Occupied properties meant all properties where someone was currently living, the Consumer Affairs department website had advised.
“We’re dumbfounded by the move,” Ms Leah Calnan, the REIV president said on Thursday. 
“Victoria has been very heavy handed about this when other states still allow these inspections to go ahead."
The government made its in initial policy when reaffirming its message that people should stay home.
“There are only four reasons to leave your home: food and supplies, medical care or caregiving, exercise and work or education,” a government spokesperson said last week.
It advised there would be "no exemption for tenants or occupants to temporarily vacate their place of residence to facilitate inspections.
During the Stage 3 restrictions, vendors or landlords wanting to conduct inspections of tenanted properties can do so via virtual inspections, or wait until the property is fully vacated and disinfected."
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Victorian agents are likely to return to previous practice when allowed to take buyers or renters through as long as social distancing guidelines were met.
Since the ban on public auctions and open homes from March 25, SOME 75 per cent of scheduled auctions were switched in Victoria to private sales.
Domain figures also show the number of property listings sat eight per cent lower compared to the same time last year.
Domain’s senior research analyst Nicola Powell had forecast any implementation of the updated pre-Easter ban would cripple the Victorian property market.
“Allowing private inspections gave the real estate market a lifeline. They’ve cut that lifeline. They’ve cut the blood supply to the real estate market."
The Consumer Affairs Victoria’s <a href="https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/resources-and-tools/advice-in-a-disaster/coronavirus-covid19-and-your-rights" target="_blank">website </a>had changed by 11am on Easter Monday stating “private inspections of an occupied/tenanted residential property are permitted” when just the real estate agent and the person inspecting the property were present.
 
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REIV announce Victorian Government to backflip to allow estate agents conduct by appointment open houses

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There is further reduced capacity of Victorian estate agents to conduct by appointment open houses.
The chief health officer banned private inspections of occupied homes listed for sale or rent.
The new ban was issued late on Thursday. 
It advised there is no exemption for tenants or occupants to temporarily vacate their place of residence to facilitate inspections.
<div class="in-content-ad">
Agents had previously been allowed to take buyers or renters through as long as social distancing guidelines were met – but this has been deemed insufficient.
<a href="https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/resources-and-tools/advice-in-a-disaster/coronavirus-covid19-and-your-rights" target="_blank">The official website advises</a>:
Agents must no longer conduct public or in-person private inspections of tenanted or occupied properties.
This is because it will not be possible for agents, prospective owners or tenants, and existing tenants to each comply with their legal requirements under the current Directions from the Chief Health Officer.
These directions include requirements:
<ul>
<li>to maintain the required level of social distancing</li>
<li>to ensure homes are cleaned and disinfected before and after each inspection, and</li>
<li>for all Victorians to stay at home except in the four, limited circumstances (to buy needed supplies, for medical or caring reasons, for work or study, or for exercise).</li>
</ul>
There is no exemption for tenants or occupants to temporarily vacate their place of residence to facilitate inspections.
Previously the Consumer Affairs website said the department “encourages” inspections to be delayed until the property is vacant.
Occupied properties means all properties where someone is currently living, the Consumer Affairs department advised.
“We’re dumbfounded by the move,” Ms Leah Calnan, the REIV president said. 
“Victoria has been very heavy handed about this when other states still allow these inspections to go ahead."
The government reaffirmed its message that people should stay home.
“There are only four reasons to leave your home: food and supplies, medical care or caregiving, exercise and work or education,” a spokesperson said.
 
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Reduced capacity of Victorian estate agents to conduct by appointment open houses 

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Local governments are <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/Fact_sheet_supporting_businesses_0.pdf">not eligible for the JobKeeper Payment</a>, while major industries like construction are. Although the JobKeeper scheme has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-130-billion-jobkeeper-payment-what-the-experts-think-135043">broadly welcomed</a>, it is a mystery to business why Australia’s <a href="https://alga.asn.au/about-alga/">537 local councils</a>, which provide vital support for industries like construction, are not eligible. The failure to include local councils (and their wholly owned corporations) will undermine the economic and social impact these policies are meant to have.
This just doesn’t make sense to business or local government. Business and industry are depending on their partnerships with local government to get through the coronavirus crisis. But local councils, which <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6248.0.55.002">employ almost 200,000 people</a>, are already <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-07/local-gov-struggle-to-keep-staff-coronavirus-jobkeeper-payments/12125312">laying off thousands</a>.
Since construction directly <a href="http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/GainInsights/IndustryInformation/Construction">employs about 1.2 million people</a> (9.2% of the workforce) and indirectly many more, construction sites remain “exempt” as the government closes down all non-essential businesses to combat coronavirus. As Urban Taskforce chief executive Tom Forrest <a href="https://www.urbantaskforce.com.au/clear-messages-from-government-construction-work-is-exempt-from-the-close-down-and-will-continue/">said</a>:
The building and construction industry will be a critical player in driving the economy through this crisis.
The federal government’s A$130 billion wage subsidy will cover businesses paying their employees A$1,500 a fortnight each for up to six months. Private businesses (including not-for-profits) will be <a href="https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/emergency-management/coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business/jobkeeper-payment">eligible for the subsidy</a> if they meet the criteria.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323914/original/file-20200330-146705-7jrmw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
The Conversation, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a>
Self-employed individuals will similarly be eligible to receive the <a href="https://www.business.gov.au/risk-management/emergency-management/coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business/jobkeeper-payment">JobKeeper Payment</a>.
Registered charities will be eligible if their turnover has fallen or will likely fall by 15% or more relative to a comparable period.
Non-government schools and private vocational education providers are also eligible.
What is happening to local government?
Local government misses out. Yet revenues have been hit extremely hard since local government raises only <a href="https://alga.asn.au/policy-centre/financial-sustainability/">3.6% of its income from taxation and 90% from its own sources</a>. These include rates and fees for services – many of which have had to close.
As a result, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/councils-bleed-revenue-as-costs-from-coronavirus-surge-20200401-p54g58">city council revenues have plummeted</a>. For example, Blacktown City Council in Sydney estimates its monthly revenue has fallen by about A$1.7 million. The council employs around 2,300 people who serve a population of 400,000 people.
Like all local governments, it is responsible for a wide range of critical local services that support industries like construction that are exempt from current shutdowns. Councils provide planning and development approvals, childcare centres (26 in Blacktown’s case), waste management, infrastructure (such as roads and footpaths, parks, sporting grounds and swimming pools), housing, community amenities, transport and communications, recreation and culture and general public services.
The majority of freight tasks, which are central to keeping the economy going, start and finish on local government-controlled roads. These roads add up to about <a href="https://cdn.alga.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/ALGA-2019-Local-Government-Roads-and-Transport-Agenda.pdf">662,000km in length</a> – about 75% of the total national road length. Of 251.2 billion kilometres travelled in 2016, <a href="https://cdn.alga.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/ALGA-2019-Local-Government-Roads-and-Transport-Agenda.pdf">142.1 billion occurred in capital cities</a>.
Local councils also fund and support major construction projects. To return to the example of Blacktown, the A$76.5 million <a href="https://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/About-Council/What-we-do/Transformational-Projects/Warrick-Lane-redevelopment">Warrick Lane development</a> is part of the city centre transformation, which will provide major economic and social benefits for the people of Blacktown.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DAifmbBs8NU?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe>
The Warrick Lane redevelopment is a major construction project that wouldn’t be happening if not for the city council.
Another Blacktown City project is the <a href="https://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/About-Council/What-we-do/Transformational-Projects/International-Centre-of-Training-Excellence">International Centre of Training Excellence</a>, a multisport high-performance education, sports medicine and accelerated recovery facility. It’s due to open in 2022.
Nationwide, local government owns and manages non-financial assets with an <a href="https://alga.asn.au/policy-centre/financial-sustainability/">estimated written-down value of A$408 billion</a> in 2015-16. Operational spending by councils totalled about A$35 billion in that year.
A partner of industry and business
Local government spending goes into providing industry support and services across the nation. If you take these services and supports away you undermine government efforts to stimulate industries like construction to get us through this crisis and recover from it.
You also introduce the risk that development approvals are granted without thorough assessments. That’s likely to lead to new problems down the line.
As the federal government says, keeping people in work and businesses open will lay the foundations for a stronger economic recovery once the coronavirus crisis passes. But local government support is key to this strategy. Most people would be concerned to know their local councils are not being supported in the same way as private businesses – some of which have accumulated millions in profits and are incorporated overseas.
The federal government rightly talks about partnership, collaboration and collective responsibility to get through this crisis. Local council activities are critical to the productivity, well-being and liveability of local communities and cumulatively to the nation at this time.
Disaster management experience and <a href="https://www.disaster.qld.gov.au/dmg/Pages/DM-Guideline.aspx">guidelines</a> tell us the response to any crisis must be bottom-up as well as top-down. This means local government’s role is crucial. How can this be achieved without a functioning local government supporting industry and communities to get through this pandemic?
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-loosemore-4690">Martin Loosemore</a>, Professor of Construction Management, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-technology-sydney-936">University of Technology Sydney</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lack-of-help-for-local-councils-in-coronavirus-package-undercuts-industry-support-135700">original article</a>.
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Lack of help for local councils in coronavirus package undercuts industry support

