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

COVID-19

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Consumer advocate, RateCity.com.au, believes COVID-affected customers should not have to pay a higher rate if they can only afford to make interest-only repayments on their home loan when their six-month deferral ends.
From September, homeowners on a deferral who can’t resume their repayments can potentially extend the pause by an extra four months or switch to interest-only repayments.
Moving to interest-only can be a good halfway measure, as the repayments are significantly lower than normal. However, Australia’s three largest banks have confirmed these COVID- affected customers are likely to be charged a premium for moving on to this loan type, although they will review on a case-by-case basis.
Sally Tindall, research director at RateCity.com.au said, “The banks have been told by ASIC to be fair and flexible in their negotiations, and to help people stay in their home, if it’s in their best interests.”
“Yet some banks are planning on charging COVID-affected customers a higher rate if they switch to interest-only repayments,” she said.
“These customers should be getting a rate cut, not a rate hike. Asking people to pay more interest when they are in financial distress doesn’t seem fair or reasonable."
“Some of these people, through no fault of their own, have had their livelihood striped from them. They don’t know when they’ll be back on their feet again and they are stressed and scared."
“They need genuine help from the banks, not a bigger interest bill," she concluded.
Potential options if you can’t pay your mortgage: 
<ul type="disc">
<li>Use money in your offset or redraw, if available.</li>
<li>Switch to interest-only repayments. While this could increase your rate and the overall interest bill, paying something is better than nothing.</li>
<li>Ask your bank for a loan deferral, or if you are already on one, an extension.</li>
<li>Sell or rent the property.</li>
</ul>
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

COVID-affected customers should receive rate cuts not rate hikes: RateCity

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EXPERT OBSERVER
Capital city dwelling values have been affected differently across Australia in the wake of the pandemic.
As well as anecdotes of demand in regional lifestyle areas, the ACT dwelling market has been the clear ‘winner’ of the capital cities, increasing 1.3% in value between the end of March and the end of July. This came as national dwelling values declined 1.4% in the same period.
While it may seem counterintuitive that prices are rising across the ACT amid a global pandemic, the property market is actually performing as may be expected when the cash rate is reduced.
Research from the RBA has found that for every 1 percentage point reduction to the cash rate, property values may increase 8% over the following two years.
While this traditional relationship is being tested by a global pandemic, residents across the ACT may be relatively insulated from some of the effects of the pandemic. Part of this may be because recent case numbers have been low or non-existent.
As of early August, social distancing restrictions were easing across the Territory, and the ACT had gone almost one month without reporting new active cases.
There’s a big difference between houses and units
In the ACT, there is a high level of divergence between capital growth in houses and units. House values across the ACT were at a record high in July 2020, having increased 8.5% over the year. The median house value was $721,912 at July 2020.
Unit values were 3.6% below the record high, where the value of the unit market peaked in May 2010. However, units have also followed the recent house market upswing, sitting 2.7% higher over the year. The median unit value across Canberra was $445,135.
The chart below highlights the relatively subdued growth rates across units, with the gap between house and unit growth rates widening in the few months to July. 
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2020/8/20/CL%20ACT%201.JPG" alt="">
The chart below shows the difference in 5 year annualised growth rates between houses and units by capital city. Similar to Brisbane, a high level of unit supply across the region has seen some of the most divergent performance between houses and units out of the capital city markets. This is off the back of high levels of new unit supply relative to houses. Unlike Brisbane however, unit supply across the ACT had shown no signs of moderating before the pandemic.
Completions of units across the ACT reached a record high in the year to March 2020, at 4,427. CoreLogic settlement risk data estimates that as of April, a further 360 units would be completed across the region by the end of October, with the biggest uplift as a proportion of existing stock being completed in Gungahlin.
The volume of units built in the year to March 2020 was 41.8% higher than in the previous year. It was also 73.8% higher than the decade average of completions. Meanwhile, completions of new houses fell 6.7% in the year, and remain relatively unchanged since the start of the series in 1985.
<img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2020/8/20/CL%20ACT%202.JPG" alt="">
The development is in line with the 2012 ACT planning strategy, which sought to create a ‘compact and efficient city’. For those who own house and land in the ACT, it has had the benefit of creating much stronger house price growth than in units.
Values are rising as rents fall
Another aspect of the housing market that appears to have two tiers of performance is between property values and rent values
. As property values continued to rise through July, rent values have declined half a percent since the onset of the pandemic. This may have to do with better conditions across higher paid jobs, where people are more likely to buy property and have a mortgage
. ABS payroll jobs data shows that between the 14th of March and the 11th of July, the volume of payroll jobs increased across financial and insurance services (0.7%) and electricity, gas, water and waste services (2.9%).
