Around 400 additional homes could be built at Southwark Grounds on Port Road, lifting total site capacity from 1300 to around 1700 dwellings.

A recently approved code amendment would allow apartment towers of up to 14 storeys in some areas of Renewal SA’s redevelopment of the former West End Brewery.

Renewal SA Acting Chief Executive Shane Wingard said he welcomed the code amendment, with the increase in heights and homes making a positive impact on the supply of high-quality, well-connected housing close to the city.

“By going higher across some parts of Southwark Grounds, we are adding a substantial number of very well-located homes with little impact on project delivery time or planned open space,” Mr Wingard said.

Since the project officially launched in 2025, Mr Wingard said more than 12,000 enquiries had been received about living at Southwark Grounds.

“The very strong early interest we’ve seen since homes were first released in the precinct reinforces our plans to create more housing opportunities,” he said.

The Southwark Grounds code amendment was launched in December last year, with community engagement undertaken over five weeks from January.

It proposed increasing maximum building heights from eight to 14 storeys on the eastern section of Southwark Grounds, and to 12 storeys across the remainder of the site, with minimum building heights ranging from two to four storeys.

The code amendment was implemented through an Early Commencement policy in late January, allowing developers to quickly explore the viability of increased height and housing yield while other planning processes continue.

One of the first developers delivering apartment sites have already finalised redesigns to increase the number of apartments following the code amendment.

Samaras’ development adjacent to the future Colonel Light Park is now planning to deliver 125 apartments across 11 storeys, significantly greater than original plans of around 50 apartments across four storeys.

The developer is also exploring the potential for additional affordable housing outcomes.

Most of the apartments at Southwark Grounds will be delivered within a master-planned precinct on a large parcel of land on the eastern portion of the site, covering around two-thirds of its 8.4 hectares.

Wingard said detailed precinct planning over the coming months may identify further opportunities to increase yield further that could see total apartment numbers at Southwark Grounds, exceed this number.

Affordable homes at Southwark Grounds will also see a net increase, with Renewal SA maintaining its commitment to a minimum of 20 per cent affordable housing across the development.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Civil works have begun across the site, with construction under way on the first new roads surrounding a townhouse precinct in the south‑west corner of Southwark Grounds. This includes Renewal SA’s 17 Founder’s Row homes, which are on track for completion by Christmas.

“We expect to have people living at Southwark Grounds by the end of the year, so delivering roads and public spaces for those residents is among our highest priorities.”

Construction of 40 townhouses off Anderson Street, known as West Village and being delivered by Contour, is forecast to begin in mid‑2026. Kolabb’s Anderson Lane development will follow shortly after, delivering a further 26 townhouses.

Southwark Grounds is a state government‑led urban renewal project now set to deliver around 1,700 homes over the next decade.

Homes will be supported by a supermarket, a range of retail and hospitality offerings anchored by a revitalised Walkerville Brew Tower, a childcare centre, car parking and well‑connected public spaces.

Joel Robinson

400 new homes planned for Adelaide's former West End Brewery site

Brisbane developer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/cavcorp">Cavcorp</a> has lodged plans for a new mixed-use residential development at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/55-wyandra-street-teneriffe-qld-4005">55 Wyandra Street</a>, Teneriffe, anchored by an 85-metre public laneway designed to reconnect the suburb’s riverfront with the Gasworks precinct.

The buildings, known as Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane, would replace the existing Queensland Cotton head office site with a 15-storey residential tower transitioning to eight storeys toward Helen Street. The project has been designed by Plazibat Architects and lodged as a code assessable development application for 93 apartments across a 3,401 sqm mixed-use site within the Newstead and Teneriffe Waterfront neighbourhood plan.

Central to the scheme is the transformation of an existing service easement into a publicly accessible cross-block connection linking Wyandra and Helen Streets. Cavcorp says the new laneway will act as both a pedestrian shortcut and a landscaped civic space between the Teneriffe Riverwalk, ferry terminal, and Gasworks precinct.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="26e7f058-b065-4de8-b13d-a2b8cb64dfcc" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/bldg.png?VersionId=sELS0ZKYi361oYipUa1BIKfe_.DLZoFV" />

“The revised proposal delivers a legacy public-realm cross-block link, permanently secured for community use, transforming an existing private easement into a safe, high-quality pedestrian connection between the Teneriffe heritage riverwalk and the Gasworks–Long Island precinct,” the planning report states.

The laneway will sit beneath a large subtropical loggia integrated into the podium levels of the development. The design incorporates deep landscaping, water gardens, lobby spaces, business lounges, and ground-floor apartments to create what Cavcorp describes as a climate-responsive “urban verandah.”

The tower itself has been designed as a slender form with recessed floorplates and curved translucent corners inspired by contemporary Japanese architecture. The building height aligns with the Commercial Road precinct controls, which permit towers up to 15 storeys within proximity to Longland Street.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a8a17d40-43b6-4718-b3fd-67676fcbb485" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/pers%202_1.png?VersionId=i3VwDtp5AmL_8InW7w4qRbDFEpb744Jt" />

The project will comprise a mix of larger-format apartments aimed at owner-occupiers, downsizers, and families. The proposed apartment mix includes 11 loggia apartments across the lower levels, 50 four-bedroom Sky-Terrace apartments from levels three to seven, and 32 Sky-Pool Homes occupying the upper tower levels. The Sky-Pool Homes will feature private thermal plunge pools integrated into oversized balconies.

According to the application, the apartments are intended to reinterpret the scale and character of Teneriffe’s woolstore conversions and Queensland homes within a vertical residential format.

“The sky-pool homes build on Cavcorp’s previous projects and introduce a distinct apartment typology to Teneriffe, informed by both local and international precedent and responding to an identified market demand for enhanced safety, space and amenity,” the planning submission notes.

A major focus of the proposal is its five-level wellness and lifestyle offering, extending from the basement through to the rooftop.

Amenities proposed include a rooftop Swim &amp; Racquet Club with a 25-metre Olympic lap pool and tennis court, coworking spaces and libraries, golf simulators, wine storage, concierge facilities, business lounges, pet wash areas, and rooftop longevity-focused wellness spaces with spas, outdoor fitness zones, and landscaped terraces.

<img alt="First Look: Cavcorp unveils Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane plans for landmark wellness tower in Teneriffe" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="944b352c-49b9-4247-a4c6-5967b4b69fda" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/amenity.png?VersionId=Ed_qKjAtMwFT.5gfl3jiA9QwdWxSMsaX" />

All parking will be concealed within basement levels accessed from Wyandra and Helen Streets. Cavcorp says the deep-basement engineering approach allows the entire ground plane to prioritise landscaping, pedestrian movement, and active frontage rather than vehicle infrastructure.

The development continues Cavcorp’s concentration in Newstead and Teneriffe, where the Brisbane developer has delivered a number of apartment projects including Lucent, Le Bain, and Luminare, as well as the Long Island Wellness Precinct nearby. Several of those projects have received national design and architecture awards, including recognition under Brisbane’s “Buildings that Breathe” program.

