Jack Haber

This myth, this misdirection that it’s planning standing in the way of more housing keeps coming from the development lobby because they want deregulated planning in the future. But in Victorian “builders are now shelving more flats and townhouses than they are starting – despite being given the green light to press ahead by local councils.” AND yet the solution from the state gov in Vic is to put more pressure on councils! The biggest data revelation of this story is that the state gov - and I say most of the state govs - are totally in thrall to developers. Problem is development is a huge part of state economies. And it’s why we need federal gov to find a way to stop this nonsense and step in to ensure the basic necessity of housing without the distractions of rubbish Trumpian arguments (lies). Planning can be improved everywhere there is no doubt but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Let’s look instead at a whole of gov approach: the tax regime, capital gains exemptions for mansions, a limit on investment properties and empty unused property used as a bank deposit. AND the biggie: more more more social housing - it’s far more valuable than feeeways and will deliver much more benefit to our society including vast savings from social and health issues.

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Tribute to Bronwyn Weir and great that the ABC is interviewing real experts like Bronwyn to cover the issue of apartment tower defects. Bronwyn co-authored the Shergold Weir report in 2018 and we are approaching 5 years since that. She posted previously on linked in how only a few of the recommendations had been implemented. And here were are back again with this case study on the central coast. https://lnkd.in/g3UDYkRv I have often felt like giving up advocating for this after several years of being ignored by government agencies and peak bodies even after making highly relevant and accepted submissions. My chronology of dangerous defects video on youtube remains timeless and relevant and if you think that the silent media coverage over the past couple of years means the problem is solved then think again. https://lnkd.in/gUsb77VF This post also acknowledges the amazing works of IBQC, Prof (Adj) Kim Lovegrove FRSN, MSE, RML. Nicole Johnston, and David chandler and all other industry, government and peak bodies who seek to understand the broader problem that does not lie fully in the property development and building industry system but the Apartment Tower Creation system that starts with land allocation, spans the property developer, architect, builder, subbies, suppliers, real estate presales and ends with the strata system’s understandable structural inability to solve tragedy. You can still read all my research, articles, videos and posts on The City Whisperer where I have preserved this knowledge for future generations. It includes my doctoral works starting in 1993 in my MBA at MGSM on high rise buildings , through to a part DBA and PhD at UNSW BE on the growth of cities, high rise phenomena and property development culture. It was the first practitioner base doctorate in this sphere. I still advocate for progression by universities on high rise phenomena and its risks to society. https://www.jondrane.net/

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And soon developers won't even be making money on luxury apartments for wealthy downsizers. If the #development and #strata industries don't stop exploiting owners with uncommercial and inequitable body corporate contracts and shared facilities costs in SMSs, wealthy downsizers with common sense will avoid these apartments like the plague.  Strata Community Association Australasia #stratamanagement #BMC #strata #apartments 

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A few months ago, I presented with one of the world's leading architects based in Melbourne, who (last week) set up a JV with the UK with the world's leading Cross-Laminated Timber construction Architectural firm to one of Australia's largest Superannuation Funds for a fast-to-market, fast-track solution to assist in solving Australia's worst affordable and social housing crisis. So far, there has been no response. Last year, sponsored by BusinessNSW to various State government agencies and Senior Executives of various NSW State government agencies, our scalable advanced modular construction platform capability was an all-day capability presentation at the CLT Adelaide Oval Hotel. The Adelaide Oval Hotel was built from renewable plantation forest trees into cross-laminated timber in less than 12 months, showcasing the speed-to-market typically achieved through traditional and 2.5-year inefficient custom construction methods. So far, there has been deathly silence from the NSW Government. Our Thrive Alliance consortia members demonstrated their scalable solutions, showcasing over 100,000 primary reference CLT urban projects worldwide. In Australia, we can scale up to 40,000 inclusive quality residential-grade mid-rise apartments per year ( Sydney alone has a shortage of around 25,000 quality mid-rise apartments today). Our plans included Australia's leading cross-laminated timber company cooperating with over 50% of the world's CLT supplier chain. This is a scale of the need to impact Australia's current shortfall of over 1 million affordable and social dwellings. We offered a whole new GDP growth industry opportunity in renewable plantation forest trees in the EU countries. 100% of their renewable plantation forest trees are utilised, and new export opportunities are created with a range of sustainable carbon-free products. Meanwhile, in Australia, up to 30% of our renewable plantation forest trees are wasted, either left on the ground to rot or, worse, burnt, adding to the pollution of Australia. In Australia, the Thrive Alliance consortia have been led by a proven "Placemaker" over the decades in all my previous major urban projects won at either State or Local Government tenders with no mandatory requirements just through my initiative and sense of social responsibility set aside between 30% to 50% for affordable housing an unmatched track record of "social responsibility" of any significant urban development group in Australia in today's values multi-billion dollar urban projects. I am off to Melbourne this week to meet our Thrive Alliance design architect and plan scale-up with his new JV specialist in the architecture group in CLT's worldwide leadership. #ThriveAlliance #AffordableHousing #SocialResponsibility #Inclusiveness #residentialgrade #midrise #fasttrack #fasttomarket #CLT #Harropfactor #Placemaker #essentialworkers #keyworkers #BabyBoomers #downsizingoptions #socialdwellings