These sectors also have among the highest typical weekly earnings of Australian industry, and are therefore more synonymous with owning a home.
The ACT had a relatively large rate of decline across more vulnerable sectors, such as arts and recreation and food and accommodation services.
Job losses across these sectors were 19.2% and 19.8% respectively. However, before the onset of the pandemic, the share of the ACT workforce employed in these sectors was also very low, at just 7.9%.
In any case, those working in these sectors are far more likely to rent. The ACT property market has been in an upswing since August last year.
While the dwelling market is currently a breakaway performer, there is a chance that this market will experience a delayed downturn as the economic repercussions of Melbourne’s second lockdown become more broad-based.
Investor demand, while already low relative to Australia-wide participation, may also be impacted by lower rent values. As a result, prolonged growth in this market will be subject to how quickly Australia can supress new virus cases, and see recovery in the labour market.
ELIZA OWEN is the Head of Research Australia at CoreLogic
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pchatterjee-seVgoiQgz5

Understanding the ACT, COVID-19's best performing capital city housing market: CoreLogic's Eliza Owen

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EXPERT OBSERVER
<div>
Employment and hours worked rose in July.
Employment was up by an estimated +114,700 or +1.3 per cent to 12.46 million.
However, employment remains -414,000 or -3.2 per cent lower than a year earlier.
<div id="post-body-3837360514975800720" class="post-body entry-content">
<div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qXSkuUmtR_g/XzTnxpwp1rI/AAAAAAAA3k0/5-DyyoD6iY4BYSW1NqzzJkbCWfD1hmrigCNcBGAsYHQ/s1448/A1.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qXSkuUmtR_g/XzTnxpwp1rI/AAAAAAAA3k0/5-DyyoD6iY4BYSW1NqzzJkbCWfD1hmrigCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A1.jpg" width="640" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="1448"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>The rebound in July was mainly driven in July by New South Wales (+57,000).</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-idsc7oWTNLM/XzTn6K6hTWI/AAAAAAAA3lA/r3517_AVGvwYIr2Lz2unjybuhufV02lOQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1391/A5.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-idsc7oWTNLM/XzTn6K6hTWI/AAAAAAAA3lA/r3517_AVGvwYIr2Lz2unjybuhufV02lOQCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A5.jpg" width="640" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1391"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>There wasn't much change in the calculated unemployment rate, which rose from 7.45 per cent to 7.49 per cent. </div>
<div>
 <div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zkjpmxb0dzo/XzTnxpRUdxI/AAAAAAAA3kw/RM9oDRj5U5A1lOxo5zPT3X_5M6J8IfTBgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1422/A2.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zkjpmxb0dzo/XzTnxpRUdxI/AAAAAAAA3kw/RM9oDRj5U5A1lOxo5zPT3X_5M6J8IfTBgCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A2.jpg" width="640" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1422"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>The state level numbers are seeing big swings, but Tasmania appears to be faring relatively well, with an unemployment rate of 6 per cent.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Many parts of Queensland have been hit by the lack of international visitors, and the state's unemployment rates was estimated to be 8.8 per cent. </div>
 <div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZIYQbW-iE8/XzTnxpHUuvI/AAAAAAAA3ks/0pYq8n94wkgUEeZaLjLGpv9Gcz0wH9dZwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1440/A3.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZIYQbW-iE8/XzTnxpHUuvI/AAAAAAAA3ks/0pYq8n94wkgUEeZaLjLGpv9Gcz0wH9dZwCNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A3.jpg" width="640" data-original-height="803" data-original-width="1440"></a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Hours worked have recovered by 5.5 per cent since May according the ABS, but still remain -5 per cent lower than a year earlier. </div>
 <div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WkwZ_i5gPUM/XzTnyR_73oI/AAAAAAAA3k4/XKGzC1D22G0naBBuI9i17SqhbiPS9EW8ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1429/A4.jpg"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WkwZ_i5gPUM/XzTnyR_73oI/AAAAAAAA3k4/XKGzC1D22G0naBBuI9i17SqhbiPS9EW8ACNcBGAsYHQ/s640/A4.jpg" width="640" data-original-height="801" data-original-width="1429"></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="separator">There was better news from Victoria today in terms of virus numbers, with the state having appeared to move past the peak of its second wave. </div>
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<div class="separator">There were very few cases in New South Wales, and other states and territories have been running at zero.</div>
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PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of AllenWargent property buyers and a best-selling author and blogger 
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Employment rose in July: Pete Wargent

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The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (AAEH) has launched a sector wide lobbying campaign, Homes Beyond Covid, to raise awareness of the urgent needs of people who have now been temporarily sheltered in response to COVID-19. 
Without urgent action thousands of people who were sleeping rough and have now been temporarily sheltered are at risk of being forced back into homelessness because of a lack of options. 
