Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

The future of Australian property prices

Jump to new
This story from a builder makes it absolutely clear how the public has been bent over by the developers in the past 15-20 years.

Dodgy high-rise apartments are making developers rich but owners are forgotten
By Catherine Williams

Leaking, cracking, flammable and creaking: by now, most of us are aware of defects plaguing high-rise residential apartment towers.

There is an urgent need to re-build public confidence in a sector which, through poor self-regulation, has churned out more and more homes needing costly repairs. Some are uninhabitable.

But we should also be asking about what return owners are really receiving on these apartment homes which are making property developers filthy rich.

As a licensed builder and a spectator of real estate trends, I feel the most frustrating element of the current predicament is that the bill for repairing the current stock of dodgy apartments will ultimately lie with current owners.

Many have already unwittingly delivered astronomical profits to developers, who will cash their chips and run.

These developers have made large profits through a combination of the housing bubble and a quirk in the regulatory system that treats high-rise and low rise developments differently.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-21/the-high-rise-apartment-sector-needs-reform/11431732
 
basilio said:
This story from a builder makes it absolutely clear how the public has been bent over by the developers in the past 15-20 years.

Dodgy high-rise apartments are making developers rich but owners are forgotten
By Catherine Williams

Leaking, cracking, flammable and creaking: by now, most of us are aware of defects plaguing high-rise residential apartment towers.

There is an urgent need to re-build public confidence in a sector which, through poor self-regulation, has churned out more and more homes needing costly repairs. Some are uninhabitable.

But we should also be asking about what return owners are really receiving on these apartment homes which are making property developers filthy rich.

As a licensed builder and a spectator of real estate trends, I feel the most frustrating element of the current predicament is that the bill for repairing the current stock of dodgy apartments will ultimately lie with current owners.

Many have already unwittingly delivered astronomical profits to developers, who will cash their chips and run.

These developers have made large profits through a combination of the housing bubble and a quirk in the regulatory system that treats high-rise and low rise developments differently.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-21/the-high-rise-apartment-sector-needs-reform/11431732
Click to expand...

F--k me.

This is going to get very very messy.

From above article:
"State Governments agreed to exempt builders from providing this type of insurance in buildings above three stories."
 
There has been talk about badly built apartment blocks around Melbourne. Seems that someone has bitten the bullet and basically declared a whole block of units a dangerous risk and with so many defects it is uninhabitable.

I suggest 17 home owners and their banks are facing very big losses.:(

Melbourne apartment block unsafe to live in due to cladding and fire safety, residents told to leave
Posted about 2 hours ago

11444242-3x2-700x467.jpg Photo: An emergency evacuation order was issued giving residents 48 hours to leave. (ABC News: Chris Le Page)
Related Story: Building surveyor suspended over flammable cladding vows to appeal decision
Related Story: 'On our third balcony collapse': Could dangerous cladding be the tip of the iceberg?
Related Story: Prominent Sydney buildings at risk from combustible fire cladding
Residents have been ordered to leave an apartment building in Melbourne's south-east which is covered in combustible cladding.

Key points:
  • Authorities ruled the building had a number of defects including combustible cladding and mould
  • All remaining residents in the Mordialloc building have been ordered to leave within 48 hours
  • The local council has offered to help residents who cannot find their own emergency accommodation

The Mordialloc building has been deemed unsafe to occupy after an inspection by the Victorian Building Authority's (VBA) statewide cladding audit yesterday.

Most of the decade-old complex's 17 units were already vacant, with the four remaining residents given 48 hours to move out.

The VBA's chief executive officer, Sue Eddy, said the decision was not taken lightly.

She said the building had a number of defects including combustible cladding on the external walls, insufficient essential safety measures and significant water damage that had led to extensive mould.

"An expert panel was convened and they made an assessment after looking at all the essential fire safety measure of this building that it was not viable for this building to remain occupied and that it needed to be vacated in the interests of public safety," Ms Eddy said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08...ces-residents-out-of-apartment-block/11443976
 
I think a lot of concrete cancer (aka rusted internal frame) will be discovered:
I saw a seaside unit balcony I would not dare staying on this week on the coast...
all good behind cladding...
 
qldfrog said:
I think a lot of concrete cancer (aka rusted internal frame) will be discovered:
I saw a seaside unit balcony I would not dare staying on this week on the coast...
all good behind cladding...
Click to expand...
From just an engineering background, all concrete reinforcing on seaboard structures should be stainless, especially in areas of the concrete that are exposed to the elements.
Having said that, if you read the global warming thread, it all becomes pointless, as it will all be underwater within the next 80 years.
So I guess they should be putting in place building regulations, that reflect ocean front exposure, to those being built on top of the blue mountains.
 
