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Queensland had the top two postcodes for FHBDS take-up.

New details into the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme have shown it to be an outstanding success, with two Queensland postcodes leading the take-up nationally.

The details were released as part of research by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation into the first six months of the scheme’s operation to June 30 this year, which saw the government match the loan deposit of 10,000 applicants.

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People of all ages across metro and regional areas around Australia were part of the first round of 10,000 that took up the scheme.

The NHFIC said there was strong demand for the deposit-matching scheme which was accessed by “people of all ages across metro and regional areas around Australia, and those who have moderate taxable incomes”.

“By postcode, demand for the scheme was highest in 4350, Toowoomba area, in southern Queensland (70 loans guaranteed). Other postcodes with large amounts of first home buyers supported by the Scheme were 4305, in southwest Brisbane, Queensland (56); followed by 2560, in South Western Sydney, NSW (54); 3064 in northwest Melbourne, Victoria (52); 3810 (49) and 3977 (49), in southeast Melbourne, Victoria; and 2570, also in South Western Sydney, NSW (47).”

Two QLD postcodes topped those of the rest of the country for take-up.

It said New South Wales (2,263), Queensland (1,845) and Victoria (1,617) together made up eight out of 10 loans guaranteed under the scheme, while Western Australia and South Australia were less widely represented – something NHFIC attributed to “the longstanding Keystart and HomeStart low deposit home loan initiatives currently active” in those two states.

Half of those who used the scheme were single buyers whose incomes sat between $60,000 and $80,000, while couples were on household incomes of $90,000 to $125,000.

“Almost 70 per cent of buyers using the scheme purchased a detached house, with 25 per cent buying an apartment and 5 per cent purchasing a townhouse,” the NHFIC report said, with the median purchase price sitting at $385,000 for houses and $475,000 for apartments – most of which were in capital cities.

It found that of the first 10,000 participants who were approved for the scheme, 6,814 had either signed a contract or settled on their home, while 3,186 were at the loan preapproval stage and still looking for a property.

One in six of those were key workers, it found, of which 37 per cent were teachers and 25 per cent were nurses.

The health crisis across the country did not faze participants, with NHFIC chief executive Nathan Dal Bon seeing strong interest across age and income spectrums, as well as from buyers in outer metropolitan and regional areas.

“Demand for the Scheme in the six months to 30 June continued despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Based on available settlement data, the national figures showed that one in eight first home buyers accessed the scheme, with 62.3 per cent in major cities and 37.7 per cent buying in regional areas.

“More than half of the homes purchased in capital cities were between 15 and 30 kilometres from the CBD, with couple applicants typically buying further away from the CBD than singles.”

The NHFIC report said of the 10,000 places released in the six-month period, more than half of the homes had settled (54.7 per cent), another 13.4 per cent had signed contracts to buy, and 31.9 per cent were pre-approved and househunting.

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Ripponlea tenant Courtney Windross lost her job at a local restaurant due to COVID-19. Picture: Alex Coppel

The looming cut to JobSeeker is a “ticking time bomb” for low-income tenants, who face being priced out of the private Melbourne rental market if the payment returns to pre-coronavirus levels.

Just 84 rental homes across greater Melbourne are affordable for singles relying on the current JobSeeker rate of $1115 a fortnight, according to Anglicare Australia. This equated to 0.3 per cent of the 25,293 listings analysed.

That number will plunge to 15 (0.1 per cent) if the federal government slashes JobSeeker to $815 from September 25 as planned, and five (0 per cent) if the payment returns to its pre-pandemic fortnightly rate of $565 as is on the cards from December 31.

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Anglicare is urging the government to permanently raise welfare payments.

It found affordability for low-income tenants had deteriorated since the pandemic struck in March, despite the boost to welfare and a rush of new listings triggering rental price declines.

Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said the price falls had been concentrated at the higher end of the market, not the lower end, and coronavirus-related hardship had also fuelled more competition for lower-cost rentals.

New Treasury analysis showed almost 30,000 Victorians had started receiving unemployment benefits since the end of June, as a result of the devastating second wave.

Low-income Melbourne renters will “struggle to stay out of homelessness” if JobSeeker is reduced, Anglicare Australia says.

“Even when jobs start reappearing in Victoria, the level of underemployment is going to be huge,” Ms Chambers said.

“If the plans (to reduce JobSeeker) go ahead, many people across greater Melbourne are going to struggle to stay out of homelessness.

“If they are able to, they’re likely to do so by making decisions about the quality and quantity of food they can get their families. We hear of two-minute noodles becoming a staple.

“This is a ticking time bomb. We must raise these payments for good.”

Ms Chambers said governments also urgently needed to address Victoria’s gaping shortfall of 102,800 social housing and affordable rental properties, and continue supporting struggling tenants and landlords through the pandemic.

Anglicare also found a family of four with two adults on the current JobSeeker could afford 1255 rentals across Melbourne (5 per cent). That would plummet to 102 (0.4 per cent) with JobSeeker’s looming cut, and nine (0 per cent) with a return to the pre-pandemic rate.