Cavcorp unveils wellness-focused Teneriffe House and Teneriffe Lane apartment buildings

Focus Group Investments has lodged plans for a new apartment development at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/64-70-hanover-street-fitzroy-vic-3065">64–70 Hanover Street</a> in Fitzroy, seeking to utilise the Victorian Government’s recently introduced Great Design Fast Track pathway to accelerate approvals for the project.

The proposal is among the latest developments to emerge through the state-led initiative, which was established to fast-track well-designed residential projects in activity centres and transport-connected inner-city locations. The pathway allows qualifying developments that meet elevated design and housing benchmarks to bypass traditional council planning timeframes and instead be assessed directly by the Department of Transport and Planning.

Designed by SJB, the development will comprise a mix of apartments above activated lower levels, with a strong focus on architectural articulation, landscaping, and communal amenity. The design response seeks to balance the industrial character of Richmond’s former warehouse precincts with a more contemporary residential form.

<img alt="First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Richmond apartments" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="abea51cc-d85b-479e-9aef-a589f3b37ca7" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/ground.png?VersionId=e1Kf8EyPWwyiVumtqQ4rM5S4GpOR3CCz" />

Proposed are 63 new dwellings, a wide ranging mix of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, and townhouses and duplexes. They will be spread across a part-three, part-eight storey building.

The Planning and Urban Context Report by Tract says the development is of an "exemplary architectural standard" and has been carefully crafted by SJB Architects.

"Dwellings&nbsp;will benefit from excellent access to natural light, cross-ventilation opportunities and extensive communal space," the report noted.

The architectural material highlights the project’s integration of landscaped elements and communal spaces throughout the building. The proposal also incorporates sustainability initiatives aligned with the Victorian Government’s push for higher-performing apartment developments under the fast-track program.

The Great Design Fast Track was unveiled by the Victorian Government in 2024 as part of a broader housing supply strategy aimed at accelerating the delivery of new homes. Projects assessed through the pathway must demonstrate high-quality architecture, sustainability outcomes, and housing diversity while being located close to public transport and existing infrastructure.

<img alt="First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Richmond apartments" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="afdbe834-8dc4-4a77-a943-ba07bc927348" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/site_11.png?VersionId=0J657j.TaChAZfp93wqJYBTqSsnREJx2" />

Focus Group, founder and led by Paul De Lutiis, is increasingly active across Melbourne’s inner suburbs, targeting well-connected urban renewal locations suited to medium and higher-density residential development. The Fitzroy proposal continues that strategy, leveraging the area’s strong transport links, established retail amenity, and proximity to the CBD.

Fitzroy has been one of the most popular spots for developers and buyers in recent years. The likes of PACE Development Group, SMA Projects, Crema Group and Chapter Group, currently selling projects in the suburb.

First look: Focus Group Investments taps Victoria’s Great Design Fast Track for Fitzroy apartments

The Gold Coast Planning Committee has supported the preliminary approval for the Benowa Gardens Urban Village project following an extensive community consultation and assessment process.

The proposal will now proceed to a full council vote on June 2.

The application sought approval for a masterplanned urban village on the existing Benowa Gardens Shopping Centre site, combining new housing, retail, dining, health and lifestyle amenities within a walkable, integrated precinct.&nbsp;

The proposed redevelopment includes around 413 apartments integrated above a revitalised mixed-use centre featuring a full-line supermarket of 4,000 sqm, 6,000 sqm of specialty retail and dining space across around 30 retailers, a 7,000 sqm health and wellness precinct, and roughly 9,630 sqm of office and medical suites.&nbsp;

<img alt="$1b Benowa Gardens Urban Village moves to Full Council following Planning Committee support" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fb36ae47-80bc-45f0-9914-31b0c7b6007d" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/PR26576%20Ashmore%20Road%20C4%201121%20FI.jpg?VersionId=6mRKk2uU4r67TmTt39DKGUlvFRbTVqWa" />

The broader masterplan also includes very significant traffic and transport improvements, wide pedestrian walkways, upgraded pedestrian and cycle connections, and enhanced public areas designed to create a more connected and walkable community environment.&nbsp;

Centre owner Patrick Lu said the milestone reflected months of detailed planning, technical assessment and ongoing communication with local residents, businesses, schools and stakeholders.

“We appreciate the time, consideration and care Council officers and the Planning Committee have given this proposal throughout the assessment process,” Lu said.

“We also sincerely thank the local community for engaging with us, sharing feedback and participating in the consultation process over many months.

<img alt="$1b Benowa Gardens Urban Village moves to Full Council following Planning Committee support" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="32fd1fc3-d0e6-485f-ac57-9916c9bcb818" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/PR26576%20Ashmore%20Road%20C5%201121%20FI_2.jpg?VersionId=fz8qQKDBLQ7MyFRc856Zccfbh9nFwLOe" />

“We understand projects of this scale bring questions and concerns, which is why we have worked hard to listen carefully, provide information transparently and continue refining elements of the proposal where possible.

“Our vision has always been to create a well-designed, community-focused urban village that responds to the changing needs of the Gold Coast, while delivering improved amenity, housing diversity, healthcare access and local lifestyle benefits.

“This proposal is about creating a genuine live-work-play environment where residents can access everyday services, schools, healthcare, dining, shopping and green space within walking distance, while also supporting local jobs and economic activity.”

<img alt="$1b Benowa Gardens Urban Village moves to Full Council following Planning Committee support" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="50dfbd04-590e-4fc6-983b-766880947867" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Dining%20Day%20Time%20-%20High%20Resolution.jpg?VersionId=BP7ZoKJ0DdL_8iRkkC8VVx99moICV6kg" />

Lu said the proposal had evolved significantly through consultation and technical review, particularly around traffic, pedestrian and student safety and neighbourhood connectivity.&nbsp;

Melissa Griffin, Director at Urbis, said the recommendation recognised the strategic importance of delivering more housing and services within established urban areas already supported by infrastructure.

“This proposal represents the type of thoughtful, integrated growth that planning frameworks across South-East Queensland are encouraging,” Ms Griffin said.

“The project seeks to place housing, retail, healthcare and employment opportunities together in a highly accessible location close to schools, transport and existing services.

“Importantly, the process has involved significant technical assessment and community engagement to ensure local issues and feedback were properly considered throughout the planning pathway.”

$1 billion Benowa Gardens Urban Village heads to council vote following Planning Committee support

Surfers Paradise is officially set for its first new residential development with a 45-storey skybridge connecting the two towers.

John Camilleri’s Celestino Developments has been given the green light by the Gold Coast City Council to develop its major beachfront precinct across its huge 4,000 sqm oceanfront site at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/63-79-garfield-terrace-surfers-paradise-qld-4217">63–79 Garfield Terrace</a>, just five months after its <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/qld/first-look-exclusive-billionaire-winx-breeder-s-bold-two-tower-surfers-paradise-play-with-45th-storey-skybridge">submission in late 2025</a>.

The approved scheme will deliver two towers rising 55 and 48 storeys, connected by a skybridge positioned on level 45 that will house a range of resident-only wellness and entertainment spaces.

In its notice of approval, the Gold Coast City Council said the&nbsp;proposed overall built form has been designed to complement the scale, intensity and protect the adjacent amenity and surrounding streets through the use of varied setbacks, site cover and architectural elements.