Throughout winter, the AAEH is calling for collaborative action through the campaign to find permanent housing and support for everyone sleeping rough or in motels placements due to COVID-19.
AAEH chief executive officer David Pearson says that this campaign shows that the scale of homelessness in Australia is both preventable and solvable. 
“In the first eight weeks of this pandemic alone, amongst the communities that the AAEH works with, over 5,000 people who were sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough have been temporarily sheltered,” said Mr Pearson. 
“Given there were 8,200 people sleeping rough at the last census, this represents one of most significant homelessness responses we’ve ever seen in Australia, but as we know this crisis is not over yet. That’s why we need urgent action from governments – homelessness can be solved by policy.” 
The campaign coincides with the organisation’s 7-point policy plan and Submission to the Inquiry into the Homelessness in Australia and start of Inquiry hearings in Canberra to not just recover from COVID-19 but to ensure we see an end to rough sleeping homelessness. 
AAEH’s chair Karyn Walsh says that homelessness is as much a health policy issue as it is infrastructure and social services.
“People sleeping rough are an incredibly vulnerable health population, and if they get COVID-19 it will not just be bad for community transmission, it would be fatal for many of them. The best prescription we can provide for people sleeping rough as we recover from this health crisis is housing with support or simply a home – not a hotel room,” said Ms Walsh. 
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Australian Alliance to End Homelessness launch lobbying campaign

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More than 7.4 million consumers are now connected to the National Broadband Network after the activation of 383,257 new services in the three months to 30 June, 2020.
The ACCC’s Wholesale Market Indicators Report released today shows more than 255,000 households signed up to 50Mbps NBN plan, with almost 5 million customers on higher speed plans of 50Mbps and above by the end of June.
There was also an 11.9 per cent jump in the uptake of the higher speed 100Mbps plans, with 9.1 per cent of households now subscribing to a 100Mbps plan.
“Many more households have been at home during the day during the COVID-19 pandemic and have likely chosen higher speed plans to accommodate increased broadband use whether it be for work, entertainment or even for their children to attend school during the lockdown,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“Given the high demand for high-speed broadband during March to June in particular, we are fortunate that the NBN rollout is largely completed, as it has become an increasingly essential service for people to stay connected.”
The number of entry-level 12Mbps services decreased by 3.7 per cent over the quarter, while 25Mbps services increased by 7.4 per cent. There were more than 2.3 million households on 12Mbps and 25Mbps plans as at the end of June.
“It is more important than ever that consumers have the right plan in place to ensure they are able to access broadband services,” Mr Sims said.
The March 2020 quarterly report showed available NBN bandwidth per user jumped by 31 per cent, following NBN Co’s boost of network capacity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The additional network capacity offered by NBN Co at the outset of COVID-19 restrictions in March has been welcomed by the retail service providers, and has been an important factor in ensuring consumers have sufficient network capacity to meet their work, educational and entertainment needs during the pandemic,” Mr Sims said.
NBN Co’s temporary offer of additional 40 per cent capacity to retail service providers (RSPs) remained in place this quarter and total Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC), that is, the bandwidth acquired by RSPs, grew by a further 3.5 per cent to 18.4Tbps. CVC per user remained fairly stable, falling slightly over the June quarter, from 2.52Mbps to 2.47Mbps.
Telstra continues to have the highest market share, with 46.4 per cent of all services, down slightly on last quarter; both TPG and Optus increased their share slightly over the quarter to 22.3 per cent and 15.4 per cent respectively.
Smaller RSPs increased their share of the NBN wholesale market this quarter, from 8.1 per cent to 8.8 per cent. This group was led by Aussie Broadband and Vodafone, with 3.5 per cent and 2 per cent of all connections respectively.
There continue to be 10 wholesale access seeker groups acquiring services directly from NBN Co at all 121 POIs, and 11 or more access seeker groups connected at 119 of the POIs.
In May 2020, NBN Co also introduced a new set of premium products, branded as “Home Fast” up to 100/20Mbps; “Home superfast 250/25Mbps; and “Home Ultrafast” at least 500/50Mbps.
“The ACCC welcomes these new options being made available for consumers for whom speed is important. The availability of these new plans broadens the scope of retail offers, which will boost competition in the retail market,” Mr Sims said.
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Increase in higher speed NBN plan signups during COVID-19: ACCC

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EXPERT OBSERVER
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For years Australia has suffered from poor housing affordability. 
According to the 2020 Demographia Housing Affordability Survey the multiple of median house prices to median annual incomes is 5.9 times in Australia compared to 3.9 times in Canada, 4.5 times in the UK &amp; 3.6 times in the US. 
Consistent with this the ratio of house prices to incomes relative to its long-term average is at the high end of OECD countries.
