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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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THE Gold Coast property market is in for a blooming spring despite the COVID-19 pandemic impacting real estate across the country, according to leading property experts.

Cashed-up interstate buyers are lining up for virtual property tours, while locals are hot on their heels in the hunt for their prized new home.

The Gold Coast property market is in for a blooming spring, according to agents.

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New research from realestate.com.au revealed Queensland property seekers are the most confident in Australia with the Gold Coast suburb of Tugun rated the top suburb for buyers in the state.

Harcourts Coastal Broadbeach director Dane Atherton predicted one of the best spring selling seasons in Gold Coast history.

Harcourts Coastal Broadbeach director Dane Atherton say soaring trading in winter will lead to a continuation of an already extremely active market through spring. Photo: Jerad Williams

“This is a highly unusual market we’re in at the moment as traditionally in terms of turnover, May, June and July is the lowest quarter for Gold Coast property,” Mr Atherton said.

“Agents would be hanging out for that September spring selling season but what’s been amazing is that spring has almost been brought forward.

“We’ve experienced soaring trading in winter and what’s going to happen now is a continuation of an already extremely active market.”

Ray White Real Estate Runaway Bay Group principal Ali Mian says the run of sales throughout winter had created a “frenzied market” going into spring.

Ali Mian, Ray White Runaway Bay Group principal, shared a similar view.

He said the run of sales throughout winter had created a “frenzied market” going into spring.

“The market got a good head start that we don’t normally see,” Mr Mian said.

“Usually winter is quieter for the property market but this year winter has produced some good numbers for us.

“The reason behind that was March and April were quiet so the whole cycle moved.

“A lot of those sellers who sold in winter are now wanting to buy something. It’s almost like a domino effect.”

Buyers are expected to flock to the Coast this spring. Picture: Jerad Williams

He predicted an influx of local buyers as well as house hunters from Brisbane.

“I can’t see any reason why this spring won’t be a good spring for the property market on the Gold Coast,” he said.

Lucy Cole, of her self-titled agency, says the local market will come to the forefront this spring. Photo by Richard Gosling

Lucy Cole, of her self-titled agency, also predicted a rush of local buyers to the market.

“This pandemic has brought to the forefront people who realise they want a sea-change or a country change,” Ms Cole said.

“There’s definitely a change in the spectrum of real estate.

“The interstate market has always been interested in the Gold Coast but I think the local market will really come to the forefront this spring.

“People still want to be here and the southeast Queensland market and in particular the Gold Coast is thriving.”

REIQ Gold Coast zone chair Andrew Henderson says property stock levels were expected to finally increase with a rush of sellers. Picture: Jerad Williams

REIQ Gold Coast zone chair Andrew Henderson predicted sellers would take advantage of the spring selling season.

“Historically, a lot of people see springtime as a good time to go to market,” Mr Henderson said.

“For us it’s probably more of a southern influence as the Gold Coast has got great weather all year round.

“We don’t have that dreary winter weather that prevents people getting out there to buy a property.”

Property stock levels were expected to finally increase with a rush of sellers, he said.

“I think you will see a spike as there hasn’t been a lot of choice for buyers,” Mr Henderson said.

The post Gold Coast real estate market in for a blooming spring appeared first on realestate.com.au.

FRAGRANCE Group is on track to receive the go-ahead for a 45-unit apartment block on the site of the former University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music.

Hobart City Council’s planning committee has recommended Council approve Fragrance Group’s development for the site at 5-7 Sandy Bay Rd.

A previous proposal was recommended for refusal on the grounds at 33m, the building would be too high for the site.

Fragrance Group submitted revised plans, reducing the maximum height to 27m, which is the same height as the nearby Mantra apartments on the corner of Davey St.

The Old Conservatory of Music at 5-7 Sandy Bay Road. Development Application (DA) artists impressions showing the reduction in height by approximately 6.2m, from 33.2m to approximately 27m. The red dotted line shows the previously proposed height. Design: IRENEINC PLANNING & URBAN DESIGN

According to designs by Perth-based Scanlan Architects, the height reduction was achieved by the removal of two central floors, but an upper house level penthouse was been retained on level seven.

The changes reduced the number of apartments by 10.

Councillor Bill Harvey welcomed the revised development.

“It’s the right density I think, I’m happy with the height and the number of units, and the proximity to the city,” Cr Harvey said.

Alderman Simon Behrakis said the development would provide much-needed additional housing for inner Hobart.

The development will be considered by the full Council on September 7.

blair.richards@news.com.au

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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.

The post Jennifer Hawkins and Jake Wall rumoured to have bought Whale Beach renovation project appeared first on realestate.com.au.

11 Asbury Street West, Ocean Grove sold in a week, dashing the hopes of interested buyers locked down in Melbourne.

California-based buyers on a well-timed trip back to Australia have pounced on Ocean Grove’s ‘dragon scale’ house just a week after it hit the market.

They paid $2.2m for the striking modern builder’s own home with a swimming pool and treetops views at 11 Asbury Street West.

Fletchers, Queenscliff agent Liam Rock said the unusual design, featuring bold black steel shingles, attracted a lot of attention.

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Entertain by the pool and spa.

But the quick sale dashed the hopes of many Melbourne buyers who had hoped to inspect it once stage 4 restrictions were lifted.

Mr Rock said the US-based expats had friends and family in the area and happened to be in town on the eve of the campaign launch.

He said they had since returned to California and planned to the use the three-bedroom house as their Australian base.

Jess and Sam Van Deuren, with children Otis, 4 and Lexi, 3, built the house in sought-after old Ocean Grove. Picture: Peter Ristevski

“We had a lot of inquiry, as you would expect a lot from Melbourne, from people who can’t come down,” he said.

“In terms of the buyers it was a lot to do with the design and the layout and the location, that aspect with the treetops and river glimpses.”

Sam Van Deuren, from Vand Builders, and his wife Jess put the finishing touches on the two-storey house for their young family earlier this year.

Architectural windows frame the treetop views.

A curved bench features in the kitchen.

Concrete basins are a luxury touch in this bathroom.

The Holman Design home, dubbed Black Swell, features dual living and outdoor entertainment areas and a minimalist aesthetic with 4m high architectural windows and polished concrete and engineered oak floors.

“It definitely capitalised on the site and the location and the outlook,” Mr Rock said.

“They built something different which stood out, it’s beautifully done and it was a great result.”

The north-facing balcony overlooks the backyard.

The property is walking distance to the Barwon River.

He said Ocean Grove’s property market, including high-end sales, had not slowed during current COVID-19 restrictions.

But he predicted a flood of Melbourne buyers once things were eased.

“We are still getting people inquiring about places,” he said.

“It gives people from Geelong and regional Victoria a chance not to have to compete with those Melbourne buyers.”

The post US-based buyers quick to snap up Ocean Grove ‘dragon scale’ house appeared first on realestate.com.au.

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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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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