<img alt="First look exclusive: Billionaire Winx breeder’s bold two-tower Surfers Paradise play with 45th-storey skybridge" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_75/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Screenshot%202025-12-30%20at%209.53.48%E2%80%AFAM.png?VersionId=ADyPJ_TFbJvSU9wZFOiCBnlPtgF7VWqW" />

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/dbi">DBI</a>, the development will comprise 275 apartments across the two towers, including a mix of two-, three-, and four-bedroom residences, as well as several penthouses. The apartments will sit above a landscaped podium featuring more than 90 metres of beachfront pool frontage, private resident lawns, lounges, and wellness spaces.

DBI said the design draws heavily from the movement and form of the coastal environment, with curving balcony lines and sculpted façades intended to soften the scale of the towers while maximising ocean outlooks and passive shading outcomes.

“The project occupies a rare, uninterrupted oceanfront site and has been shaped by a design philosophy that merges architectural elegance with environmental responsiveness and a carefully curated lifestyle experience,” DBI said in planning documents submitted to the Gold Coast City Council.

The most distinctive element of the approved project is the skybridge linking the two towers at level 45. The elevated communal space is planned to include executive lounges, formal dining areas, wellness facilities, and panoramic ocean-facing outlooks.

“The skybridge enhances the identity of the development, promotes social interaction, and delivers a lifestyle experience not found elsewhere on the Gold Coast,” DBI said.

At podium level, residents will have access to a suite of resort-style amenities, including resident lounges, private dining rooms, a yoga lawn, gymnasium, plunge pools, and treatment spaces. The beachfront pool has been designed with separate lap, lounge, and children’s areas extending across the width of the site.

The project will also introduce new food and beverage offerings along the Enderley Avenue and Oceanway frontages, contributing additional activation to the beachfront precinct.

First look: Winx billionaire’s beachfront Surfers Paradise apartment development greenlit

Prominent New Zealand apartment and hotel operator, <a href="/developers/safari-group">Safari Group</a>, is offering up a prime investment opportunity for Australians to purchase off the plan in one of the world’s most popular ski destinations.

They recently took to market Mountain Oak Queenstown Apartments, in the growing precinct of Remarkables Park in Frankton, near the airport and at the foot of The Remarkables - the mountain range the locals like to call “The Remarks”.&nbsp;

Sydney investors have shown interest in the one, two and three-bedroom apartments that secure high-season occupancy six months over the year, primarily over summer and winter months.

They average 90 per cent occupancy across their portfolio over January, February, March, August, November and December, while shoulder season months of April, July, September and October are still occupied 70 per cent of the time, with the growing appeal of Queenstown becoming not just a hotspot for the snow, but a lifestyle destination.

Even in the low seasons of May and June, occupancy levels reach around 40 per cent.

<img alt="Safari Group’s Mountain Oak Apartments brings new investment potential to Queenstown" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/f_auto,c_limit,w_1440,q_auto/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/field/image/Ext_Cam15_Sunny.jpg?VersionId=SJAROUM_1s.Tr5ciMk4EEj5oAt_Vewmv" />

Safari’s Safari Hotels arm can also manage the holiday letting for an investor, from the listing on holiday accommodation websites such as Airbnb and Booking.com to the cleaning and maintenance of the investment. They’ve been in the short stay management business for 15 years and offer 24/7 support for investors, an important convenience benefit for any overseas investor

Another major drawcard for Australians is that New Zealand doesn’t have a stamp duty policy - so the entry price of NZ$639,000 (AU$586,000), is all that is payable on completion.

<img alt="Safari Group’s Mountain Oak Apartments brings new investment potential to Queenstown" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,dpr_2.0,q_auto:good/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/313_Livingv2_WEB.jpg?VersionId=nV229fM0ZeYpoxOrX372HyGjfwY_LR8c" />

Safari is starting construction of the 141 apartments in Q2 this year, with a two-year build estimated to complete in mid-to-late 2027.<img alt="" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" height="15" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXczFpFAb7WuA6f4f9TtKWcqXyNwR8qqtakWv352ERkpqNlP3KwIo8YKxw67jZNHfpjEGIZGv5MQTbnvLZwNt8iu9IVdOrswOjCvBZ4zhSoOOLrpt6etVEZTN1gkBho0r_R72zdHNA?key=yq3daOanqHSb88QFd8jGYKdb" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" />​

The apartments will feature modern amenities and contemporary designs with expansive windows capturing sweeping views of The Remarkables mountain range.&nbsp;

Interiors are equipped with modern finishes, premium appliances, and secure electronic key-locked doors, ensuring a comfortable living experience for residents and guests alike.

With its strategic location near Coronet Peak and Cardrona Alpine Resort, as well as key retail and dining precincts such as Market Street, Five Mile Shopping Centre, and Remarkables Market, Mountain Oak offers a strong proposition for investors seeking high rental yields and capital appreciation in one of New Zealand’s most sought-after locations.&nbsp;

Queenstown’s sustained demand for visitor accommodation and rental properties is underpinned by a shortage of housing options, attracting both local and international buyers.

Safari Group offers low-touch investment proposition in Queenstown’s popular ski fields district

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Hi Margaret,
I am currently working full-time earning $875 per week after tax. I want to buy a franchise coffee business that is about $500,000 inclusive of everything.
If I buy a property and build a duplex, strata subdivide and then sell one for $600,000 and keep the other, can I use that money to invest in the coffee business?
Or does that $600,000 need to go back to the home loan repayment?
Assuming: 
<ul>
<li>Purchase price of property - $650,000</li>
<li>15% deposit no mortgage insurance - $97,500</li>
<li>Construction loan - $450,000</li>
<li>Total loan - $650,000 + $450,000 - $97,500 = $1,002,500</li>
<li>Repayment (5%) - $4,062 per month</li>
<li>Rental income from one half of duplex ($450 per week)</li>
</ul>
Kind regards,
Daniel
Margaret's answer on the next page. Please click below.
<hr class="system-pagebreak">
Hi Daniel,
Regardless of what you intend to use the money for at the end of your project, when you borrow from a bank to purchase or develop residential property, you must at all times have in place enough security to cover the outstanding balance of the loan in the proportions required by the maximum LVR allowed.
In your case, you are after a 15% deposit loan ($85% loan). So, when the time comes to sell one duplex half, you must pay back enough of the original loan to ensure that the remaining loan does not exceed 85% of the remaining security.
In your case, if you ended up with two duplex halves each worth $600,000 and you sold one, the remaining security value is $600,000. This means the maximum loan you can have outstanding, at 85%, is $510,000.  If your loan was $1,002,500 you would have to repay $492,500.  You can keep the remaining $107,500.
Having said that, it’s probably not going to be so straightforward. 
Here are some things to think about:
<ol>
<li>Developments always cost far more than people realise.  Subdivision alone can run to more than $100,000 by the time you add a driveway and or even begin construction.  There are many costs and council contributions that people simply never think about that can blow out a development and mean that you don’t make any money or worse, come out behind the eight-ball. 
</li>
<li>When you sell you will pay capital gains tax at your highest marginal rate of tax.  If you sell inside 12 months, you pay CGT on the full gain.  So, let’s say the gain after allowable costs is $100,00, and you are in the 45% tax bracket, you pay $45,000 CGT.  If it is more than 12 months, the gain would be halved to $50,000 and you would pay $22,500. 
</li>
<li>When you sell a duplex, you will lose its rental income and when you start your coffee business you will be considered a new business. This will change your borrowing capacity – in fact it will probably be two years before you can borrowing anything.</li>
</ol>
I gather you are thinking of being able to put in place this loan now, while you are working, and then use the funds once you sell the property to provide a home loan rate loan for the business.  Unfortunately you won’t be able to achieve this.  Some lenders will, however, provide franchise finance and include a fit-out loan too, so this is the pathway you are better going down. 
If I may observe – starting a new business takes a lot of time and effort and I am not sure you want to complicate that by also taking on a development of this type.  Simplify your life by concentrating on one project at a time! 
</body></html>

mlomas-KC9MUPZ6Ca

Can I use the profits from a duplex development to start up a new business? Ask Margaret