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It wasn’t always so - Australia was once seen as a country with relatively cheap and affordable housing. 
Having a house on a quarter acre block was an essential part of the “Aussie dream”. But that changed last decade as average house prices went higher and higher relative to average incomes and this went hand in hand with a surge in household debt relative to income. See the next chart. 
There have been several cyclical downswings in property prices that have brought short term relief in terms of affordability – around the GFC when average capital city dwelling prices fell 7.6% based on CoreLogic data, around 2011 when prices fell 6.2% and in 2017-19 when prices dipped 10.2% - but they have been short lived with prices quickly bouncing back.
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The coronavirus shock may have a more lasting impact. It has brought lots of pain and suffering on a human level but also on an economic level. And it has caused much disruption to the property market in the short term with more likely to come. But it may have a lasting positive legacy in relation to property - that is more affordable housing in Australia. 
Why is Australian housing so expensive? 
To understand why this may be the case its necessary to consider what has caused poor housing affordability in Australia in the first place. It’s been popular to blame tax concessions, foreign buying, government related housing infrastructure charges and stamp duty and low interest rates and easy credit. But none of these really explain it.
Lots of other countries have a variety of housing tax concessions too, but with much cheaper housing. Foreign buying is a relatively small part of the overall market and has declined in recent years. Infrastructure associated with housing is hardly unique to Australia. Stamp duty adds to the cost of transactions and is a silly tax, but if anything may have kept prices lower than they otherwise would be (when supply is constrained). The shift from high interest rates to low interest rates enabling bigger loans has enabled ever more expensive housing – but other countries have also seen ultra-low interest rates in recent decades and yet have much cheaper housing. 
Rather the basic problem has been a surge in population growth from mid-last decade and an inadequate supply response (thanks partly to tight development controls and lagging infrastructure). Since 2006, annual population growth averaged about 150,000 people above what it was over the decade to the mid-2000s. This required the supply of an extra 50,000 new homes per year. See the next chart. Unfortunately, this was slow in coming. But with an insufficient supply response to surging demand, prices were able to stay elevated. And so poor housing affordability got locked in.
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Each cyclical downturn in house prices has brought hope of a solution, but it was invariably dashed as the fundamental supply demand imbalance remained or re-established itself. The same looked to be applying more recently with average house prices surging 10% between June last year. 
The longer-term impact of coronavirus 
The coronavirus shock has the potential to change this dynamic of cyclical fluctuations around ongoing poor affordability. It has already triggered a renewed downturn in property prices with capital city prices down 2% on average since April, with Melbourne prices down around 4%. JobKeeper and the bank payment holiday are preventing faster falls at present. But further declines in national prices are likely, as high unemployment, the depressed rental market and the collapse in immigration impact. We now see average capital city prices falling 10-15% from their April high out to mid-next year with Melbourne most at risk and likely to see a 15-20% decline. 
Past experience would suggest that this may be just another cyclical downturn and once coronavirus comes under control and the economy rebounds it will be back to normal with poor affordability. Particularly with record low interest rates making it feasible to borrow up big. However, the coronavirus shock has the potential to change this for three reasons.
- First, the hit to economy from coronavirus is bigger than anything seen in the post war period. While most of the activity hit by lockdowns should bounce back once the virus is brought under control some things will take longer to recover (eg, travel &amp; tourism), some will be permanently changed for ever (with eg, a big shift to on-line shopping, education, health care &amp; watching sports) and businesses will use the uncertainty to accelerate cost savings. All of which will mean a long tail of unemployment. JobKeeper has shielded Australia from what otherwise would have been 15% unemployment in April and 11% unemployment now. But officially measured unemployment is still likely to hit 10% by year end and will probably have only fallen to around 9% by end 2021. This will likely result in more forced property sales and act as a drag on home prices, as income support measures &amp; the bank payment holiday wind down.
- Second, immigration has been a big driver of property prices and it’s taken a huge hit and may take a long while to recover. Thanks to travel bans, net immigration is likely to have fallen to just below 170,000 in 2019-20 and to around 35,000 this financial year from 240,000 last financial year. This is a huge hit which will take population growth in 2020- 21 to just 0.7%, its lowest since 1917. See next chart. This will reduce annual underlying demand for homes to around 120,000 dwellings, compared to underlying demand last year of around 200,000. This could result in a significant oversupply of dwellings, and in turn could reverse the years of undersupply that has maintained very high house prices since mid-last decade. (See the population versus dwelling completions chart above.) A big cut to immigration is not something many other countries have to deal with, so their experience is not directly translatable to Australia. Of course, if this is just for a year, it wouldn’t have much lasting impact. And the return of expat Australians may provide a short-term offset. But with unemployment likely to remain high for some time, it will be hard politically for the Government to quickly ramp up immigration to previous levels, even once it is safe to do so from a coronavirus perspective. After the early 1990s recession net immigration stayed low at around 90,000 pa until the mid-2000s. All of which points to a long period of constrained housing demand and hence more constrained house prices.