For a single JobSeeker recipient with a child aged above eight, the numbers were five, one and one respectively.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg added a coronavirus supplement to JobSeeker in March, but Morrison’s government now plans to cut that supplement. Picture: Gary Ramage, NCA NewsWire

Tenants relying on the age pension, disability support pension and youth allowance also had slim pickings.

For minimum wage earners, 3207 Melbourne rentals (12.7 per cent) were achievable for double-income households with two children, 121 (0.5 per cent) for single-income households, and 61 (0.2 per cent) for single-income households with two children.

The report follows the Community Housing Industry Association, National Shelter, and Homelessness Australia joining forces to urge the federal government to invest $7.7b in building, acquiring and renovating social housing, to create much-needed homes and construction jobs to assist Australia’s COVID-19 recovery.

Homelessness Australia chair Jenny Smith warned homelessness would “skyrocket” without government intervention, due to growing unemployment levels and impending welfare cuts.

Meanwhile, the Victorian Government has announced it will offer to move high-rise public housing tenants at the greatest risk from coronavirus into private rentals as part of a $31.7m Tower Relocation Program.

The government said it would lease up to 420 private rental properties for two years as part of the program, which was designed to reduce coronavirus transmissions and open up social housing supply for Victorians.

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samantha.landy@news.com.au

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A mid-century gem once home to one of Australia’s leading post-war architects has hit the market in incredible original condition.

The Ernest Fooks 1964 creation at 32 Howitt Road, Caulfield North is for sale with a $4-$4.4m price guide.

Gary Peer Caulfield director Phillip Kingston said the three-bedroom property was built for Dr Fooks and his wife Noemi, who immigrated from Austria, via Canada, before World War II.

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32 Howitt Road, Caulfield North is for sale.

A curved ceiling in the living room is one of the most impressive features.

He said Fooks House had been the ultimate party pad for the couple, who owned the property until 2013.

“They never had children, so it was a home where they entertained in a huge way,” Mr Kingston said.

“Their time was spent was having friends over to this house and celebrating life.”

Dr Ernest Fooks created the house for himself and wife Noemi.

Original features remain completely intact.

Retro finishes include a colourful living room bar, curved wooden ceiling and bespoke brickwork both inside and outside the home.

Mr Kingston also noted a Japanese influence in the design, including its landscaped gardens and sliding doors.

“This is a visionary creation,” he said.

“Most modern interior designers and architects would kill to be able to create something like this.”

The ultimate bar for a house party.

A large central living room.

A pool in the large backyard adds extra appeal.

The 1092sq m block includes a large pool and is on one of Caulfield North’s most prestigious streets, he added.

Ms Fooks successfully secured National Trust heritage protection for the house in 2002, before she died a decade later aged 103.

In a Beaumaris Modern video by Trace Films, Ms Fooks said the house had always caught the attention of architecture enthusiasts.

The property is on one of Caulfield North’s best streets.

It’s for sale with a $4-$4.4m price guide.

“There is no maintenance required for this house,” Ms Fooks said.

“People think I’m crazy to live in such a big house on my own, but no work needs to be done.

“Every room has a function and access to the garden.”

It previously sold for $2.41m in 2013, according to CoreLogic.

An outdoor area near the pool.

The property has been heritage listed by the National Trust.

While the home has remained in original condition since its last transaction, there are approved plans and permits for an extension, which add a second storey with another living room and three additional bedrooms.

“It would be a sympathetic addition to the rear, which does not impact the heritage listing,” Mr Kingston said.

“The owners were going to do the renovation, but their circumstances have changed so they are now passing the property on to its next owner.”

Historic photos of Fooks House. Picture: Supplied.

The house was built in 1964. Picture: Supplied.

A previous application to demolish the kitchen, which has survived five decades with most of its original features intact including a General Motors Holden Custom Deluxe frigidaire oven, was rejected by the National Trust.

Mr Kingston said the discreet campaign would be more broadly advertised once the ban on private inspections was eased.

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More affordable housing projects like this one on Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, are needed for Queensland.

Demand for affordable housing in Australia is expected to almost double in the next 16 years with the workers whose jobs have been listed as essential during the COVID-19 pandemic among the most at risk.

Brisbane Housing Company chief executive Rebecca Oelkers has told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia that a stimulus package for social and affordable housing, similar to the one that helped Australia recover after the Global Financial Crisis, is needed to stop the number of people looking for affordable housing soaring from its current level of 400,000 to 730,000.

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She said in 2008 the Federal Government spent $5.2 billion on social and affordable housing, which equated to 19,500 new houses and 80,000 home refurbishments.

The construction site in Woolloongabba.

The Community Housing Industry of Australia, of which Ms Oelkers is deputy chair, has put forward a $7.3 billion Social Housing Acceleration and Renovation Program, which would lead to 30,000 new affordable housing dwellings being constructed.

She said institutional investors also needed to see affordable housing as a long-term stable project in which to invest superannuation funds, instead of going overseas to potentially fund affordable housing in other countries.

“This is an issue the whole community needs to get behind,” Ms Oelkers said.

“Are we OK with 116,000 homeless people and 400,000 people who can’t put food on the table for their families?