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A NSW government position paper has outlined 58 changes for those living in community schemes.
NSW Fair Trading Minister, Matthew Mason-Cox, said that more than 25% of the state’s population lives or works in strata and community schemes and by 2040 more than half of Sydney’s housing stock will be multi-unit type dwellings.
“Community schemes range from highrise buildings to rural subdivisions with irrigation channels as association property, as well as large closed communities with private roads, high security and extensive recreational facilities such as marinas and golf courses,” said Mason-Cox.
“The position paper sets out a coherent and informed approach to meet the future needs of residents living in nearly 2200 community, neighbourhood and precinct schemes operating around the state.
“At the very heart of the package are measures that seek to better protect residents with a focus on ensuring transparency and accountability in decision-making.”
This will provide a framework for community schemes going forward, removing the “onerous requirement” for all owners to agree unanimously on decisions relating to their property.
“Special resolutions will be sufficient where a significant majority of owners are in agreement,” he said.
More than 2,000 submissions and 1,200 online comments were made on the 2012 discussion paper.
“Community scheme law reforms will be delivered as part of a package of building industry reforms concerning the multiple occupancy of buildings, strata, security of payments and home warranty insurance,” Mason-Cox said.
The next step will be to draft the Community Scheme Bills, before consultation on the draft legislation in 2015.
Here is a selection about 10 of the crucial changes:
<ol>
<li>Meetings can be attended in various forms, including social media, video and teleconferencing 
</li>
<li>Committee members will be required to “act with due care and diligence” and disclose any potential conflicts of interest 
</li>
<li>A limit will be put on the number of proxies able to be held by any person, and limit the matters in which a priority vote can be used 
</li>
<li>Stop non-owners with a financial interest in the scheme from being a member of the strata/community committee (this would prohibit managing agents and letting agents) 
</li>
<li>A requirement for developers to set “realistic” levies, during the initial period and first year after 
</li>
<li>Disclosure and accountability for managing agents, with a contract term of three years minimum 
</li>
<li>Restriction of developers’ rights to vote on matters relating to building defects 
</li>
<li>Expansion on the issues that can be dealt with at NCAT 
</li>
<li>Better ways to improve parking within schemes 
</li>
<li>A requirement for meetings to be called to authorise certain matters identified in a development contract as “development concerns” (Community title specific)</li>
</ol>
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jduke-EHk3XBmHkn

The 10 changes to know from NSW's strata reform paper

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Australian commercial property is overvalued and investors in real estate investment trusts are at risk of significant capital losses when interest rates and bond yields rise, an analysis by investment researcher Morningstar has concluded.
Low interest rates have lead investors to divert capital from bonds to higher yielding property, which has driven asset values higher.
Commercial property values could drop by as much as 10 to 15% over a year when interest rates and bond yields rise again, making fixed income more attractive to investors, Morningstar suggested in a report on the Australian real estate investment trust (A-REIT) sector.
“It’s quite conceivable that when interest rates rise, property values could fall in orders of that magnitude,” Morningstar senior equity analyst Tony Sherlock told Property Observer.
The outlook for rental income from commercial properties was stable but income growth would be more than offset by the loss in asset values, he added.
Central banks have indicated that interest rates will stay low for a sustained period, although bond yields can increase ahead of any rise in official cash rates.
“From current levels, interest rates are going to eventually rise and when they do rise they are probably going to rise a bit faster than people expect,” Sherlock said.
Property values would respond fairly quickly to rising interest rates but A-REIT share prices could fall even more rapidly, he said.
A-REIT prices fell 10% over three weeks in May 2013 after yields on 10-year US treasuries increased by 10% when US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke flagged a possible tapering of US quantitative easing.
The risk of investing in property through A-REITs was now “arguably greater” than usual because most were trading at a premium to the book value of their assets, “some by as much as 30%”, the Morningstar report noted.
Defensive A-REITS with low-risk tenants, such as BWP Trust, which owns Bunnings Warehouse properties, and ALE Property Group, which invests in pubs, were trading at the biggest premiums to book value and would be exposed to the largest share price falls, it said.
Sherlock said A-REIT prices had already started to fall due to rising bond yields and sales by offshore investors who were beginning to leave the market as the Australian dollar weakened. In the month to 18 September, the S&amp;P/ASX 200 A-REIT index dropped 3.74%.
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zfielding-GvX3Uq9KTa