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Hard to imagine this scenario currently in Australia where we are in the midst of a housing crisis. Central planning is all well and good until it isn't, and by the time significant problems appear the construction pipeline takes a long time to change direction and you end up with major issues that are difficult to reverse. Any thoughts? As always please be respectful, inclusive and polite to others. This is for the purpose of encouraging discussion and I am not advocating a particular position. https://lnkd.in/dAeiz6RW

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Great little feature here on MMC in the Australian Broker. There is lots of terminology kicked about in this space and they all have a different meaning— MMC, industrialised building, prefabrication, offsite manufacturing, modular construction, DfM, DfMA, alternative construction techniques, smart building etc etc Let's consider Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) as an overarching category. By doing so, the focus shifts to identifying the specific aspects of MMC that we are investigating, funding, and investing in, understanding their current stage of development, and assessing their potential impact on housing supply in both the short and long term. Naturally, it's easy to focus on whether to view some of this as a cost or an investment. Of course, low-scale production of modular homes will be expensive right now if the market (orders are low). Similarly, investing in the development of an entirely new industry is expensive when there is so much need now. However, I'm sure we considered that when we invested in the light bulb, motor vehicle, computers, and mobile phones. It seems to me that government and industry both have a role to play in delivering right now and developing for the future. We should also acknowledge that many of these techniques have been embedded into private sector development for many, many years. I am largely referring to the role govt and industry should play together here 🤝 I like the direction of the national advanced manufacturing agenda, and that is the sort of visionary thinking this second part of the MMC equation requires in my opinion. Our state govt was one of the first out the gates with a modular program, but let’s lead hard on this whole agenda before someone else swoops in and beats us to the prize. Q Shelter Master Builders Queensland Building 4.0 CRC Property Council of Australia #MMC #ModernMethods #FutureTech #InvestNow #AdvancedManufacturing

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So if your interested in economic and upcoming budget scenario. This article is interesting to set the scene about the new Chancellors potential plans change the way the country does its accounts. I lived through the Labour Governmnets amazing economic recovery story in New Zealand under Finance Minister Roger Douglas. It’s seems that Reeves is take a lead out of “rogernomics” playbook. The reason I write this is that, if your connected with running a business and all that entails. How is it that governments just keep borrowing more and more money. They never balance the budget, never do a 50 year plan. All western nations seem to be the same. You ask, how does that work? https://flip.it/bPh4pc

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It would be so easy: CBD businesses could encourage work from home & some office buildings could be partially converted to apartments. In addition, eliminate street parking to alleviate congestion & turn other office spaces into parking structures

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The premise: the need for more "family sized" #apartments 🏢 in inner suburbs. Sounds good in theory, so why doesn't this happen more in practice? This Domain article illustrates the disconnect between "policy" and "reality". It boils down to simple #housing #economics. A three-bedroom apartment needs to be a minimum 120m2 to be approaching comfortable (they can be as small as ~90m2, theoretically). The problem is the input cost of developing new apartments is so high that today in Melbourne, the minimum one needs to sell for is around $12,000 per m2 (or $14,000+ in inner areas). So your comfortable family-sized dwelling will cost you $1.68m 💰. Even the tiniest option will run close to $1.3m. Contrast this with a three bedroom house 🏠 in the #greenfields - with double the internal space and a backyard which today is around $700k on a compact lot. Or a middle-ring, 2-3 storey #townhouse which is likely circa $850k. But wait, you say - don't you save all that money by needing fewer cars and using public #transport 🚉? In truth, most savings would be eroded by owners corporation costs in maintaining the common areas, building insurance and the like. OC costs for large units in a boutique building can easily be $10k p.a. or more. I may sound negative on apartment living (I'm not) but unless those unit economics change, do not expect a preponderance of "affordable family developments" in inner ring suburbs of our major cities as social policy experts would like to see. #planning #development #familysizedapartments UDIA Victoria, Alexandra Middleton

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Transit Oriented Development. Much talked about, over 30 years. But why has there been so little by way of results? My recent article for Australian Property Investor Magazine explores possible reasons. https://lnkd.in/gy_28_GV

