Inside Track: Property & Real Estate - In the media, In practice and courts, Cases and Legislation

• Published date: 28 July 2021
• Subject Matter: Real Estate and Construction, Construction & Planning, Real Estate
• Law Firm: Holding Redlich

In the media

Commonwealth

REIA is urging Government to improve supply planning around housing development
Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) is urging the Federal and State governments to improve planning approval times in a bid to address the diminishing housing supply (15 July 2021). More...

Offshore investors step up activity in Australian commercial space
According to CBRE, Australia has led Pacific commercial real estate deal activity, with foreign investors pumping in $19.6 billion. The industrial and logistics sector remains Australia's most sought-after commercial investment sector, with offshore buyers purchasing $5.4 billion in Pacific assets in H1 (15 July 2021). More...

Third of Australian homes cheaper to buy than rent
There is even more incentive for people to quit the big smoke- Sydney and Melbourne-with homes across the rest of the country generally cheaper to buy than rent (14 July 2021). More...

Sensible approach to Royal Commission Reforms to benefit home owners and investors
Real Estate Institute of Australia has welcomed recent exemptions provided to real estate for both deferred sales models for home and landlord insurance as well as exemptions for property and insurance claim handling forms (13 July 2021). More...

Industrial property take-up hits new high
A reshaping of Australia's economy drove the biggest ever take-up of industrial space in the June quarter, as industries such as construction and manufacturing secured capacity in response to their growing need to hold stock on shore in response to pandemic-disrupted global supply chains (12 July 2021). More...

Healthcare asset sales surge as REITs increase exposure
Healthcare asset sales volumes and prices are hitting record levels as new research shows investment by listed real estate investment trusts -increased 12-fold in the past 18 months (11 July 2021). More...

Dwelling approvals decline in May
The number of dwellings approved fell 7.1 per cent in May, following a 5.7 per cent decline in April, according to data released by the ABS. Daniel Rossi, ABS Director of Construction Statistics, said: "The fall in the total number of dwellings approved in May was driven by a 10.3 per cent fall in private sector houses" (05 July 2021). More...

Victoria

Value-seeking tenants spur tightening of Melbourne vacancies
The number of empty rental properties in Melbourne has reduced rapidly during June as more tenants take advantage of cheaper rents in more central locations, figures from SQM Research show (13 July 2021). More...

Research shows CBD economy will bounce back
New research by Deloitte Access Economics shows Melbourne's CBD economy will grow by $6 billion in 2021 and is on-track to return to pre-COVID levels by late 2024 (12 July 2021). More...

First existing Australian building to achieve WELL Platinum certification
A 48-year-old office tower in Melbourne CBD has become the first existing building in Australia to achieve WELL Certification at the Platinum level. Owned by private property group Kamirice, the building located at 500 Collins Street was awarded the highest-level certification under the IWBI's WELL Building Standard (09 July 2021). More...

NSW

Support for commercial tenants and landlords under COVID fighting fund
Eligible commercial tenants and landlords will receive greater support and certainty during the current restrictions with the NSW Government acting quickly to implement the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2021 as part of the $5.1 billion COVID-19 economic support package (15 July 2021). More...

Certificates of title on their way out: Abolition date announced
New legislation that will enable 100 per cent electronic lodgement of land transactions in New South Wales will kick in on 11 October 2021. It's part of a state government plan to "transition conveyancing into the digital age" and move away from paper-based processes (09 July 2021). More...

Construction watchdog: Body corporates are not reporting known defects
Fewer than a fifth of new buildings in NSW with serious defects had been reported to the government officials charged with cleaning up the construction industry and restoring public confidence (03 July 2021). More...

Queensland

Government fines and bans letting agent for ripping off Queenslanders
A Brisbane letting agent has been fined more than $20,000 and banned from working in the real estate industry for five years after ripping off Queensland clients (16 July 2021). More...

Evans Long secures tenants in Gold Coast Athletes Village project
Evans Long has secured tenants for the first private development within the former Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes Village. Sanctuary Early Learning Adventure and Griffith University committed to tenanting the $80-million building within the renamed Lumina Precinct in Southport (15 July 2021). More...

Native title recognised for Wangkamahdla people
A native title determination will "change the lives" of traditional owners the Wangkamahdla People in central west Queensland. Resources Minister Scott Stewart said a determination recognising the Wangkamahdla People's rights under native title to more than 3 million hectares of land to the west and southwest of Boulia has been made in the Federal Court (15 July 2021). More...

Gold Coast locals to meet over glut of 'bulky' high-rises approved in trendy suburb
Main Beach is the latest Gold Coast suburb mobilising to fight against the large number of high-rise towers being approved in the trendy suburb (13 July 2021). More...

Plan to make it harder to kick tenants out a 'breach of human rights'
Two bills are before Queensland Parliament to reform the state's rental system and bring more certainty to Queensland's 1.8 million renters and landlords. The Greens' plan would cap rent increases to once every 24 months by no more than CPI, ban rental bidding, and end "no grounds evictions", even when a fixed-term contract was due to expire or the owner wanted to sell the property (8 July 2021). More...

...