Investors in REITs at risk of significant capital losses: Morningstar

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Positively geared property investing has become very popular over the last decade, but what exactly is it and how can you benefit from it?
Positive property is an investment vehicle that by definition pays the holding costs of a property and puts profit in the owner’s pocket. That is, it provides a passive income to you, the investor, from the first day of holding. This is called ‘passive income’ and it’s what makes it different from other forms of investing when you’re paying out each month.
When you begin investing, it pays to start with the end in mind if you want to be successful.
This includes two main aspects of planning. The first is being clear about your goals and motivations, and the second is understanding exactly what success looks like to you (for instance, retiring early, travelling more, working part time). The key is to understand exactly what you want your investment outcome to look like, as this will assist you in structuring and shaping a property portfolio that will get you there. Without a clear end, you won’t know the type of property to purchase and the required benchmarks to reach your goal, and it’s entirely likely you will fall short as a result.
A recent in depth study by University of Melbourne and Towers Watson found that only 53% of couples and 22% of single people are on track to achieve a comfortable level of retirement income - a grim prospect.
If you’re like most who look to property investing, you’ll want to continue living on your current household income into retirement, which really should be the minimum standard you consider. Even on $100,000 per year as a household income, 20 years into retirement works out at a requirement of $2,000,000. Sadly, Australians who have not created a stable investment portfolio through their earning lives will have no chance retiring with this sort of money put away.
Even if you are saving, the numbers are against you. Just 1% of Australians are considered “wealthy” in retirement.
It is crucial to prepare for a financially stable life by investing. Which brings us back to positive property.
Here are four reasons that you should consider it:
<ol>
<li>It pays a profit from day one and builds a passive income </li>
<li>As your portfolio grows, your serviceability and passive income also grows </li>
<li>The extra income from positive property improves your lifestyle and future investment choices, providing you a stable base to build a portfolio, a life and a family </li>
<li>You can eventually look to achieve a goal of passive income where you are not controlled by your job, your budget or just “getting by”. Opportunities that didn’t exist beforehand can open up for you. </li>
</ol>
Often when I see a new client, I ask them how much of a passive income they are seeking to achieve their goals. A very common figure is $100,000 per annum, which appears to be a pivotal point at which people consider replacing their working life for something else. It’s always exciting to see people cross this threshold and realise their options have changed.
By using the high yielding passive income method, investors can grow and expand their portfolio much more quickly than if they were paying out on a regular basis. It also means it won’t affect your lifestyle, and you’ll see a return far more quickly than if you were to go down a negatively geared path. 
This doesn’t work in every location.
Highly positive properties are not, for instance, located in capital cities – if they were, everyone would be investing there and everyone would be a wealthy investor. They are usually spread between regional coastal and resource towns across the country.  
You must undertake your due diligence when it comes to finding the right town with the right outcome. You cannot find these in the inner city property regions, and you must accept that if you’re chasing positive property then you will likely be looking outside of areas you are familiar with.  Good due diligence will help you feel comfortable investing in these areas.
Picking the right property for now and down the track is also important. You must consider not only the individual property, but how it will affect your future purchases. Each property should be bought with the next in mind.
You need to get that yield and return figure right – you will want to pick a specialist in the area who deals with the corporate leasing market. They can maximise your return and, ultimately, your income.
It’s interesting to note that the property clock applies to all markets across the country, and has done so for as long as property prices have been recorded. When looking at the statistics, in particular the historical performance of Australian properties over the last 50 years, a clear and steady incline is noted.
Generally, every seven to 10 years, our capital cities run from the top of the clock, which you may call the peak, downwards to the bottom of the cycle. This then goes back up to the peak again, each time rising through its highs and lows, but taking strong and substantial steps forward in both capital growth and rental yield in each cycle.
In some of the largest property downturns of this century, investors have simply had to wait until the end of that cycle to receive capital growth.
Despite the long running success for many in property, only 5% of the Australian population own an investment property, with less than 0.2% owning more than four. Considering our access to lending, low interest rates and high wages, this is a staggeringly low number.
Many property investors purchase blindly – without considering their desired income and without having a stable base to invest from. Having a base of positive property will allow you to keep borrowing and not hit the serviceability glass ceiling that many hit when they reach two to three negatively geared properties.
My recommendation? Build a passive income first, with three to four positive properties generating $100,000 or more. Then look to diversifying into the capital cities either with negative gearing or through projects like flips and renovations.
Why? Because positive income acts as a risk buffer that not only allows you to do these active projects, but also allows you to protect yourself in the event that something goes wrong or interest rates increase.
Ryan Crawford is group director of <a href="https://www.crawfordpropertygroup.com.au" target="_blank">Crawford Property Group</a>.
Ryan is one of Australia’s most successful property investors under 40 and a leading expert in positively geared property investment. In less than a decade, Ryan built a portfolio of more than 40 positively geared properties and is now dedicated to helping others plan and implement successful property investment strategies. 
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RyanCrawford-aLR2qkAu6t

Four reasons why you should consider positive property

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At last, some informed comments about Australian real estate by someone in a position of authority.
Joe Hockey isn’t my favourite politician, but the Federal Treasurer has a better handle on residential property than all of our chattering economists, the overseas analysts who appear obsessed with Australian prices and the twits at the Reserve Bank who speak to the public about real estate as if they were lecturing primary school students.
Hockey has criticised offshore commentators looking at Australian real estate through a very long and out-of-focus telescope. He has<a href="/news/joe-hockey-dubs-housing-bubble-claims-as-lazy-analysis"> accused them of “lazy analysis”</a>. He might have pointed the figure equally at the RBA.
Glenn Stevens continues to fret about “soaring real estate prices” and has pumped out a series of Real Estate #101 lectures to the public; such as this platitude: “People should be aware that real estate prices do not always rise. Sometimes they fall.”
Hockey’s absolutely right about lazy analysis. It’s just too easy to look at a single average figure for one-year price growth across our major cities and rush out a press release claiming a bubble in the hope of some cheap publicity– and media always obliges without ever thinking to ask a question or two.
Hockey has made it clear he’s not interested in taking action on what one newspaper termed “spiraling property prices”. That’s because we don’t have spiraling prices, other than in Sydney, which is playing catch-up after 10 years in which average price growth barely kept pace with inflation.
Hockey pointed out that big growth has been limited to only small parts of the national market. “It's primarily in pockets of Sydney, pockets of Melbourne and, to a lesser degree, in Brisbane," Hockey said.
The Federal Treasurer has done something that 99% of economists haven’t done. He has looked behind the average growth figure for the 12 year (about 10% or 11%, according to most research sources) and discovered that none of our capital cities have had growth that big, other than Sydney.
It’s not rocket science - indeed it’s the most basic of analysis that would take approximately five seconds - but incredibly most economists haven’t done that.
Hockey said this week many parts of Australia had experienced no significant increase in property prices, therefore any action to cool the market must be "very targeted and it needs to have some capacity to be time-limited".
Here’s the bottom line, based on price data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Annual growth in prices has been 2% in Canberra, 3% in Darwin, 4% in Perth and in Hobart, 5% in Adelaide, 6% in Brisbane and 9% in Melbourne.
There is no Australian property boom. There has been, so far, a Sydney property boom.
Does that constitute a Sydney price bubble? Well, no. This is the first major growth in Sydney prices in 10 years. ANZ chief executive Phil Chronican commented: “Sydney has been <a href="/news/nsw/sydney-property-price-playing-catchup-anzs-philip-chronican">playing catch-up</a>.”
Despite the growth of the past 18 months, the average annual rise in house prices in most Sydney suburbs has been 3% to 4% in the past decade. Prices have barely kept pace with inflation.
Even with the most vivid imagination, it is impossible to construct a bubble from those facts.
Shakespeare <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/5926-the-first-thing-we-do-let-s-kill-all-the-lawyers" target="_blank">almost got it right</a>. First thing we do, we get rid of all the economists.
You can contact Terry via  <a href="https://mailto:ryder@hotspotting.com.au" target="_blank">email</a> or on <a href="https://www.twitter.com/hotspotting" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. 
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terryryder-YECXbqmri2