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- Finally, a mass shift to working from home potentially has huge implications for residential property prices. Prior to coronavirus, working from home was only slowly creeping in. Now coronavirus driven lockdowns and social distancing has shown that its feasible for most white-collar workers and can be good for productivity. Of course, full time working from home does come with costs in terms of team cohesion, corporate culture, the development of younger workers and less opportunities for spontaneously exchanging ideas. So, some sort of hybrid may become the norm – some at home all the time, some in the office all the time, but most doing half and half. And working from home works best in houses where there’s lots of room as opposed to apartments. All of which could revolutionise residential property demand - and from what I am hearing anecdotally maybe already is. Which will mean less demand for property close to the CBD, greater demand for property in suburbs, with a decent community and environment and increased property demand in regional centres. All of which could break down the dominance of the city with its expensive property. This would turn the trend of recent decades favouring more condensed living close to the city on its head. Some office property (and possibly also some retail property impacted by the shift to online retailing) could be repurposed for residential use, thereby boosting housing supply. By fostering decentralisation, a shift away from cities to regional communities could dramatically improve housing affordability over time. 
Concluding comment 
We are still fighting the war against coronavirus but it’s likely, as we have seen with various shocks in the past, we will get over it, and go back to something more normal. But not everything will go back to normal. A lasting impact could be more affordable housing in Australia. It’s not our base case that this will come in the form of a property crash (and that would be a bad outcome for the economy anyway via negative wealth effects) but it could come in the form of much softer property price gains over time (after the initial hit into next year). 
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SHANE OLIVER | Head of Investment Strategy and Chief Economist | AMP CAPITAL
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Why COVID might fix Australia’s housing affordability crisis: Shane Oliver

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EXPERT OBSERVATION
I have never seen a more uncertain economic outlook than we currently face both domestically and globally.
Nevertheless it is important to try to set out a framework for assessing the outlook. In this note we take the unusual approach of looking at the prospects of the states and build the national picture up from the individual states.
Victoria has entered Stage 4 lockdown which is likely to continue until mid-September.
Developments in Victoria have been rapid. When the government released its economic forecasts on July 23 the underlying assumption was that Stage 3 lockdown in Victoria would ease from mid-August.
That assumption was in line with our original figuring where we assumed that activity in Victoria had lifted by 1.5% with the gradual reopening of the economy between early June and the renewed lock down in early July. We expected that the renewed lock down would "lose" that 1.5% through July and August.
Using the same underlying assumption as the government, which assumed a reopening by mid-August we expected growth to lift in the second half of the quarter by 1.5% for a flat growth result for Victoria.
Hours worked data subsequently indicated that, both in Victoria and nationally, the recovery in June was indeed faster than that 1.5% estimate – nearer 4%.
Hours worked had collapsed by 12% in April/May highlighting the impact of the original lock downs across the country.
The introduction of Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne and regional Victoria (Stage 3) can be expected to see activity fall below the April/May levels ("only" Stage 3 across the whole state) losing that 4% gain in July plus a further 5% through the September quarter (this forecast is based on the official guidance that jobs affected over that six week period will total around 250,000 – or around 10% of the existing workforce).
In total we now expect the Victorian economy to contract by 9% in the September quarter.
Note that the base fall of 12% in April/May represents the extreme initial response to a shutdown from "normal" activity levels.
This forecast is consistent with activity in the Victorian economy contracting by 16% over the June and September quarters. (7% in the June quarter and 9% in the September quarter) taking activity below that low point in April/May.
With the Stage 4 restrictions now likely to stay in place for most of September Victoria's recovery will be delayed until the December quarter when we expect the 9% loss in the September quarter to be partially reversed (growth of 6%) as the state moves from Stage 4 through to Stage 2.
Bill Evans is Westpac's economic spokesman and the head of economic research
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Global and domestic economic outlook never been more uncertain: Bill Evans

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We are entering an era of profound change in how we work, learn, socialise and live with COVID-19.
Many people will adjust to this new world order and work remotely at home if they don’t have to attend an office or other workplace. This, in turn, will create an opportunity to adapt unused buildings, which were needed for the previous economy, for the new ways of living and working. Buildings could be transformed or redeployed through adaptive reuse for much-needed housing.
We already have the technology and the capacity to work and live remotely from an office or institution, if we choose to.
For some people, working-from-home models have become the norm during the enforced COVID-19 isolation periods of 2020. Many of them are likely to choose alternative work patterns as an ongoing model in preference to daily <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-12/jobs-boom-in-cbds-leaves-a-long-commute/11198142" target="_blank">commuting to the traditional central office</a> in busy cities.