Home warranty insurance is useless. Council is happy to take extortionate fees so the should be providing proper inspections while its being built. Otherwise up inspections on anything over a certain amount with a team of thorough inspectors.

The problem at the moment is shonky inspectors and builders only showing the best 3 units to inspect. Fair trading seems reactive not proactive. Pointing out problems after its done is too late.

Architects need to be hung as well. They often are the cause by specifying or leaving detail off tricky areas. You have to follow the plan if you are a tradie or it will come back on you. I would often tell the architect that "this is not up to Australian standard" (and thats the very minimum you should be doing from an engineering perspective). Just so my work would be done right.
God only knows how many others didn't simply due to lack of knowledge. I have seen catastrophic oversights on plans.

The other thing is information on problem products can be non existent. And there is little information for many trades beyond the standards books.
 
basilio said:
There has been talk about badly built apartment blocks around Melbourne. Seems that someone has bitten the bullet and basically declared a whole block of units a dangerous risk and with so many defects it is uninhabitable.

I suggest 17 home owners and their banks are facing very big losses.:(

Melbourne apartment block unsafe to live in due to cladding and fire safety, residents told to leave
Posted about 2 hours ago

11444242-3x2-700x467.jpg Photo: An emergency evacuation order was issued giving residents 48 hours to leave. (ABC News: Chris Le Page)
Related Story: Building surveyor suspended over flammable cladding vows to appeal decision
Related Story: 'On our third balcony collapse': Could dangerous cladding be the tip of the iceberg?
Related Story: Prominent Sydney buildings at risk from combustible fire cladding
Residents have been ordered to leave an apartment building in Melbourne's south-east which is covered in combustible cladding.

Key points:
  • Authorities ruled the building had a number of defects including combustible cladding and mould
  • All remaining residents in the Mordialloc building have been ordered to leave within 48 hours
  • The local council has offered to help residents who cannot find their own emergency accommodation

The Mordialloc building has been deemed unsafe to occupy after an inspection by the Victorian Building Authority's (VBA) statewide cladding audit yesterday.

Most of the decade-old complex's 17 units were already vacant, with the four remaining residents given 48 hours to move out.

The VBA's chief executive officer, Sue Eddy, said the decision was not taken lightly.

She said the building had a number of defects including combustible cladding on the external walls, insufficient essential safety measures and significant water damage that had led to extensive mould.

"An expert panel was convened and they made an assessment after looking at all the essential fire safety measure of this building that it was not viable for this building to remain occupied and that it needed to be vacated in the interests of public safety," Ms Eddy said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08...ces-residents-out-of-apartment-block/11443976
Click to expand...

I lived in a timber house painted with lead based paint in East Freo for years.......
Pretty sure that cladding was flammable too.
 
It isn't just the young doing it tough with housing.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08...der-australians-distress-study-finds/11450958
From the article:
Average mortgage debt among older Australians has blown out by 600 per cent since the late 1980s after accounting for inflation, the study says, and nearly half of all homeowners aged 55 to 64 are still paying off a mortgage, up from just 14 per cent 30 years ago.

"These statistics are quite shocking," said Rachel Ong ViforJ, professor of economics at Curtin University and lead author of the study for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

"More and more older Australians are finding it increasingly difficult to pay off their mortgage debt before they retire.

"Our research shows that if you are carrying a mortgage debt and having difficulty repaying it in later life, then your mental health is likely to be poorer than someone who does not have this issue
 
sptrawler said:
If people are expecting Sydney house prices to crash to pre boom levels, tell them they are dreaming.

https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2019/sydney2030/population/index.html

From the article:
Sydney’s population will be 5,878,238 by 2031, projections say, with half a million new dwellings needed by then .

It is a simple supply and demand equation.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the vacancy rate has been steadily increasing too.

https://sqmresearch.com.au/graph_vacancy.php?region=nsw-Sydney&type=c&t=1
 

Similar threads

3
Future of $100,000 overland tourer Aussie lifestyle and the EV era
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
qldfrog
qldfrog
A
The future of Astraya
2 3
Replies
45
Views
8K
SirRumpole
SirRumpole
Dividend
Ultimate Acronym List (UAL)
Replies
0
Views
5K
Dividend
Dividend
A
Factors affecting property prices
Replies
3
Views
11K
Space Invader101
Space Invader101
MrBurns
Australia's own Ponzi scheme: the property market
Replies
4
Views
5K
Glen48
Glen48
Top