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GUEST OBSERVATION
No Australian government has ever spent A$130 billion so quickly.
Last Tuesday, when the Prime Minister announced the government would subsidise six million jobs for six months to the tune of $1,500 a fortnight, the nation’s economists were left speechless.
Today, the government unveiled <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/labor-to-support-jobkeeper-package-despite-ineligibility-of-1m-casuals">the legislation</a> to be considered by the parliament tomorrow.
In ordinary times, there wouldn’t be a lot of support for a $130 billion wage subsidy. But these aren’t ordinary times.
Whole sectors of the economy have shut down, either directly as part of the health response to the pandemic, or indirectly as part of a wave of knock-on effects.
The JobKeeper wage subsidies will give <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/Fact_sheet_supporting_businesses_0.pdf">direct support</a> to the worst-affected businesses and jobs, helping to keep the economic damage to a minimum. The package isn’t perfect. But it’s a far better response than had been feared.
It will help keep the Australian economy afloat over the next six months, putting it in a position to bounce back when health officials deem it safe to reopen parts of the economy for business.
It has three key features:
<ul>
<li>
businesses get $1,500 per fortnight per worker (only for those workers who were employed on March 1. Short-term casuals with the business and some visa holders are excluded)
</li>
<li>
the employer has to keep those workers on the books and pay them at least $1,500 per fortnight
</li>
<li>
it only applies to businesses whose revenue has collapsed by at least 30% (15% for charities and not-for-profits, 50% for the largest businesses, with banks excluded).
</li>
</ul>
To be effective, it has to deliver on three goals:
<ul>
<li>
to support workers’ incomes through the crisis
</li>
<li>
to keep workers attached to firms, preserving as many job-specific skills and as much know-how as possible
</li>
<li>
to prevent wide-scale business failures which could turn a short and sharp recession into a long and painful depression.
</li>
</ul>
Importantly, this means if it’s working well, both workers and employers will get something out of the deal.
At firms that would otherwise have shut down, workers will benefit considerably.
Many workers will get paid more
The $1,500 payment will give them much more than the Newstart payment they would have received if laid off, even the doubled Newstart (now called JobSeeker) which for six months has been paired with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/scalable-without-limit-how-the-government-plans-to-get-coronavirus-support-into-our-hands-quickly-134353">Coronavirus supplement</a> lifting it from $565.70 to $1,115.60 per fortnight.
And for the one third of workers otherwise earning less than $1,500 per fortnight, the JobKeeper payment will be a pay rise. If the subsidy keeps their firm afloat, they’ll keep their job and be paid even more than before for the next six months.
It’s possible those earning more than $1,500 per fortnight will earn less than they did before in pay and benefits, depending on what the government does with the Fair Work Act.
 