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It is inspiring to see young and established architectural firms getting involved with good design solutions for affordable and social housing and project designs that could be scaled up with fast-to-market and fast-track solutions. The design competition render featured in the Guardian (Pic) features stunning architecture that could appeal to a broad range of residents in inner-city Adelaide's Unley. These would include the existing community looking for a downsizing option in the community they love, essential workers with easy access to Public Hospital, and lower-income residents looking for affordable rental accommodation with a good bus service on the front doorstep. Who inspired me to do good things as a “Placemaker,” including my major urban projects, setting aside between 30% to 50% for affordable housing over the last 50 years on all vacant land won at either State/ Federal Govt tenders, with no mandatory requirements just through my initiative a sense of “social responsibility”. Late Alexander Maurice Ramsay MBE (1914-1978), public servant “The Public Service as a Vocation', published in Public Administration (1969), he asserted that 'man realizes the finest quality of his nature when he forgets himself . . . and concerns himself with his neighbour'. Arguing that the state provided the essential infrastructure for the operations of the market economy, he merged his economic training and Christian principles in public service that was 'both in keeping with the highest ideals of a Christian society and essential for its progress'. He described his work as having two dimensions: honest stewardship of the resources entrusted to him and care for the public good.” “ It gave him satisfaction that the Housing Trust ran at a profit" https://lnkd.in/dW9qD_8 This is what a scalable plan looks like to help solve Australia's worst affordable /social housing crisis in history. Our "Thrive Alliance" Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) in Australia and Internationally is made from renewable plantation forest trees. CLT=stored carbon capacity is up to 40,000 inclusive “residential grade” inclusive midrise apartments per year, targeting the “Baby Boomers” and "Essential Workers " including social housing on a scale (including disability workers) across Australia, including Regional Australia, built in up to 75% less time than current custom construction methods, up to 65% less skilled workforce on site. This capability was presented to various NSW departments last year in an all-day capacity presentation sponsored by Business NSW. "Speed to market "is the market opportunity for CLT advanced modular construction. The Thrive Alliance has over 100,000 major CLT urban reference projects worldwide. Led in Australia by a proven Placemaker, I have emphasised a sense of social responsibility in all my previous major urban projects. #ThriveAlliance #CLT

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An alternative to scrapping the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount in Australia is a direct tax on property. Australia already has a state property tax and stamp duty but one curious aspect is that there is one type of business that is still allowed to pay private residential property tax on assets which they own for the purpose of generating an income. These are rental properties owned by investors. Making the obvious and fair change to ask rental property investors to pay commercial property tax would close a loophole in the tax system and provide needed revenues for state governments to invest in housing infrastructure. It would also have the added benefit of tilting the housing market back slightly in favour of first home buyers

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The missing middle in inclusive residential-grade mid-rise apartments and townhouses is a challenge in Australia due to the lack of "inclusive policies" governing the use and sale of surplus land by the Federal, State and Local Governments across Australia Public Land suitable for residential use. In contrast, the Mayor of London mandates up to 50% of such land for affordable housing, resulting in over 30,000 affordable dwellings on surplus land sold off suitable for residential use. As a proven "Placemaker" with a track record of winning tenders for major urban projects, I have voluntarily set aside 30% to 50% for affordable housing, leading to above-average capital growth and long-term value retention in all my previous major urban projects with no mandatory requirements, just through my initiative and sense of "social responsibility." All my previous major urban projects have achieved above-average capital growth for decades and are tightly held. Also missing across Australia today is a fast-track solution, a fast-to-market solution instead of relying upon slow, inefficient custom construction methods with vast shortages of tradies, a more sustainable solution in advanced modular construction platforms built from Renewable plantation forest trees into Cross Laminated Timber construction with great design, detailing and finishes minimising expensive building materials waste going to landfills which is unsustainable. The Thrive Alliance's expertise is over 100,000 CLT major urban reference projects worldwide, all of which use Engineered wood in Cross-Laminated Timber construction. #Harropfactor #Placemaker #SocialResponsibility #Inclusiveness #residentialgrade #midrise #townhouses. #ThriveAlliance #AffordableHousing #CLT #SydneyHousingCrisis #fasttomarket #sustainability #ThriveConstruct #EssentialWorkers

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The government has just released the Government Land Sales Programme for H2 2024. https://lnkd.in/dS944ZZA About 5,000 residential units will be released on the confirmed list. The increased land supply, especially in the suburbs, can improve accessibility to private housing for the general public. Moreover, developers may continue to take a measured approach in their land bidding with the increased availability of land, which will help stabilise prices into 2025. Many of these sites comprise around 300 to 600 units each. Therefore, this may cause an uptick in sales transactions next year. Read more of our analyses:  https://lnkd.in/dVw2Mr-a URA website: https://lnkd.in/dS944ZZA OrangeTee. #UnitedWeGrow #OneOrangeTee #OTT #AAG #RealEstate #OTTInsights #URA #property #propertyinvestment #coolingmeasures #sales #propertyforsale #properties #OrangeTee #money #singaporeproperty #singapore #hdb #realestateinvestment #resale #realestateagent

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‘Built-to-rent will create a class system': CEO: A proliferation of build-to-rent housing could create a class divide on par with the US, a Sydney architectural firm has stated. https://bit.ly/4cYNtWw

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There is growing interest among residential developers in utilising permitted development rights to convert existing properties for the Living Sector, either alongside or instead of new builds. In this piece, we will examine permitted development rights and Article 4 directions related to residential development. https://ow.ly/rgQb50TVXF1 #LivingSector #permitteddevelopmentrights #residential #developers

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Softening once more? The latest Foreign Investment Review Board figures show a slowing in approved residential purchase applications by overseas buyers. Economists think that will continue, but say it's not good for new housing creation. #propertyinvestment #foreignbuyers #ausprop https://lnkd.in/gDruXpNA

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