Joe Hockey is right, 'bubble' chatter is lazy analysis

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There are many types of insurance policies to consider when you purchase an investment property.
Among these is landlord’s insurance, a type of cover that safeguards you, as the property owner, against damage caused by tenants in your rental property.
What does it cover?
Every landlord’s insurance policy is different and you must always read the fineprint to ensure you know what you are covered for. However, the general theme is that you are covered for damage, accidental or malicious, caused by tenants. It may also cover theft by tenants or tenants’ visitors.
It can also cover you in unlikely, but damaging, situations – <a href="/expert-insights/dont-fear-the-reaper-10-things-to-do-if-your-tenant-dies">such as death</a>, or a similar circumstance, and it can also be cover in the event of a tenant undergoing illegal activities, such as <a href="/expert-insights/investing/drug-labs-landlords-exposed-if-tenants-undertaking-criminal-activity">setting up a drug lab</a>.
It can also cover tenants who default on their rent or who vanish – meaning you aren’t suffering the shortfall. This is often covered up to a certain amount, and some policies will also cover the legal expenses due to the loss of rent, up to a certain figure.
Some policies separate it into building only insurance for landlords, and contents insurance for landlords.
Usually, there are still premiums and excesses payable, as for most policies.
Very specific items are often not covered or cannot obtain cover. For instance, in the case of AAMI landlord insurance, the following are not included in the building cover:
<ul>
<li>Any part of the building or site used for conducting a business, trade, professional services or farming 
</li>
<li>Any part that cannot be locked due to it being altered, renovated or rebuilt 
</li>
<li>Any temporary structures or structures in the course of construction 
</li>
<li>Houseboats, watercrafts, caravans, mobile buildings (fixed or free-standing), motorised vehicles etc 
</li>
<li>Loose surfaces of tennis courts, driveways and paths 
</li>
<li>Hedges, laws, trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, garden beds or any other living material</li>
</ul>
However, it does cover any of the property’s furnished aspects, as owned by the landlord, including floor coverings, wall hangings, sound and vision equipment, household linen, bedding, kitchen and dining equipment, computers and printers, outdoor garden furniture and free-standing playground equipment.
AAMI also notes that their cover does not extend to damage/losses caused by vermic, rodents, insects (including termites) and domestic animals. It also doesn’t cover applications of heat where there was not flame – for instance, cigarette burns or scorch marks. These are just of the few of the does cover/does not cover specifications and it’s <a href="https://www.aami.com.au/sites/default/files/fm/pdf/landlord-freeholding-insurance-policy.pdf" target="_blank">worth reading them through if you’re considering the coverage</a>.
Metro Property Management's <a href="/expert-insights/investing/yes-you-really-need-landlord-insurance">Leah Calnan previously wrote that</a>: "The best policies on the market allow for 15 weeks loss of rent.  Loss of rent is payable to an owner when tenants stop paying the rent and are subsequently evicted from the property, when they up and leave overnight, in the event the property is not tenantable (i.e. due to flood, fire, etc.) or in the event your tenant dies."
"Like anything nowadays there are many different policies on the market to choose from. I have worked with some fantastic policies, but I have seen owners incur considerably out-of-pocket expenses due to taking out the wrong policy," she explained.
How much does it cost?
This will vary for every landlord, and will also vary depending on the provider and level of cover. Some also have multi policy discounts, for instance offering 10% discounts on building cover when you combine with landlord insurance.
It also varies depending on where the property is located, if you self-manage, whether or not it is a short term rental and the amount of rent charged. Most providers offer a rough online quote to get you started, for instance <a href="https://online.terrischeer.com.au/?cover=landlord-insurance%20%20" target="_blank">Terri Scheer online offers a fairly comprehensive assessment</a>. They also ask about whether the property is furnished, and the size of the property. 
What else you should know
While whether or not you obtain this insurance, and when is down to the individual’s varying circumstances, it’s often highly recommended. Landlord insurance can also cover you for when the property is being shown at opens and sitting vacant, where you have liability.
If you move into the property, the insurance isn’t valid.
While it’s possible to get cover for periodic and fixed term leases through different providers, many will not cater to “casual leases”, and some will also not cover self-managing landlords. You will also want to make sure your property manager is collecting the right paperwork, or you may find yourself unable to claim. For instance, Westpac’s Landlord Extras claims can only be paid if there is a written rental agreement (which has to include the term of lease, amount of rent and bond payable), documented booking confirmation (in the instance of casually-let properties) and documented property inspection reports. Without these things, they will not pay out.
YOU MIGHT ALSO WANT TO READ
<a href="/expert-insights/what-insurance-policy-do-i-need-as-a-landlord">What insurance policy do I need as a landlord?</a>
<a href="/expert-insights/investing/do-i-need-public-liability-insurance-to-cover-my-tenants-ask-margaret">Do I need public liability insurance to cover my tenants? Ask Margaret</a>
<a href="/expert-insights/investing/investor-stories-my-house-was-turned-into-a-hydroponic-drug-farm">Investor stories: My house was turned into a hydroponic drug farm</a>
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What is 'landlord's insurance'? Investment terms explained