If we approach figures like those of earlier recessions, employment will fall even <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-todays-economic-statement-143088" target="_blank">more dramatically than it has already</a>. Reduced trade will slow the economy for many years. The burgeoning numbers of unemployed and low-income citizens will find it difficult to find affordable homes.
The people who suffer most during this period, the “new poor”, will struggle to pay for even basic housing, let alone homes that provide space for occupants to work and live at home. Public and subsidised housing will have to fill the gap.
<h2>Silver linings to the COVID cloud</h2>
Some positives are appearing from this new world order.
Some professions will find themselves comfortably working away from the traditional workplace. They will be able to manage work and family more easily.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349494/original/file-20200727-23-tkty56.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349494/original/file-20200727-23-tkty56.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt="Apartment block converted from former telephone exchange and post office building at 118 Russell Street, Melbourne."></a>
The building that formerly housed a telephone exchange and post office at 118 Russell Street, Melbourne, has been converted into apartments. Author provided
As well as offices becoming redundant, delivery services like Amazon, Deliveroo and Uber Eats might replace many traditional retail outlets, including shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. Many buildings housing such businesses might not reopen.
Buildings that are no longer fit for purpose, or not required in a new detached working environment, could be <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Theo_Van_der_Voordt2/publication/235289905_A_new_life_Conversion_of_vacant_office_buildings_into_housing/links/00b49515082bc04d42000000/A-new-life-Conversion-of-vacant-office-buildings-into-housing.pdf" target="_blank">repurposed as housing</a>. Empty <a href="https://ggwash.org/view/61871/abandoned-office-buildings-can-become-new-housing" target="_blank">office blocks</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-30/a-case-for-turning-empty-malls-into-housing" target="_blank">shops and stores</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrosowsky/2020/06/22/how-does-a-pre-pandemic-building-inventory-serve-a-post-pandemic-university-whats-next-for-campus-spaces/#7a625eb61da4" target="_blank">unused teaching facilities</a> could all be recycled for social and community low-cost rental housing.
Of course we will need to retain many resources, such as distribution warehouses, places of worship, hospitals, childcare centre, kindergartens and primary schools, laboratories, workshops, manufacturing factories, prisons, bakeries, farmers markets, personal health and hygiene salons – for hair, massage, wellness and mental health. Other places such as transport hubs, sporting facilities, theatres, tourist accommodation, cafes, bars and restaurants will be maintained too.
But underused office buildings will not be needed as offices. They can become part of the new model for blended home-and-work operations.
Families who have experimented with shared responsibilities during COVID-19 lockdowns may continue this routine as a new “normal” and select <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/adaptive-reuse" target="_blank">newly adapted old buildings</a> for accommodation.
<h2>Commercial buildings can be easily converted</h2>
One advantage of reusing a commercial building is the relative openness of its plan. New living areas can be planned and fitted into the office open space, using simple lightweight partition walls.
Usually large open office spaces surround a service core. The core contains lifts, plumbing, ducts and risers, fire stairs, bathrooms and equipment.
Wet areas such as kitchens, bathrooms and laundries would be located against the core. Here they can be connected easily to the building services and systems.
Commercial buildings are usually solid constructions. They are built to last, so their recycled concrete, steel and glass suits reclamation.
These buildings are generally spacious, with a floor-to-ceiling height of about three metres (not the miserable norm of cheap apartments, which is less than 2.5 metres).
It is even possible for some old office building floors to have part of their outside walls removed and refitted inside the floor slabs, which creates open-space balconies and gardens.
The environment would benefit too
As a byproduct of repurposing old buildings, we’d benefit the environment. Re-use conserves natural resources and minimises the need for new materials. That’s because these adapted buildings are effectively <a href="https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid%3A48305aea-75d8-4285-aa5d-0056fe5305d0" target="_blank">already half built</a>.
Building construction, maintenance and use produce about a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318754386_From_leaders_to_majority_a_frontrunner_paradox_in_built-environment_climate_governance_experimentation" target="_blank">quarter of Australia’s emissions</a>. Maybe the world could largely meet its <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement" target="_blank">Paris Agreement</a> emission-reduction targets before 2030 by making better use of existing buildings as well as increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy’s market share.
COVID-19 might eventually be eliminated, but the impacts will roll on for many years. A long-term benefit of this disaster could be a focus on no longer needing to duplicate so much space to live and work in. The result would be reducing consumption of building materials as the world tightens its environmental belt.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142897/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/norman-day-228477" target="_blank">Norman Day</a>, Lecturer in Architecture, Practice and Design, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/swinburne-university-of-technology-767" target="_blank">Swinburne University of Technology</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/unused-buildings-will-make-good-housing-in-the-world-of-covid-19-142897" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Unused buildings will make good housing in the world of COVID-19

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One of the many things COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on is the way many of us work.
