I have been covering the disgusting story of construction defects across Australia for some time. In January we published a post titled “Wanted: More High-Rise Purchasers Willing To Play Russian Roulette! First Time Buyers are the biggest victims!
And lets be clear, while the problem is Australia-wide, New South Wales does appear to be at the epi-centre thanks to the privatisation of building inspections, the drive for quick construction at low cost, and unprecedented demand to meet supply. And of course recent proposed planning changes means more high-rise more quickly built. The disaster continues.
There are no real guarantees on current new construction, despite recent changes. So my message to first time buyers who are already under the pump financially, is to be very careful. Make sure you do your own due diligence. Caveat Emptor!
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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
Well, finally, the problems in Australian high-rise construction are getting airtime, but many households are caught up with these rolling disasters, as estimates suggest well more than half of recently built apartments are defective.
It frankly remains a game of “Russian roulette” when buying off-the-plan apartments and consumers could be forgiven for asking themselves if it is safe to buy an apartment off the plan with issues frequently emerging in Sydney’s building developments. The current legislation is not effective, and of course the question is who would foot the bill for repairs.? Yet the industry keeps making empty promises, and is claiming things are now fixed. No surprise there.
Lets look back at some of the issues so far in NSW. In recent years building developments such as Opal Towers and two buildings owned by Toplace have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, leaving some owners and occupiers out of pocket and traumatised. Last year NSW regulators issued work rectification orders across building sites, including The Laneways Rosebery, which has serious structural defects, and Toplace’s Vicinity complex in Canterbury over “potential serious defects”.
At Mascot Towers in Sydney’s inner-south, residents were offered a settlement at the start of January after being forced to evacuate their defect-ridden apartment building years prior.
Less than a fortnight later, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler has moved to reassure residents there was no immediate threat to an apartment and retail development in Macquarie Park after concerns about concrete were identified in the building’s basement and ground floor.
“What we have done so far is we’ve told the developer, ‘You are responsible and you are going to fix this under the powers of the NSW [Residential Apartment Buildings] Act’,” Mr Chandler said last Thursday.
But Lachlan’s Line is just one of many, with building work rectification orders “issued all the time” by Building Commission NSW. “We’re probably issuing four or five orders a week at the moment,” Mr Chandler said.
The ABC writes, In December, the NSW Building Commission was given extra powers to order fixes during construction, aimed at boosting public confidence in buying homes off the plan.
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News.com.au reported that a staggering 2,349 construction firms have collapsed in the past year – with fears more may fall soon.
A “perfect storm” of high interest rates, soaring material costs and an ongoing worker shortage across the Aussie industry have sent tradies into freefall.
Insolvencies in the construction industry have reached an annual record this year, according to fresh data published by the corporate regulator ASIC. The September quarter was the worst for the industry in 2023, where 785 construction businesses traded as insolvent. Just this month four building companies went bust in the first three days of the month.
And amid a chronic shortage of housing fuelled by Australia’s record overseas migration intake, the collapse of builders, contractors and subcontractors will not only have an immediate impact but could crimp future supply of new homes.
We look in more detail at the numbers…
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A new report has revealed 53 per cent of NSW buildings have had serious defects over the past 5 years, with only half resolved within one year.
The number has risen from 39 per cent in 2021 with the most common defects including waterproofing, fire safety, structural and key services issues such as lifts and plumbing.
The report, by The Strata Community Association (SCA) NSW and the Office of the Building Commissioner, has revealed that more than half of all strata buildings had serious defects between 2016 – 2022, with an estimated $79 million spent by owners corporations to fix the issues.
The average cost of rectifying serious defects was $283,000 per building.
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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
Metricon is the country’s largest residential home builder, and credits itself as ‘”Australia’s most trusted choice”. According to an ABC report, Metricon has terminated dozens of fixed-price contracts and asked customers to sign new contracts for substantially more. The major homebuilder has also stopped paying some agents’ commission fees, without explanation. Metricon is the only builder to appear on the NSW watchdog’s complaints register this year.
Worth underscoring its important to read the small print in construction contracts, at a time when building failures are rising, thanks to the profitless boom created by poor policy and low interest rates.
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More bad news for high-rise construction, with defects on the rise and some not being fixed, leaving owners with massive potential bills, and overall uncertainty.
http://www.martinnorth.com/
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Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.
Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.
Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.
Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.
Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.
New housing legislation has been introduced to Parliament to deliver the “single biggest investment” in affordable and social housing in a decade. States and territories tackling their own housing supply crises will have greater help via new federal bills introduced to Parliament on Thursday (9 February).
Under the umbrella of three new bills — the Housing Australia Fund Bill; National Housing Supply and Affordability Council Bill; and Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Measures No. 1) Bill — the government has delivered “the single biggest investment in affordable and social housing in more than a decade.
But as we discuss the proposals are small and driven by a Neo-liberal mentality. Does not address the fundamentals of housing affordability but plays around the edge for political advantage. We need better!
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The latest from the ABS showed a significant fall in high-rise development in July, although houses were stronger.
These are lagging indicators of property activity, and an overhang from the strong momentum earlier, when Government stimulus was juicing the market. Therefore, we should expect more falls ahead. The state by state analysts showed considerable variation.
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Builders are falling like flies… and more to come.
Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants. If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you. Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side. Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make. Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest. Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.
We unpick the “supply-side” problems which are often blamed for high home prices, and in the light of a recent report, find that Land Banking is a significant issue, as large players hold on to land parcels to exploit prices rises. This means you cannot solve affordability by changing planning rules! In addition, there is significant information asymmetry and financial players benefit from the current arrangements – while State and Federal Governments look the other way.
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