Exactly how it works out for workers who get JobKeeper will depend on the labour market. On one hand, they will be more attractive to employers because their employment comes with a big subsidy that new hires don’t bring with them. On the other hand, they might have few alternative employers to turn to. Jobs might be hard to find.
They’ll get to keep their jobs
Regardless, even if their pay is reduced, their situation will be much better than under the renamed Newstart. And to the extent that cutting their pay helps to keep the firm viable, it will secure a job for them on the other side.
Employers will also benefit. If a business stays open, it will get the benefit of its workers’ labour for free or at a big discount. It might look like corporate welfare, but it’s a feature, not a bug.
A key objective of the scheme is to plug the hole in firms’ revenues to prevent them going under. Most would have been viable if it weren’t for the necessary public health measures governments have taken. Allowing them to fail would mean a pointless destruction of valuable resources.
The wage subsidy is somewhat crude and inevitably there will be some waste. Some firms will be given more money than they need, some workers will be given more, some less.
It was never going to be perfect
Given more time, the treasury could have designed something better targeted, less wasteful. It didn’t have it. The economy has never experienced so sudden a collapse.
But there are a few simple things the government could do to make it better.
It could include short-term casuals and visa holders, and it should take care not to weaken the Fair Work Act.
JobKeeper won’t prevent a serious contraction in the Australian economy, but it should give us a very good chance to bounce back on the other side.
<hr>
We would like to thank Jeff Borland for his comments on a draft version of this article.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135195/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-hamilton-155869">Steven Hamilton</a>, Visiting Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/crawford-school-of-public-policy-australian-national-university-3292">Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bruce-preston-452859">Bruce Preston</a>, Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne-722">University of Melbourne</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-edmond-673265">Chris Edmond</a>, Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne-722">University of Melbourne</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/jobkeeper-is-quick-dirty-and-effective-there-was-no-time-to-make-it-perfect-135195">original article</a>.
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JobKeeper is quick, dirty and effective, there was no time for perfection

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EXPERT OBSERVER
If you’re working from home for the first time, you might be asking yourself why you didn’t get to do this years ago.
The benefits of remote work have been discussed for nearly half a century. Many thinkers predicted a near future where work moves to the worker, rather than the worker to the work.
In 1969, Alan Kiron, a staff scientist at the US Patent Office, wrote in The Washington Post about how computers and new communication tools could change life and work. He called this “dominetics” – a combination of domicile, connections and electronics. The term never caught on, but the idea did.
Amid the 1973 OPEC oil crisis and skyrocketing fuel prices, a University of Southern California research group led by Jack Nilles conducted one of <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Telecommunications-Transportation-Tradeoff-Options-Tomorrow-1976-09-30/dp/B01JXRQ90A/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Telecommunications-Transportation+Tradeoff%3A+Options+for&amp;amp;qid=1585617138&amp;amp;sr=8-1%20%22%22">the first major studies</a> of what Nilles would call “telecommuting”.
Nilles’s team studied a Los Angeles-based insurance company with more than 2,000 employees. Each worker travelled 34.4 kilometres a day on average, at a total cost (in 1974 prices) of US$2.73 million a year.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325167/original/file-20200403-99349-1xemqvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Los Angeles traffic in 1972. <a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HOLLYWOOD_FREEWAY_-_NARA_-_542684.jpg">Gene Daniels/US Environmental Protection Agency</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a>
Their study, published in 1976, concluded technology would soon make it more economical for organisations to decentralise using telecommuting. But Nilles also came to understand that “technology was not the limiting factor in the acceptance of telecommuting”.
Satellite work
Still, technology was a factor. This was a time when telephones and telefax machines were the only telecommunications equipment most people knew. Very few homes had personal computers, let alone access to the early internet. So the book focused more on redesigning work to let employees commute to local satellite offices.
Nilles illustrated the idea with the diagrams below.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324813/original/file-20200402-23090-19tezy3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">Jack Nilles’s diagrams for teleworking.
The principles were similar to the early architecture of the internet, whose designers were also interested in system resilience (notably a communications network that could <a href="https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/papers/2005/P2626.pdf">survive nuclear attack</a>).
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325153/original/file-20200403-99351-113b71x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
Baran’s 1962 diagrams of the internet as a distributed communications network.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325170/original/file-20200403-74243-ddo26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325170/original/file-20200403-74243-ddo26s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
A magazine advertisement for the Apple II computer in December 1977. <a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apple_II_advertisement_Dec_1977_page_1.jpg">Apple Computer Inc/Wikimedia</a>
Home telecommuting became more viable as the personal computer market exploded in the late 1970s. Apple’s <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/personal-computers/17/300">breakthrough Apple II</a>, for example, was released in 1977.
In 1980 futurist Alvin Toffler, author of the 1970 book Future Shock, predicted in his sequel, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/The_Third_Wave_Alvin_Toffler/The%20Third%20Wave%20-%20Alvin%20Toffler_djvu.txt">The Third Wave</a>, that the home would “assume a startling new importance” in the information age, becoming “a central unit in the society of tomorrow – a unit with enhanced rather than diminished economic, medical, educational and social functions”.
Here comes the internet
Toffler accurately saw technology’s potential, but it would be some time before remote working became relatively easy. Consider what sending an email involved in 1984:
How to send an email 1980s style. Electronic message writing down the phone line first shown on Thames TV’s computer program Database in 1984.
But with the growth in the internet, management guru Peter Drucker felt confident enough <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.amazon.com.au/Ecological-Vision-Reflections-American-Condition/dp/0765807254">by 1993</a> to declare commuting to the office obsolete:
It is now infinitely easier, cheaper and faster to do what the 19th century could not do: move information, and with it office work, to where the people are. The tools to do so are already here: the telephone, two-way video, electronic mail, the fax machine, the personal computer, the modem, and so on.
Vision versus reality
Despite the technology, the growth in working from home has been slow. A large survey of Anglo countries <a href="https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/O90WYGXZ">by IBM in 2014</a> found just 9% of employees teleworked at least some of the time, with about half of those doing it full-time or most of the time. Data from Australia and US suggest the proportion was still less than 20% at the end of 2019.
<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6333.0Main+Features1August%202019?OpenDocument">Australian statistics</a> state almost a third of people do some work from home. But this inflates the number by including all those who work at home to catch up on work from the office.
There are have been two main barriers to greater uptake.
One, as Nilles himself <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2015/12/the-invention-of-telecommuting/418047/">acknowledged</a>, is organisational culture.
How we organise often <a href="https://chiefmartec.com/2016/11/martecs-law-great-management-challenge-21st-century">lags behind</a> what technology permits. Many organisations still cling to traditional ideas about managing people. If managers can’t see their employees working, they assume they won’t be.
The second problem is more intractable.
People actually like to be around each other. We’re social creatures. Indeed, a direct consequence of remote work is the <a href="http://codinginparadise.org/ebooks/html/blog/start_of_coworking">the co-working movement</a>, a response to the psychological and social challenges of working alone from home.
Even the technology companies that make teleworking and electronic cottages possible remain wedded to central offices. In 2013 Yahoo’s new chief executive, Marissa Mayer, <a href="https://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/masters-learning-and-organizational-change/knowledge-lens/stories/2014/are-face-to-face-teams-more-creative-than-virtual-teams">discouraged employees</a> from working from home, because “people are more collaborative and innovative when they’re together face to face”.
Apple founder Steve Job was also apparently obsessed with having physical office space that encouraged staff mingling. This reportedly including stressing over details like bathroom locations so <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238433">personal encounters</a> would occur.
What about the future?
These challenges remain.
But circumstances should assist at least with the organisational and cultural barriers. Home working is simply, for now, the new reality. Businesses have no choice but to make it work.
After at least <a href="https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/scott-morrison-warns-australia-to-prepare-for-six-month-coronavirus-battle-c-746412">six months</a>, it’s easy to imagine some of this will stick.
The issue of social needs will be thornier. As Toffler himself <a href="https://archive.org/stream/The_Third_Wave_Alvin_Toffler/The%20Third%20Wave%20-%20Alvin%20Toffler_djvu.txt">said</a>, “it would be a mistake to underestimate the need for direct face-to-face contact in business, and all the subliminal and nonverbal communication that accompanies that contact”.
Perhaps the future will look a bit more like Nilles’s idea, with the growth of local co-working spaces, designed not overcome the limits of technology but to meet our needs as social beings.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135034/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julian-waters-lynch-1005137">Julian Waters-Lynch</a>, Lecturer Entrepreneurship and Innovation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/50-years-of-bold-predictions-about-remote-work-it-isnt-all-about-technology-135034">original article</a>.
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Predictions about remote work, it's not all about technology