Those fortunate enough to be able to work from home have been able to adapt to this new reality – and it certainly has been “new”.
Perhaps the biggest question for both employers and employees is whether working from home has led to a decrease in productivity.
The fact major companies such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/technology/facebook-remote-work-coronavirus" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/05/13/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-tells-employees-they-can-work-from-home-forever-before-you-celebrate-theres-a-catch/#765a70652e91" target="_blank">Twitter</a> have said they will allow many employees to work from home permanently suggests work in some sectors can be done more efficiently outside a formal workplace.
At a minimum, time saved from commuting and greater flexibility to multitask other elements of one’s life are positives from working from home. Lack of social interaction and the inevitable distractions in most home environments are negatives.
The degree and extent of increased productivity from working at home remains to be seen. It will depend on the way in which working in a team has evolved in a remote environment using online tools like Slack and Zoom.
The big question is how the nature of collaboration has changed under COVID.
<h2>Studying 3 million people</h2>
Thanks to <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27612" target="_blank">a fascinating analysis</a> by researchers from the Harvard Business School and New York University, we are beginning to get the first systematic evidence on how the nature of work has changed for those working from home during COVID-19.
The authors gathered aggregated meeting and email meta-data for 3,143,270 people working for 21,478 companies in 16 cities in Europe, the United States and Israel where government-mandated lockdowns were imposed in March.
As the authors put it:
<blockquote>
These lockdowns established a clear break point after which we could infer that people were working from home. The earliest lockdown in our data occurred on March 8, 2020, in Milan, Italy, and the latest lockdown occurred on March 25, 2020, in Washington, DC.
</blockquote>
To explore changes in worker behaviour, their analysis compares meeting and email data during the lockdown periods (typically a month long) with data for the eight weeks prior and the eight weeks after lockdowns ended.
The data they used came from “an information technology services provider that licenses digital communications solutions to organisations around the world”.
This meta-data indicates the actual behaviour of employees in real organisations. So it’s more robust than, say, a survey asking people what they did. Survey respondents might not remember accurately, or might not tell the truth, and those that respond may not be a representative sample.
In short, the meta-data enables the authors to draw detailed and interesting conclusions that survey data would allow.
It’s the detail of a paper like this that is, in a sense, the whole point. But the bottom line is this. Lockdowns have reduced the amount of time most workers spend in meetings, but increased their working hours.
<h2>Time in meetings</h2>
Their results show the number of meetings attended by workers increased, on average, by 12.9% during lockdown – with the average number of attendees per meeting increasing by 13.5%.
Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on meetings
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351458/original/file-20200806-22-173asvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351458/original/file-20200806-22-173asvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on meetings."></a>
<a class="source" href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27612" target="_blank">NBER Working Paper No. 27612, July 2020</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND</a>
But the average length of meetings fell by 20.1%, with the net effect being that people spent 11.5% less time in meetings.
In European cities such as Brussels, Oslo and Zurich, meeting length declined sharply and continued to fall in the month after the beginning of the lockdown. In the US cities of Chicago, New York and Washington DC, length of meetings declined less.
Email and working hours
There was, also, a significant and seemingly durable increase in working hours, based on the number of hours between the first and last email sent or meeting attended by an individual in a day.
On average, the length of the average workday increased by 48.5 minutes.
Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on email
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351460/original/file-20200806-14-1x9tdkp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351460/original/file-20200806-14-1x9tdkp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="Impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on email."></a>
<a class="source" href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27612" target="_blank">NBER Working Paper No. 27612, July 2020</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-ND</a>
Longer workdays were common across the 16 cities during lockdowns. When restrictions were lifted, average hours returned closer to pre-lockdown levels in all but three cities – San Jose, Rome and New York City.
<h2>The evolving nature of work</h2>
It is perhaps too early to draw strong conclusions about these changing patterns of communication. But there are some intriguing possibilities.
Larger meetings may be needed to get “everyone on the same page” and create what economists call “common knowledge”. This may be both easier to do in phone or video conferences, and also more important in the absence of face-to-face communication.
Consistent with this, electronic communications extending beyond normal work hours seems like an inevitable consequence, albeit a negative one for work-life balance, particularly for people with caring responsibilities.
The nature of work was evolving before COVID-19, and it will continue to do so as many parts of the world continue with various forms of physical distancing.
Documenting the nature of that evolution, as well as the implications for productivity, workplace culture, and time outside of work will continue to be informed by remarkable data of the kind the authors analysed.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143894/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/richard-holden-118107" target="_blank">Richard Holden</a>, Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-1414" target="_blank">UNSW</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/vital-signs-shorter-meetings-but-longer-days-how-covid-19-has-changed-the-way-we-work-143894" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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Shorter meetings but longer days – how COVID-19 has changed the way we work

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They’re at it again, pushing lower company tax as a way to resuscitate the economy.