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Australia’s low-income residents are expected to take on a colossal amount of private debt just to put a roof overhead in our rentier economy, and the only explanation they are being offered is that Australia is suffering from a ‘housing shortage’.
Speaking at the 2014 <a href="https://topics.bloomberg.com/bloomberg-australia-economic-summit/">Bloomberg Economic Summit in Sydney</a>, where the investor share of the market is close to 50% and finance commitments have sky rocketed some 44% higher than July 2013. Treasurer Joe Hockey, denied that prices were ‘credit fuelled’ because: "Fundamentally we don’t have enough supply to meet demand (and) that doesn’t suggest a bubble.”
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20one.jpg" alt="">
His views were supported by David Cannington, senior property analyst at Australia &amp; New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), who referenced an apparent shortage of ‘300,000 homes’, while at the same time welcoming an elevated level of foreign speculation “as adding about $4.5 billion every quarter to total dwelling construction”.
The shortage Cannington refers to, is derived in part from research put together by the National Housing Supply Council (NHSC) established in May of 2008, just prior to the last Senate inquiry into housing affordability, yet promptly disbanded by the incoming Abbot government who are now only too willing to use its findings to support their populist view.
Using ABS data, the NHSC assessed what is known as ‘underlying demand’ - the amount of extra housing needed per annum over the last decade for all residents in Australia (not just active buyers) - ‘if’ we had continued to produce enough homes for an increasing population based on existing household composition figures.
The supply side findings of the report were hotly debated and justifiably so.
Planning for population growth is not an easy task, it is predictive in nature and makes many assumptions and revisions along the way.
However, this was not the NHSC’s only role.
It was also commissioned to produce a comprehensive evaluation of Australia’s affordability problems, which included the status of those impacted most – homeless, renters, first home buyers, low wage families and tenants in the public and social housing system, which helped clarify its findings.
For example, the reports showed utility costs such as electricity, gas, water, and sewerage, have been increasing at more than 10% per annum – yet they are not typically calculated as part of current analysis of housing affordability constraints.
They gave a good statistical overview to show a dramatic shortfall of affordable rental accommodation for low-income families. And clear evidence that our housing crisis is not that we do not produce enough homes ‘per se’ – but that we do not produce enough affordable and feasible options across the sector as a whole – in both the public and private sphere.
For example - the report noted a “shortage of housing for lower-income people  (specifically families) that results from a mismatch of housing prices relative to income”.
It made a point of stressing that Australia’s supply challenges cannot be met by ‘simply adding to the housing stock’. And further elaborated on the inability of apartment construction to meet both need and price for the majority of family residents - the value of the land and associated costs being too high, and the size of apartments being too small to adequately fulfil the task.
This places Cannington’s second comment – regarding the level of foreign investment pushing an unprecedented inner city boom in apartment construction, into context.
For individual renters, students and a small percentage of couples living downtown, the increase in high-density accommodation will assist in placing downward pressure on rents.
It cannot however assist in addressing Australia’s real housing shortage or accommodating the growing number of family and low-to-middle income residents, that want to buy – not just rent - and in the face of declining wages, find it increasingly difficult to do so.
This is not because we have booming population growth and a shortage of roof space, as our ministers are fond of sermonizing. But because our tax policies work directly against it, subverting supply side policy and negatively affecting wage growth by pushing up the price of land and the associated costs of doing business.
They encourage a system of false scarcity, in which land and dilapidated housing is hoarded and not effectively utilised, forcing a process of social polarisation, as low income residents are forced to ‘hop’ both the middle and outer rings, in search of cheaper options further afield.
They distort the use of the nation’s savings, encouraging speculation on rising land values.  This negatively affects the financing of new supply, as investors chase the capital gains associated with established stock, over and above rental income.
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20two.jpg" alt="">
The behavioural impacts are profound, amplifying the boom and bust swings of the market cycle.
The financial sector accommodates, with property prices dependent on how much ‘endogenously’ created credit a bank chooses lend, subject once again, to our dysfunctional tax system.
Negative gearing, depreciation and lower land taxes, leave more economic rent available to be pledged to the banks in the form of higher prices, producing a rentier economy which prioritises ‘creating wealth’ through asset inflation and rising levels of private debt - rather than improving living standards by supporting tangible investment into value adding activities.
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20three.jpg" alt="">
Article continues on the next page. Please click below.
<hr class="system-pagebreak">
The distortion that inflated values have on the economy acts to subvert housing policy as any danger of a marked decline in prices, places an associated risk on financial stability.
Affluent neighbourhoods are therefore protected from ‘over development’, while inelastic responses to market conditions, allow professional land-bankers to squat on sites at low cost and secure windfall gains when they are later rezoned for residential development.
Stamp duty further restricts labour mobility and the regular turnover of housing stock.
The resulting effect is illustrated on the <a href="https://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/publications/?publication=the-great-australian-dream-just-a-dream">maps below</a> that show where affordable options were located in 2001 for low-to-middle income buyers, compared to 2011, in all of our major capitals.  
The yellow patches being affordable, and blue patches unaffordable.
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20four.jpg" alt="">
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20five.png" alt="">
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20six.png" alt="">
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20seven.png" alt="">
<img src="/images/2014/09/22/cashmore%20sept%2022%20eight.png" alt="">
Source: <a href="https://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/publications/?publication=the-great-australian-dream-just-a-dream">NATSEM</a> Income and Wealth Report Issue 29 - The Great Australian Dream - Just a Dream?
Prior to the 1970s, infrastructure financing was funded in part through the capture of economic rent from the land that directly benefited from the accompanying improvements. 
Now, infrastructure costs are financed through deadweight taxes on productivity from residents who derive no benefit in their own local neighbourhood, or loaded onto the upfront cost of new dwellings and promptly passed to the buyer.
The banking lobby loves minsters like Joe Hockey that offer no threat to their profits and instead, waft away any necessary concern over rising prices with simplified responses that fail to identify the root cause. 
It has driven up the cost of housing – damaging the potential of future generations, with a lifetime worth of debt sold as “forced savings”, while the interest is re-packaged an into an array of obscure financial instruments, allowing the country’s wealth to gravitate into an elite nuclei of financially strong hands.
Notwithstanding, all the above points were highlighted in the last <a href="https://www.propertyoz.com.au/library/A%20good%20house%20is%20hard%20to%20find%20report%20JUNE%202008.pdf" target="_blank">Senate inquiry</a> into housing affordability, as well as being set out clearly in the <a href="https://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/Content/Content.aspx?doc=html/home.htm" target="_blank">Henry Tax review</a>.  Yet studiously ignored in a budget that surgically set about reducing the living standards of Australia’s low to middle-income earners, the most productive sectors of our economy, rather than collecting the tax revenues from resource rents and monopoly profits.
Joe Hockey has reaped substantial unearned gains from an <a href="https://blog.australiaboomtobust.com/2014/08/propertied-federal-political-class/" target="_blank">impressive portfolio</a> of property investments - reportedly, picking up his Canberra home <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/taxpayers-footing-bill-on-treasurer-joe-hockeys-15-million-canberra-house/story-fni0cx12-1227026624945">“for a song”</a> in 1997 at $320,000, and watched that land value more than triple in nominal terms to an estimated  $1.5 million today.
In light of the above evidence, it can only be assumed that Hockey’s comments are based on a vested interest to protect his own back pocket and seat in power, rather than the urgent need to invest in Australia’s future by eliminating the losses inflicted by our current system of taxation that forces up the cost of land and associated levels of private debt.  
Instead we need to move toward a system that finances society’s needs and infrastructure requirements, from capturing the <a href="https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/11/land-tax-must-kill-negative-gearing-stamp-duty/" target="_blank">economic rents</a> currently capitalised into the price that buyers negotiate when they purchase a home, which would eventually act to improve the living standards of all, not just the privileged few.
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catherinecashmore-6LXia3pPQj