“They are our key workers, assistants in nursing, teacher aides, the cleaners, the coffee makers, the people cleaning our hospitals, there’s so many people doing really good jobs but low paid jobs. They spend 50-70 per cent of their household income each week on rental costs and at the end of the day that’s not sustainable. There’s no money for school books or food.”

In the inner-Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba, Brisbane Housing Company and Stoke Wheeler builders are working on an eight-storey affordable rental complex on Cornwall Street.

“We’re using surplus government land where it was going to be hard to do any other kind of development and we are building 32 units,” she said.

An artist’s impression of the Cornwall Street development at Woolloongabba.

Five of the units are being built in partnership with the Brisbane Youth Service for young people, and the others will be offered to key workers who are struggling to make ends meet.

“The provision of affordable housing is the fabric of Australian society, what kind of society do we actually want to have? At the moment, this gap is not an insurmountable gap.”

The state government announced a
$24.7 million immediate response fund to help with housing support in the wake of COVID-19. A Works for Tradies program is providing 215 social housing units across Queensland, and builders, developers and councils are encouraged to apply for a Building Acceleration Fund for works that will provide long-term employment in the construction industry.

Ms Oelkers welcomed the measures but said the current crisis needed an additional investment.

“The problem is so huge and right now is the time for government to spend and stimulate the economy.”

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Philip Bacon of Philip Bacon Galleries shares his property journey. Photo: David Kelly

Australia’s leading art dealer and philanthropist, Philip Bacon AO, has represented Australian artists for more than 40 years through Philip Bacon Galleries in Fortitude Valley.

He built his West End home with art in mind and has also collaborated with Brisbane architect Liam Proberts on the design of a new inner city apartment complex, Thornton Kangaroo Point.

Follow his property journey:

Philip Bacon has helped design a state-of-the-art gallery system for each apartment in the new Thornton Kangaroo Point development by JGL Properties.

Australian art dealer and patron Philip Bacon AO.

Where do you live and why?

Philip Bacon at his home on Dornoch Terrace, West End in 1999, the same year he was awarded an Order of Australia for his service to the visual and performing arts.

(I live in) West End, I’ve always lived there. I rented a flat on Dornoch Terrace decades ago and loved it. Your first taste of independence — like your first car — you remember fondly. Now I live in a house 15 houses up from that flat. I demolished the house that was here and built a house for my collection in 1986. It’s vaguely a Palladian villa, very symmetrical but very ordered.

What do you love about your suburb?

A view of Dornoch Terrace which stretches from Highgate Hill to West End.

West End has the advantage of being close to everything but also has a bit of an island feel. My family is from Melbourne and this is a part of Brisbane that reminded me of Melbourne.

If you could change one thing about your house what would it be?

I do things on the house from time to time. Most recently I removed the carpet and replaced it with parquetry because I’m crazy about beautiful timber floors. Some years ago I changed the wall treatment in my sitting room from paint to sgraffito, an Italian marbleised waxed wall treatment.

If money was no object, what would be your perfect home and where?

Lake Como in Northern Italy.

I would like please a villa on Lake Como in Northern Italy. Probably not next to George and Amal Clooney but in proximity. Not near the hordes of day trippers.

What is the best piece of property advice anyone has ever given you?

When Jeffrey Smart sold a picture when he was still living in Australia, he invested the proceeds in a house in Paddington (Sydney).

Jeffrey Smart at Philip Bacon Galleries in 2003. He received an Order of Australia for his service to the visual arts in 2001. Picture: Suzanna Clark

Margaret Olley did the same, independently of each other. They both thought it was wonderful selling a painting but it wasn’t secure in the 1950s.

Margaret Olley painting at Farndon in 1966. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 1991 for her service as an artist and the promotion of art. Picture: Bob Millar, courtesy of the State Library of Queensland

It worked so well for both of them. Margaret owned 12-14 houses and got a little income from that and when Jeffrey decided to go to Italy he sold up in Australia. It was security.

Former home of Australian artist Jeffrey Smart in Tuscany, Italy. Photo: Christies International Real Estate

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Jennifer Hawkins and husband Jake Wall are rumoured to have bought in Whale Beach. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Having pocketed a stellar $24.5m from the sale of their Newport waterfront home, Jennifer Hawkins and Jake Wall could have bought anything they fancied on the ­Central Coast.

But rather than head closer to family as initially touted, the glamorous couple appear set to remain for the time being on Sydney’s northern beaches, where they have always done so well both on the ocean and Pittwater.

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It is on the peninsula’s largest oceanfront estate.

The unconfirmed whisper is they found an amazing opportunity at Whale Beach. Maybe the restoration of Rocca Bella, a 1950s time warp?

The three storey house is set on 3300sqm, the peninsula’s largest oceanfront estate.

The estate was sold last month for $6.95m, two weeks after their own sale of Casa Paloma to Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes through Christie’s International agent Ken Jacobs.

Check out the view.

It is set on 3300sqm of land.

Rocca Bella, best known when owned by the late ­soprano Dame Joan Sutherland, had been was listed in 2018 by the Tarabay family with $8m hopes, then ­returned to the market with reduced expectations earlier this year through LJ Hooker agent David Edwards.

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