The arguments were well ventilated at the time the government pushed for company tax cuts, failed to get support in the Senate, and then abandoned them in favour of personal income tax cuts in the leadup to the last election, declaring “we’re not coming back to the company tax cuts”.
The new argument is that they’ll help get us out of recession, but in the same sense that Leo Tolstoy observed that while all happy families resemble each other, each unhappy family is unhappy <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-Tolstoy/Anna-Karenina" target="_blank">in its own way</a>, each recession is different.
This recession is the result of the forced hibernation of large parts of the economy in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
<h2>This recession is about households</h2>
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350383/original/file-20200730-17-14n6v9d.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/350383/original/file-20200730-17-14n6v9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The first priority will be household spending.
When the time is right, it will be households that hold the key to reversing the effects of hibernation.
Australian households account for 60 cents in every dollar spent in the Australian economy, and they accounted for a disproportionate share of the fall in GDP in the first half of 2020.
With shops and cafes shut, the need for investment in new facilities is low.
The first step to recovery has to be reopening the businesses that exist and are closed or are operating well below capacity.
This means getting households spending, supported by stimulus.
<h2>Company tax cuts benefit foreigners</h2>
Our modelling in 2018 showed that while a company tax cut would stimulate investment and economic activity, in both the short run and the long run the benefits would accrue to <a href="https://www.copsmodels.com/elecpapr/g-287.htm" target="_blank">foreign investors</a> rather than to Australians.
In theory, all investors should respond positively to a lower company tax rate, but under Australia’s system of <a href="https://theconversation.com/words-that-matter-whats-a-franking-credit-whats-dividend-imputation-and-whats-retiree-tax-111423" target="_blank">dividend imputation</a> local investors are shielded from company tax, meaning the cuts matter most for those overseas.
Those overseas investors would be likely to invest more in Australia after a company tax cut, boosting Australia’s capital stock (buildings and equipment) making workers more valuable, pushing up wages. 
While sold as a plus, higher wages would make it harder for locally-owned businesses. Our modelling found the biggest losers would be in the retail, <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-business-doesnt-want-to-talk-about-it-but-smes-lose-from-a-company-tax-cut-57965" target="_blank">health care and education industries</a>.
With foreign investors paying less tax, the local population would bear the consequences of spending cuts or higher taxes, broadly negating the benefit of higher wage growth.
<h2>COVID makes the case weaker</h2>
As well, much of the company tax cut would be ‘wasted’ providing a windfall gain to foreign investors already in Australia.
The case for a company tax cut is now weaker, not stronger, than it was in 2018.
Budget deficits will reach new highs in 2019-20 and 2020-21. It is the right policy for the circumstances we are in, but it will leave future governments with difficult decisions about budget repair.
When the economy is strong enough, taxpayers could face deficit repair levies, bracket creep, new taxes, and the broader application of existing ones.
It is for this reason that the <a href="https://www.imf.org/%7E/media/Files/Publications/covid19-special-notes/special-series-on-covid-19-tax-law-design-considerations-when-implementing-responses.ashx" target="_blank">International Monetary Fund</a> warned against knee-jerk tax changes during the crisis and said:
a premium should be placed on measures that move the tax system in desirable directions – specifically: refrain from tax holidays; keep environmental taxes; do not cut corporate income tax rates
If the company tax rate was to be cut now, it would be difficult later to restore it to where it was when it was needed.
The smaller tax contribution by foreign investors would mean more of the adjustment would fall on us.
<h2>And investors may well find us increasingly attractive</h2>
Another fresh reason to be cautious about a cut in company tax is that Australia’s relative attractiveness as an investment destination might well improve.
We have suffered, but most of the world has suffered the same or worse.
Deciding where to invest their next dollars, investors might well form the view that our response to the pandemic has been better than those of other destinations such as the United States, Britain and Brazil.
One of the benefits of being a peaceful, well-managed resource-rich Western democracy is that when things are bad elsewhere foreign investors look here.
We might continue to find (as we have in the past) that we get all the foreign investment we can handle with our company tax rate as it is.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143622/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/janine-dixon-11006" target="_blank">Janine Dixon</a>, Economist at Centre of Policy Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/victoria-university-1175" target="_blank">Victoria University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-nassios-318488" target="_blank">Jason Nassios</a>, Senior Research Fellow, Centre of Policy Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/victoria-university-1175" target="_blank">Victoria University</a>
This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/post-covid-therell-be-less-of-a-reason-to-cut-company-tax-than-before-143622" target="_blank">original article</a>.
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