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<div>EXPERT OBSERVER</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Housing conditions were strong up until the end of February, the last of the pre-Coronavirus data series showed. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Total housing lending was fairly steady at $19.5 billion, representing an increase of +13.1 per cent from a year earlier, mainly driven by homebuyers. </div>
<img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tj7kB74Cv28/Xo048SI75LI/AAAAAAAA1Jg/s4CFqoIWW4gX7Mo97meC-8FgegCjW6M7wCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/HF2.jpg" width="640" height="366" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1440">
First homebuyer commitments rose to the highest level since 2009.
 <img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7d99RZVWWZM/Xo048PZtQVI/AAAAAAAA1JY/mkyCDs4_KPUAmZJBb1bFWbRLACAWaY3awCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/HF3.jpg" width="640" height="378" style="font-size: 12.16px;" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1398">
<div>At the state level, homebuyer loans (ex-refi) in Queensland and Western Australia were strong, while New South Wales and Victoria saw a partial retracement, although volumes in these states remained +15 per cent and +20 per cent higher than a year earlier respectively.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="separator"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kiyhs8_oEo4/Xo048QGK6oI/AAAAAAAA1Jc/2-ANgNnHLDsVHpZypHKAfi0zxh4AET7kQCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/HF1.jpg" width="640" height="380" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1392"></div>
For home buyers purchasing existing dwellings the average loan size was steady at a near-record high.
<div class="separator"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_n553QTxyPs/Xo049K_1vkI/AAAAAAAA1Jk/ubZ9VV4Y3DUgx9yKI7xSyX2DLjkbaiB5QCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/HF4.jpg" width="640" height="382" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1369"></div>
There was some variation around the states, partly impacted by refinancing activity.
<div class="separator"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V0wxrfOsSto/Xo049Qhu3uI/AAAAAAAA1Jo/ibRdXCV_EdMM0hP04S3mmFceQHshcVOkgCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/HF5.jpg" width="640" height="374" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1421"></div>
<div>
The wrap Overall, lending volumes were considerably stronger than a year earlier up until February 2020, but transaction activity is now expected to drop sharply through March and April as movements are restricted. </div>
<div>
 PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of AllenWargent property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogger</a>.
</div>
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Housing loans declined slightly in February: Pete Wargent

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GUEST OBSERVER
The National Cabinet <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-01/coronavirus-eviction-moratorium-in-australia-what-does-it-mean/12105188" style="font-size: 12.16px;">announced a moratorium on evictions</a> just over a week ago in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As government ministers and commentators have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/02/real-estate-agents-criticised-for-suggesting-tenants-consider-using-superannuation-to-pay-rent" style="font-size: 12.16px;">tried to make clear</a>, it’s intended only to stop evictions – not rent payments. But the sudden losses of jobs and incomes mean many households cannot continue to pay pre-crisis rents.
Tenants are seeking rent reductions or waivers from their landlords, with disturbingly mixed results. It is time for governments to step in and resolve the issue, by legally mandating rent reductions across the board.
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02673037.2019.1644297">Recent analysis</a> of renter and landlord household finances clearly shows the latter group are much better placed to take a financial hit from this pandemic.
Up to now the prime minister has encouraged tenants and landlords to make individual arrangements. In the absence of any government guidance, agents’ and tenants’ representatives agree on this much: the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-mess-renters-landlords-and-agents-face-coronavirus-quagmire-20200406-p54hj9">situation is a mess</a>.
Some landlords and agents are responding sympathetically. Others are hesitant, apparently wary voluntary reductions may void their insurance. Some are insisting on full payment, or even increasing rents. And some were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/02/real-estate-agents-criticised-for-suggesting-tenants-consider-using-superannuation-to-pay-rent">advising tenants to draw on their superannuation</a> to pay rent – until <a href="https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/articles/asic-letter-unlicensed-financial-advice-by-real-estate-agents-to-tenants/">ASIC warned them off</a>.
Why should government step in?
Yesterday the National Cabinet <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-070420">addressed commercial tenancies</a>, but again left aside residential tenancies. It is within the power of state and territory governments to sort this mess out. They could legislate to reduce rents to some fraction of current rents or to zero – a complete suspension of rent liabilities for the declared duration of the pandemic.
With federal government co-operation, mortgage interest could receive the same treatment: mandatorily reduced or suspended for the pandemic, with principal repayments deferred.
This is the appropriate response to the peculiar nature of this crisis. The key point here is that government is deliberately suppressing economic activity to prevent transmission of the virus. With household incomes much reduced – and governments trying to top them up with new payments – it makes sense also to reduce household outflows.
A look at renter and landlord finances
The biggest household expenses to reduce are rent and interest. Here’s a quick sketch of incomes and outflows in the Australian private rental sector, using the latest available figures from the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4130.0Main+Features12017-18?OpenDocument">ABS</a>, the ATO, the <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/completed/renters">Productivity Commission</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02673037.2019.1644297">detailed analysis</a> of previous rounds of data last year by Kath Hulse, Margaret Reynolds and me.
About 2.5 million Australian households rent privately. Just over half are in the bottom 40% of households by income. About one-third are low-income households paying more than 30% of their income in rent – and that’s before the COVID-19 income losses.
Private renters pay about A$43 billion a year in rent to another, smaller group of households: Australia’s 1.3 million landlord households.
A little more than half of that rental income, A$22 billion, flows right out again to banks, as interest payments on investment loans. For 60% of landlords the interest outflow, plus other property-related expenses, is greater than their rental income: they are negatively geared. For them, rental income is not about putting food on the table; it is part-funding their investment or speculation in property.
This negatively geared group receives high incomes from work and other sources. Leaving aside their net rental losses, they have an average annual taxable income of about A$94,000, versus A$54,000 for non-landlords. Landlords’ other incomes may have taken a COVID-19 hit, but the most common occupations for this group – general managers, registered nurses and accountants – have probably fared better than the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-130-billion-jobkeeper-payment-what-the-experts-think-135043">casual and gig workers</a>.
Landlords who derive a net positive rental income mostly receive other income too. Their average annual taxable income is A$66,000 before net rent is added.
A relative few landlords, 16%, are post-retirement age. They may well rely on rental income for consumption, but, on average, they are rich, with almost A$3 million in net wealth.
A final point about landlords: they are more likely to have a partner than non-landlords. Presumably, then, they have access to shared resources when times are tough. The average disposable household income for landlords is A$135,000 a year, versus A$82,000 for non-landlords.
So, were tenants’ rental outflows reduced, landlord households are relatively well-positioned to bear a reduction in their rental incomes.
How to ease the burden on landlords
Landlords would, of course, also want to reduce their own outflows. They have probably already done so, because the pandemic has closed so many discretionary spending opportunities.
Another outflow – the A$3 billion a year they spend on real estate agents – would also be reduced, because agent fees are mostly calculated as a proportion of rent. This would cause pain for agents, but many of their activities – inspecting properties, handling eviction proceedings, conducting marketing campaigns – are not needed in a pandemic. <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-04/Fact_sheet_supporting_businesses_0.pdf">JobKeeper payments</a> could support their businesses.
 