Supply v demand: A political game of smoke and mirrors

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GUEST OBSERVATION
The unemployment rate is one of the most closely followed macroeconomic indicators.
Of importance in its own right, it tells us about the level of spare capacity in the economy and provides information about likely future developments in inflation.
Recent fluctuations in the unemployment rate have surprised many economists. In July, the unemployment rate jumped by 0.3 percentage points to 6.4% – its highest level in twelve years – only to be unwound in the August release.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59385/area14mp/gndjq2sw-1411017659.png"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59385/width668/gndjq2sw-1411017659.png" alt=""></a> ABS
The sharp increase in July may partially reflect measurement issues - the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) updated the criteria to be actively searching for a position, although the ABS said the impact of this change was not significant.
The unwinding of this spike in unemployment in August was due to a surge of part-time employment – in fact the largest growth rate since the mid-1980s. The increase was so large that the ABS extensively checked the figures. However, the lift in part-time employment was evident in many dimensions of the data – it occurred both across the country (with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory) and across many age groups.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59386/area14mp/c33bsqdg-1411017876.png"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59386/width668/c33bsqdg-1411017876.png" alt=""></a> ABS
Amidst this considerable volatility, it is probably best to focus on estimates of the “trend” unemployment rate, which is also advocated by the ABS. The trend measure effectively smooths the data, down-weighting the recent observations.
However, trend estimates aren’t perfect – for example, as more data become available they can be revised. Also, by down-weighting the recent data they can miss turning points which policymakers might have otherwise wanted to react to in a timely manner. Bearing these caveats in mind, the trend unemployment rate in recent months has moved higher.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59387/area14mp/cc8z98s6-1411018041.png"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59387/width668/cc8z98s6-1411018041.png" alt=""></a> ABS
At around 6%, the trend unemployment rate suggests that slack exists in the labour market. Similarly, the trend participation rate – the ratio of people in the labour force (either employed or unemployed) to the population – recently has picked up, but remains below the levels of the late-2000s.
Structural issues
While as discussed in a speech by Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2014/sp-ag-160614">Christopher Kent</a> part of the decline in the participation rate probably can be explained by structural factors, such as the ageing of the population, a component is likely to be cyclical.
Recent <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2014/sep/pdf/bu-0914-2.pdf">Reserve Bank of Australia</a> model-based estimates also suggest that spare capacity currently exists in the labour market, but much less than occurred during the early-1990s recession. The Reserve Bank study also highlights the considerable uncertainty which surrounds these estimates.
The unemployment rate is a narrow measure of labour market slack – it abstracts both from people working fewer hours than they would like, or in a position that does not fully utilise their skills. The ABS tackles the first aspect in its measure of labour force underutilisation. As it is a broader measure, the labour underutilisation rate is always greater than the unemployment rate, although the wedge between them widened in the early 1990s recession.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59390/area14mp/nzfpfzym-1411018671.png"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59390/width668/nzfpfzym-1411018671.png" alt=""></a> ABS
We’re getting more ‘flexible’
This wedge widened with the onset of the global financial crisis, unwinding some narrowing in it which had occurred. An important part of the macroeconomic adjustment that occurred in Australia during the GFC was a reduction in average hours worked. This mitigated the rise in the unemployment rate and probably was facilitated by the more flexible nature of the labour market today relative to in the past.
The increase in the labour underutilisation rate over the past eighteen months has outpaced that in the unemployment rate. In the September quarter it exceeded the levels reached during the GFC, although it remains well below the high levels reached during the severe early-1990s recession.
The rise in labour underutilisation has not been uniform across all parts of the labour market. While typically labour underutilisation is much higher for those aged 15-24 compared to those 25 and above, and it increases sharply during either recessions or slowdowns, recently it has risen noticeably.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59392/area14mp/qf49y4bk-1411019346.png"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/59392/width668/qf49y4bk-1411019346.png" alt=""></a> ABS
The unemployment rate and the labour underutilisation measures show slack exists in the labour market, but much less than in the early 1990s. This slack is likely to hold down wages growth.
Private sector wages growth over the year to the June quarter was the lowest rate since the measure preferred by policymakers was introduced in the late 1990s. As wages, together with productivity, are the key factors which influence domestically-based inflationary pressures, these are likely to remain contained in the near term.
Tim Robinson is a research fellow at the Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne<a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-melbourne"></a>.
Tim Robinson is on extended leave without pay from the Reserve Bank of Australia. The views expressed in this article are his own.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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What's really happening with the unemployment rate?

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The Western Australian government is starting an education campaign through EnergySafety around the responsibilities and obligations of property owners when it comes to overhead power lines.
Privately owned power poles and lines located on private properties are the responsibility of the home owner, explained Commerce Minister Michael Mischin and Energy Minister Mike Nahan.
“Property owners have always had a common law duty of care to maintain their assets and ensure they do not pose a danger to themselves or the community,” Mischin said.
“The state government is now alerting people to this responsibility to give them a chance to have their privately owned power poles and lines inspected by a licensed electrical contractor.”
Lines supported by wooden poles that have been in service for 25 years, or longer, may be near the end of their service life and thus unsafe, warned Mischin, who said they could be a potential bushfire danger.
Nahan said that Western Power and Horizon Power were not responsible for these private poles and lines.
“Private power lines are part of a customer’s electrical installation. Their maintenance and safety are purely an owner’s responsibility,” he said.
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Private power line on your WA property? Here are your responsibilities

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GUEST OBSERVATION
A “yes” vote to Scottish independence today would mean a great many things for Scotland, and also for England. But what would it mean for Australian business and financial markets?
It’s tempting to say “very little” — what do internal politics half a globe away have to do with us? Yet the Australian dollar strengthened markedly against the pound last week, almost surely due to a poll suggesting that the “yes” vote was ahead 47-45%.
To begin to understand what Scottish independence might do to Australian firms and markets it’s important to understand what it would do to Scotland and England. The key economic question here is what currency the Scots would use.
The pro-independence “team” has been pretty clear about this. They’ll keep using the pound. And it’s true that England can’t stop them — just as Australia can’t stop New Zealand from using the Aussie dollar.
At first this sounds sensible — the pound is a big, liquid currency. The Haggis — or whatever a Scottish currency would be called — would not be. Case closed, right?
Actually, no. Having a common currency without economic and political integration is a very, very dangerous thing. Monetary policy would be set by the Bank of England, presumably without reference to Scottish economic conditions. So if there was a recession in Scotland one would want lower interest rates, but unless England was also in recession of a similar magnitude the Bank of England would be unlikely to cut rates.
Worse, losing control of the ability to print money means that if Scottish debt got out of control it could not be inflated away. Ask Spain how that works out.
The risk for banks
Worse still, Scottish banks would no longer be implicitly guaranteed by England. This is a huge deal.
The events of 2008 taught us how quickly modern-day bank runs can happen, how devastating the effects can be, and how only overwhelming credibility can prevent disaster. Scotland wouldn’t have that — and England would have no incentive to help out. Even if England wanted to, markets would have to believe it, and that’s far from a sure thing.
So it’s clear Scotland would be in a dangerous economic position — not obviously in trouble right away, but without any macroeconomic fire extinguishers if trouble arises.
This is a potential worry for major Australian exporters to Scotland — but there just aren’t very many of those. Australian companies with operations in Scotland could be affected.
A notable example is National Australia Bank, whose subsidiary Clydesdale Bank is located in Scotland and could face higher borrowing costs under independence. NAB has said it would seek to <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-12/nab-clydesdale-bank-plans-to-leave-independent-scotland/5738822" target="_blank">shift</a> Clydesdale bank’s corporate registration to England in the event of a “yes” vote. But even in that case it’s a small part of the NAB.
The bigger concern would be if independence affects England in a significant way, since this is a bigger trading partner for Australia. As we saw last week, markets have rightly been concerned about the impact on England. At the very least there would be an 18-month plus process of “demerging” two countries, a process that would be complicated and distracting.
Keep calm
Yet, whatever the impact on England, it’s hard to see how it would materially impact Australian business. The pound might weaken relative to the Australian dollar, potentially hurting Australian exporters. Having said that, we would all do well to heed former treasury secretary Ken Henry’s advice on Tuesday to be less focused on the real exchange rate in this country. The impact of a modest devaluation of the pound just won’t make much difference.
Could independence lead to a major blow-up of the English economy? As we learnt in 2008, a major problem in any significant economy can quickly reverberate around the world. We are all interconnected now. A big problem in England could be a big problem for world financial markets, Australia’s among them.
This is possible, but it seems highly unlikely. England is a very large economy with its own currency and a broad web of international economic connections. Scotland is close, historic, and important – but independence is not likely to lead to an economic meltdown in England.
Perhaps it could change politics in England in a big way and this could have an effect. Perhaps a more conservative Tory leader would emerge. And perhaps that would lead to different economic policies. But that’s a lot of perhapses.
Demerging two countries would be wrenching. It would affect those countries — especially Scotland — in lots of ways, including economically.
Whatever the pros of a “yes” vote for Scotland, it would bring with it huge economic risks. And some for England, too. For Australia and Australian businesses, the risk is small.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/31724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">Richard Holden is professor of economics at <a href="https://www.asb.unsw.edu.au/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">UNSW Australia Business School</a>.
<h5> </h5>
Richard Holden is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. 
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