The biggest pain would be the interest outflow. But let’s reduce or suspend interest too, for both owner-occupiers and landlords. This would reduce income for banks, which would have a problem when their own liabilities to whole funders come due.
And at that point a really useful negotiation could take place between banks and the Australian government. They could “sit down, talk to each other and work this out” – as the PM has suggested to millions of individuals – to keep finance operating, in return for reformed service and a public equity stake.
In ordinary times, rents and interest have a controversial role in the economy. They extract value from productive actors in the economy for the benefit of owners of property and financial assets, and are the object of speculation. But, as the political economist David Harvey <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2814-the-limits-to-capital">observes</a>, they also have a co-ordinating role that drives competition and future production.
But these are not ordinary times. For the moment, at least, we don’t need rent to co-ordinate what the economy must do. We need to produce the essentials and whatever else can be safely done at home, with the rest of production in hibernation. And we need to ensure households retain enough income for the essentials, with reductions in income equitably shared.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135929/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-martin-203935">Chris Martin</a>, Senior Research Fellow, City Futures Research Centre, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-1414">UNSW</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/rents-can-and-should-be-reduced-or-suspended-for-the-coronavirus-pandemic-135929">original article</a>.
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Rents can and should be reduced or suspended for the coronavirus pandemic

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EXPERT OBSERVER
The property development sector has so far proven to be more insulated to the broader economic chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with developments pressing on where possible.
But the reality is it is only a matter of time before development itself starts to feel the pinch. The normal processes of business are being disrupted and even disabled. This will become fatal to some businesses if action is not taken rapidly.
It’s critical that developers and other industry stakeholders work together now to find mutually beneficial solutions that allow our industry to keep moving in these difficult times.
Planning approval authorities like local Councils in particular need to come to the party.
As supply chains become increasingly disrupted, materials that are critical to meet development compliance are becoming harder to acquire.
If compliance can’t be met, and subdivisions are not completed then titles are not issued – stakeholders don’t get paid and work ceases. It’s a simple domino effect, and all parts of the industry will feel it.
One idea would be to implement a sort of “remaining works schedule” – the idea being that any remaining works that that aren’t complete, as a result of missing materials, can still be issued with an amended statement of compliance – this way settlements and payments keep moving and the industry keeps turning.
If we don’t rise to the challenge presented by this pandemic then we might not have an industry in the foreseeable future.
Our industry has always been renowned for its innovation and agile thinking. It’s needed now more than ever.
FRANCO BEVACQUA is the Managing Director at Charles Lloyd Property Group
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Planning authorities must adapt if construction sector is to survive COVID-19

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GUEST OBSERVATION
In the past, the courts were ideal breeding grounds for spreading disease. In what became known as the “Black Assize”, a deadly fever that swept through prisons and courts in England in 1586, 11 of 12 jurors in one trial died. So did a number of judges and constables.
In the current coronavirus pandemic, Australian courts are taking no chances, with <a href="http://www.supremecourt.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Home%20Page/Announcements/Covid-19,%20Jury%20Trials,%2015%20March%202020.pdf">NSW</a>, Victoria and other states announcing there will be no new jury trials until further notice.
But many courts are rapidly <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/courts-look-to-remote-technology-amid-virus-20200320-p54c85">increasing</a> the use of video for other essential hearings. States and territories are also developing <a href="https://www.courts.act.gov.au/about-the-courts/news/response-to-the-covid-19-virus">new protocols</a> for how to use video in their courtrooms.
In a sense, the courts have been preparing for an outbreak like this for some time. Witnesses and defendants routinely appear in court via video link, as do judicial officers in Northern Territory and South Australia courts. Tribunals have been using video for even longer.
Our research, however, suggests that attempts to translate courtroom interactions to a video-mediated process do not always work. Introducing monitors into the courtroom requires a reimagining of courtroom spaces, social cues, symbols and performances.
Does appearing remotely hurt defendants?
In the case of vulnerable witnesses like sexual assault victims and children, there is little to no evidence that testimony via video (from a special room located in the court building) impacts a jury’s verdict, though users themselves report challenges with such a set-up.
In one of our studies, we <a href="https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:51755/">simulated</a> a criminal trial in which mock jurors were randomly assigned to different configurations, including:
<ul>
<li>
a defendant sitting in the dock in the courtroom,
</li>
<li>
a defendant sitting beside their lawyer in the courtroom,
</li>
<li>
a defendant appearing remotely on their own (as they would in most standard remote hearings),
</li>
<li>
or a defendant appearing with their lawyer in a video hearing, with the prosecutor also appearing on video.
</li>
</ul>
We found defendants appearing via video were no more likely to be found guilty than if they were sitting beside their lawyers in court.
However, if the defendant was isolated in a dock – the normal situation in most courts – he was significantly more likely to be considered guilty. It seems that <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jols.12033">isolation in the dock</a> is worse for defendants than isolation on a screen.
Other research, however, points to different issues with video hearings. In criminal matters, defendants who appear remotely from police custody or jail are more likely to have a <a href="https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7365&amp;context=jclc">higher bail set</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/research-and-analysis/moj-research/virtual-courts.pdf">plead guilty and receive longer sentences</a> than those who appear in person.
Similarly, asylum seekers appearing remotely from detention are less likely to <a href="https://bailobs.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/systematic-failure-1.pdf">actively participate</a> in their tribunal hearing and more likely to be <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ingrid_Eagly/publication/283711668_Remote_Adjudication_in_Immigration/links/5643c27608ae54697fb3e885/Remote-Adjudication-in-Immigration.pdf">deported</a>.
Some defendants have <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.bookdepository.com/Pixelated-Prisoner-Carolyn-McKay/9781138085107">reported</a> feeling disorientated, not being able to hear or understand the proceedings and lacking confidence in the fairness of the hearing.
One reason is the design of a remote criminal hearing is inherently imbalanced. The judge, prosecutor and often defence counsel, as well as court staff and members of the public, are all grouped together in the actual courtroom, while the defendant is alone on a screen.
In this lopsided configuration, it may be hard for the defendant to feel as if they are a part of the proceedings or for those in the courtroom to feel the defendant’s presence.
How different designs and protocols can help
In a <a href="https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:15505">2013</a> study on remote participation in court, we produced a set of guidelines to help address some of the shortcomings of video technology.
These included putting the remote participant in a room with a window or piece of artwork, which helps to reduce their stress levels. Additionally, making introductions at the start of the hearing and ensuring everyone can see and hear can also make people feel more at ease.
Now, with coronavirus making it impossible for physical gatherings of any kind, we need to reimagine courtrooms as a completely virtual space where all parties meet on the same plane.
This has already been piloted in some instances. In 2018, the UK Ministry of Justice trialled the country’s first-ever “video hearings” in the <a href="https://insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk/2018/09/13/video-hearings-put-to-the-test/">tax tribunal</a>, where appellants and representatives from the tax office attended remotely from their home or office.
As an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/implementing-video-hearings-party-to-state-a-process-evaluation">independent evaluator</a> of this pilot, we found participants were able to access their hearings easily, understood the proceedings and considered the format to be appropriately formal. This was despite the fact they experienced frequent technical disruptions.
In particular, participants benefited from a “dry run” before the hearing to iron out issues with sound or video, and by the judge making introductions and getting the parties ready at the start.
There were also important design elements that improved the experience for participants, including the introduction of a virtual “waiting room” where they were kept informed about the timing of their case.
The immersive virtual courtroom
In the future, technology will allow us to create an immersive courtroom experience.
Working with a range of justice partners, we developed a <a href="https://courtofthefuture.org/publications/virtual-court-study/">proof of concept</a> of such a virtual courtroom at the Queensland Supreme Court in 2016, showing judges and other stakeholders how could work.
In this set-up, all the participants – the judge, defendant, lawyers, witnesses and jurors – were seated in pods or video suites surrounded by screens with the other participants around them.
Of course, once the world returns to a semblance of normalcy after the pandemic, courts will go back to places where people meet together in a room. But the lessons learned from this time are vital.
We can reimagine courts in a virtual space. Paying attention to key design principles and modifying the way we conduct court rituals on video will allow for effective participation in the courts of the future.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134386/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/meredith-rossner-1002103">Meredith Rossner</a>, Professor of Criminology, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877">Australian National University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-tait-704895">David Tait</a>, Professor of Justice Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/courts-are-moving-to-video-during-coronavirus-but-research-shows-its-hard-to-get-a-fair-trial-remotely-134386">original article</a>.
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Courts moving to video during COVID-19 but its hard to get a fair trial

It's taken less than nine months for developer Sherpa Property Group to sell out all 51 apartments in its <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-oasis-palm-beach-7-9-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Oasis</a> development in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/palm-beach-qld-4221">Palm Beach</a>, over a year before its anticipated completion.

&nbsp;

Located at 7-9 Sixth Avenue, the $67 million development has resonated strongly with both local owner-occupiers and downsizers seeking high-quality apartments within walking distance of the beach, dining precincts and everyday amenities.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151449 project_image_fid=357458]

Christie Leet, Founder of <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/sherpa-property-group">Sherpa Group</a>, said the sell-out reflected both the strength of the Palm Beach market and the success of Sherpa's community-first approach to development.

"The sell-out of Oasis is a fantastic outcome and reinforces the strong demand we're seeing for thoughtfully designed apartments in lifestyle locations," Leet said.

"From the outset, our vision was to create a development that genuinely enhanced the Palm Beach community while providing residents with exceptional homes and wellness-focused amenities.

"We've been incredibly encouraged by the level of local support throughout the campaign, 72.5 per cent of buyers are locals, with a significant proportion of purchasers choosing Oasis as their future home rather than an investment."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151449 project_image_fid=357463]

Construction is now progressing following development approval, with trusted builder LPS Group delivering the project and completion anticipated in Q3 2027.

Oasis forms part of Sherpa Group's successful Flourish collection, which has become recognised for its focus on wellness, community and elevated coastal living.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=151449 project_image_fid=357469]

Residents will have private access to a rooftop amenity space featuring a pool, gym, sauna, steam room, hot and cold plunge pools, spa and barbecue facilities.

"The success of Oasis demonstrates that buyers continue to prioritise quality, location and lifestyle," Leet said.

"We are proud to have delivered a project that has resonated so strongly with the market and look forward to bringing Oasis to life for our future residents."

Sherpa recently launched <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/flourish-soleira-palm-beach-1150-1160-gold-coast-highway-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Soleira</a>, its third instalment of the Flourish brand in Palm Beach following Flourish Oasis and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/amargo-6-12-sixth-avenue-palm-beach-qld-4221">Flourish Amargo</a>.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=151449]

Joel Robinson

Sherpa sells out Flourish Oasis in booming Palm Beach

Urban Property Group's <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/la-vera-macquarie-park-94-talavera-road-macquarie-park-nsw-2113">La Vera</a> is leading the next phase of Macquarie Park's residential evolution, with the new apartment development set to become the first of several new apartment projects in the precinct to complete.

The 169-apartment building has now topped out ahead of its scheduled completion in the third quarter of 2026, as new residential investment continues to reshape one of Sydney's largest employment hubs into a true mixed-use precinct.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=368645]

Cox Architecture has designed La Vera to capture the best of its unique positioning on Talavera Road, orienting the building towards Lane Cove National Park.&nbsp;The building features a sculpted northern façade with flowing curves inspired by the surrounding landscape, while its city-facing elevation adopts a more structured architectural expression to maximise skyline views.

"The vision for the project was to conceive a building that adopted an organic and curvilinear form to the northern portion that faces the Lane Cove National Park," <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/cox-architecture">Cox Architecture</a> Director Felipe Miranda said.

"The residents that reside in the northern portion of the building benefit by having beautifully crafted curved balconies that speak to the natural context and heighten the relationship of their internal living spaces to the external balconies."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=134951 project_image_fid=358802]

La Vera offers a diverse mix of one, two, three, and four-bedroom configurations, with prices currently starting from $740,000. Buyers so far have been a mix of Sydney-based investors,&nbsp;metro commuters, owner-occupiers and downsizers from surrounding North Shore suburbs.

Both investors and owner-occupiers have been drawn to La Vera's proximity to Macquarie University, Macquarie University Hospital, Macquarie Centre and the Sydney Metro, infrastructure that supports both strong rental demand and a convenient lifestyle for residents.

The apartments feature full-height glazing, timber flooring throughout living areas, stone kitchen benchtops, SMEG appliances, floor-to-ceiling bathroom tiling and ducted air conditioning.

Residents will have access to a rooftop recreation level featuring a swimming pool, sauna, barbecue facilities and landscaped relaxation areas, complemented by additional communal space at ground level. Many apartments enjoy uninterrupted views across Lane Cove National Park, reinforcing the project's connection to its natural setting.

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<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/urban-property-group">Urban Property Group</a>, a family-owned developer and builder with nearly four decades of experience, holds a 4.5-star iCIRT rating and was Australia's first developer to introduce 10-Year Latent Defects Insurance (LDI). La Vera is the first apartment development in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/macquarie-park-nsw-2113">Macquarie Park</a> approved to offer the additional insurance protection, alongside a five-year warranty on SMEG appliances.

Urban Property Group CEO Patrick Elias said the additional protection reflects changing buyer expectations in the off the plan market.

"Consumers are a lot more weary and a lot more concerned in buying off the plan than they ever have been. Having LDI is a tool to portray the confidence that we have in our product, and a confidence we want buyers to share," Elias said.

Following completion of the building later this year, buyers will move into their apartments well before Christmas.

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La Vera closes in on completion as Macquarie Park continues residential transformation

Brisbane developer Red &amp; Co's decision to include dual key apartments in its debut Gold Coast apartment development, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/como-varsity-lakes-22-lake-street-varsity-lakes-qld-4227">COMO Varsity Lakes</a>, is proving to be one of the project's biggest drawcards, with buyers quickly snapping up the flexible residences.

More than half of the project's 36 dual key apartments have already sold, helping drive COMO beyond the 50 per cent sold mark within the first month of launch.

The strong response highlights growing demand for apartment designs that can adapt to changing lifestyles, with buyers increasingly looking for homes that accommodate multi-generational living, provide rental income opportunities or simply offer greater flexibility over time.

Located on the shores of Lake Orr, COMO will deliver 156 apartments across 16 levels, with the dual-key residences forming a limited release within the broader development.

Each combines a primary two-bedroom apartment with a fully self-contained studio on a single title, connected by a shared foyer and lockable internal door. The design allows owners to house ageing parents, adult children or guests while maintaining privacy, or lease the secondary residence to generate additional income.

Just 17 of the original 36 dual key apartments remain available.

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The innovative configuration combines two fully self-contained residences on a single title, typically comprising a primary two-bedroom apartment alongside a separate studio residence, connected via a shared foyer and lockable internal door.&nbsp;

The model is proving particularly attractive to owner occupiers navigating changing family dynamics and the realities of the current housing crisis.&nbsp;

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<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/project-marketer/npa">NPA</a>&nbsp;CEO Andrew Erwin said dual key living was resonating strongly with modern buyers because it delivered both financial flexibility and practical lifestyle benefits.&nbsp;

“The housing crisis and rising cost of living are fundamentally changing how Australians think about home ownership,” Erwin said.&nbsp;

“Dual key apartments provide a genuine solution for families who want to stay connected while maintaining independence. Parents can help adult children save for a future home, ageing parents can remain nearby without moving into aged care, and owners still retain privacy and flexibility.

“Importantly, buyers are also recognising the financial advantages. It creates the opportunity to generate additional income from part of the home without the holding costs associated with owning a separate investment property.”&nbsp;

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Unlike traditional dual occupancy arrangements, the residences operate under a single title, meaning owners only incur one set of body corporate fees, council rates and holding costs.&nbsp;

The secondary residence can also evolve over time - functioning as guest accommodation, a home office, creative studio or private retreat before later becoming an income-producing asset.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/red-co">Red &amp; Co</a>&nbsp;Director and Co-Founder David Laverty said the strong early sales reflected growing buyer urgency and changing priorities within the market.&nbsp;

“Securing more than half of COMO’s residences within such a short timeframe is an outstanding result and a clear endorsement of both the design and location,” Laverty said.&nbsp;

“Buyers are responding to the combination of location, connectivity and amenity, but ultimately it’s value relative to other East Coast markets that is driving enquiry.”&nbsp;

“We’re also seeing strong interest from owner occupiers looking for homes that can adapt with them over time. Flexibility has become one of the most important considerations for buyers in today’s market.”&nbsp;

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Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/bda-architecture">BDA Architecture</a>, COMO features a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom residences with 2.7-metre ceilings and larger-format floorplans aimed at owner occupiers, downsizers and lifestyle-focused buyers.&nbsp;

The development will feature an extensive rooftop recreation and wellness offering including a 25-metre lap pool, sundeck, barbecue and dining areas, gym, sauna, plunge baths, landscaped gardens, wellness spaces and rooftop pickleball and paddleball courts.

The remaining dual key apartments range from 137 sqm to 167 sqm and include generous three-bedroom layouts with separate self-contained studio accommodation and dual parking.&nbsp;

Erwin said the dual key concept represented a broader shift in how Australians would live in the future.

“People want homes that can evolve with their lives,” he said.&nbsp;

“A dual key apartment can suit a family today, support an ageing parent tomorrow, and potentially generate income later on. That adaptability is becoming incredibly valuable in the current environment.”

Prices currently range from $2,115,750 to $2,583,000.&nbsp;

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Inter-generational living drives demand for COMO’s dual key apartments as housing pressures reshape buyer priorities 

Builder-developer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/ceerose">Ceerose</a> has doubled down on its Leichhardt ambitions, lodging its second State Significant Development Application (SSDA) in the suburb in the last six months.

Their newest proposal seeks to transform a former industrial precinct into a new residential community centred around the adaptive reuse of one of the site's heritage warehouse buildings.

The new project, on a 6,930 sqm block at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/40-76-william-street-leichhardt-nsw-2040">40–76 William Street</a>, will bring more than 200 apartments to a suburb that has seen little to no new supply in recent years. It follows Ceerose's late 2025 SSDA for a mixed-use apartment project on nearby Parramatta Road, signalling the developer's growing investment in Sydney's Inner West.

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/woods-bagot">Woods Bagot</a>, the redevelopment would involve the demolition of four existing industrial buildings while retaining and adaptively reusing the site's most significant warehouse. The retained structure would anchor a new residential precinct comprising five interconnected buildings arranged around a large central landscaped courtyard, with heights stepping from five storeys along the surrounding residential streets to 11 storeys at the William Street corner.

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7258c54c-8167-479e-8361-2d5fca9915b4" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010B%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%202.jpg?VersionId=S9DQfxu_jpcB5LrAEYFUbyMzg5odW6i5" />

According to the Architecture Design Report by Woods Bagot, the proposal "seeks to create a residential village centred around a generous green heart while celebrating the site's industrial heritage through the adaptive reuse of the existing warehouse building."

The development would comprise 203 apartments, with 188 proposed as build-to-sell residences, alongside 15 affordable housing apartments.

Rather than treating the retained warehouse as a standalone heritage object, Woods Bagot has sought to weave the site's industrial history throughout the masterplan. The proposal retains the north and west facades of the landmark corner warehouse, while new buildings reinterpret the site's brick-and-steel industrial language through their material palette and architectural expression.

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="9e8c64c2-881b-49e1-8c90-6b6acaaa45b6" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010C%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%203.jpg?VersionId=Qm8_8H_Xrg_sc4Mdjc59vlAcKF_5wRTb" />

The design is organised around what Woods Bagot describes as a "green heart", a landscaped communal open space that reinstates the leafy character removed when the site became an industrial storage facility. A new pedestrian laneway running through the site would improve permeability between William, North and Francis streets, linking residents through landscaped public spaces while activating the ground plane.

Residents would have access to communal gardens, rooftop open space and shared recreation areas distributed throughout the development. Sustainability has also been prioritised, with the project targeting an average 7.9-star NatHERS rating. Proposed initiatives include rooftop solar generation, rainwater harvesting, passive solar design, naturally ventilated lobbies, extensive cross-ventilation and the reuse of existing building fabric to reduce embodied carbon.

The adaptive reuse strategy became a defining feature of the application after heritage investigations found only one of the site's industrial buildings could feasibly be retained. The Heritage Impact Statement concludes that preserving the key warehouse façades while referencing the site's industrial character throughout the new development provides an appropriate balance between renewal and conservation.

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="efffafdb-594f-4e2b-a067-921fd51c05e1" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010D%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%204.jpg?VersionId=DPmE4.k16YRt0i27hEZVtJAffarpvUfx" />

"Retention and adaptation of the site buildings has been explored but found not to be feasible except for the tallest building, whose street facades will be retained," the heritage report states.

"The proposed building will interpret the brick and steel character of the subject site, including reuse of some components and construction of a large 'sawtooth' structure in the proposed open space."

<img alt="First look: Ceerose returns to Leichhardt with 203-apartment adaptive reuse proposal at former warehouse site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3bfef2b5-83f5-40cd-9cab-767092f34266" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Appendix%2010E%20-%20CGI%20-%20View%205.jpg?VersionId=7asb3i_ql4ybbuJOUb5UHBEIy0Q9t.DF" />

The William Street site is located around 300 metres from Leichhardt North Light Rail station and a short walk to Norton Street's retail, dining and hospitality precinct. The surrounding area has increasingly become a focus for urban renewal given its proximity to public transport and the Parramatta Road corridor.

Ceerose, founded by Edward Doueihi in 1998, has become one of Sydney's more active apartment developers, with completed projects including The Alex Collective in Alexandria, Abbie's Lane in Annandale, and the award-winning Munro House in Elizabeth Bay. They are currently delivering Belgravia, 17 luxury apartments in Potts Point.

First look: Ceerose doubles down in Leichhardt with adaptive reuse of former warehouse site

Melbourne developer Spacious Group has completed Voyage Altona, one of the closest new apartment developments to Altona Beach.

Off the plan purchasers have started moving into the 49-apartment project on Pier Street, with the remaining move-in-ready one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments starting from just over $500,000.

Display apartments have now been fitted out, allowing prospective buyers to inspect the completed residences by appointment.

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The completed apartments feature open-plan living and dining areas which extend onto private balconies and terraces, while full-height glazing maximises natural light throughout the interiors.&nbsp;

Hybrid timber-look flooring, stone benchtops, Miele appliances, porcelain-tiled bathrooms and generous storage feature throughout the building which also features landscaped communal areas, expansive shared terraces, lift access and secure on-grade parking.

Drawing inspiration from its bayside setting, Voyage adopts a restrained palette of warm neutral tones and textured finishes. Many of the apartments take advantage of views across Port Phillip Bay, while the indoor-outdoor living spaces have been designed to make the most of the coastal outlook.

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Voyage was developed to address what Spacious Group identified as an undersupply of higher-quality apartment product in Altona, with a focus on owner-occupiers looking to remain within the bayside community.

"Voyage responds to very strong local buyer demand for quality, owner-occupier-focused product," says Barry Plant Projects Director Jarrod Farey, who has handled sales since the project's launch.

"The project delivers an elevated lifestyle proposition, with its design and quality of finish far exceeding anything previously produced in the area, as well as its proximity to Pier Street Village and the beach."

The majority of purchasers have been local downsizers and owner-occupiers looking to stay within the Altona community but who previously had limited opportunities to buy a brand-new apartment.

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