Building Bonus extension
On Tuesday UDIA WA welcomed the news that the construction timeframes on the State Government’s Building Bonus had been extended to allow site works to commence by 31 December 2021.
In a phone call to UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck, Treasurer Ben Wyatt advised that the State Government had listened to our strong advocacy on this issue and the timeframe would be extended.
UDIA WA has worked collaboratively with other stakeholders including the Housing Industry Association (HIA) on behalf of our members to secure this critical extension that will allow a more sustainable, safe and efficient delivery of new housing to the market.
In our statement to the media, UDIA WA welcomed the extension and acknowledged the strong leadership from the State Government throughout the challenges that this year has posed.
This decision highlights that the government has recognised the importance of the property industry to the broader state economy and employment.
This is a fantastic win for industry and provides us with some much-needed breathing space in terms of delivering consumers the best possible product in time for them to benefit from the financial incentives on offer.
UDIA National is continuing to advocate at a Federal level and we hope that this decision will provide a positive example to the Morrison Government to extend the Federal HomeBuilder scheme timeframes.
UDIA WA will continue to advocate on behalf of members to ensure that the property industry is sufficiently supported moving forward.
For more information read our media release here and for more information on the Building Bonus, click here.
UDIA WA AGM Minutes
Last week UDIA WA held our 48th AGM wherein Richard Pappas from Celsius Property Group was voted onto Council. Darren Walsh will take over as Treasurer following Alf Lay’s decision to step down. The minutes from the AGM have now been completed and can be viewed here.
TWO new podcasts released today
UDIA WA is offering double the value with not one but two new episodes of The Urbanist Live released today for your listening pleasure. The first is the sixth episode of the regular series exploring the latest property market news and trends and the second is dedicated to a brand-new series devoted to diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
In the first episode of the new Diversity and Inclusion series UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck talks to Construction Training Fund CEO and co-Chair of the UDIA WA Industry Workforce and Diversity Committee Tiffany Allen about the launch of UDIA’s new online diversity toolkit for members.
The online Diversity Toolkit will be officially launched at our upcoming Cultivating Diversity and Inclusion Sundowner on Thursday 29 October. For more information and to register to attend, click here.
Within the sixth episode of the regular The Urbanist Live series Tanya Steinbeck and UDIA WA Director Policy and Research Chris Green unpick the recent WA State Budget, the newly released Urban Intelligence, the launch of the Housing Strategy as well as some preliminary figures from the September quarter ahead of the release of the latest Urban Development Index next week.
This episode paints a picture of increased confidence in and around the development industry and is an easy 15-minute listen to get yourself up to date on what is happening across the industry in WA.
To listen to either of these new episodes, click here.
UDIA advises on school sites planning policy
UDIA WA lodged a comprehensive submission on behalf of members on the Draft Operational Policy 2.4 – Planning for School Sites on Monday which outlines several issues with the new draft policy.
While we welcomed the review of the 1998 policy, we are concerned that the amendments to the policy do not achieve greater clarity and lack transparency in relation to the proposed arrangements for developer contribution schemes. We also believe that proposed amendments will introduce significant and additional development costs.
To read our full submission, download the submission here.
Landgate responds to the Building Stimulus
UDIA met with Landgate again this week to discuss the impacts of the building stimulus on the issuing of titles.
UDIA appreciates the opportunities for engagement and the actions undertaken by Landgate to ensure that titles are issued efficiently. Bulletin No. 344 was issued by Landgate on 9 October to provide advice to industry regarding the lodgment of plans (available here) and Landgate has made its turnaround times available (which are now updated daily).
Western Power working hard to minimise streetlight disruption
The impact of the building stimulus has seen an increase in demand for lots and consequentially network materials to enable them to be built and completed. In particular the demand Western Power have seen for streetlight poles has increased three-fold from an average of 250 units to 750 units in September 2020.
This spike in demand has had an impact on supply chain and utilised the safety stocks of raw materials from its pole supplier resulting in late deliveries and extended lead times.
Western Power are working with both the incumbent supplier and new a supplier of poles and envisage that all orders post 1 November 2020 will have a lead time of 42 days for made to order streetlight poles (all decorative and colour poles).
In the meantime Western Power are continuing to work with its customers and prioritise manufacturing of back orders to minimise impact to projects.
School site transformation to deliver innovative residential estate
UDIA representatives had the pleasure of attending the launch of DevelopmentWA’s OneOneFive Hamilton Hill development this week. The project is certified in all six leaves under UDIA’s EnviroDevelopment program and is transforming a former high school site in Perth’s south into an exciting residential redevelopment, showcasing leading edge approaches to sustainability, technology and urban design.
The project is also a DevelopmentWA Innovation through Demonstration project and is expected to ultimately be home to more than 800 residents and will set a new benchmark for quality residential infill.
To read the story in full, click here.
Sustainable home of the future
Earlier this week an affordable housing experiment between Mirvac, Synergy, Terrace and Keystart was officially launched.
Terrace has designed and constructed a $415,000 three-bedroom, two-bathroom net-zero energy terrace home at Iluma Private Estate in Bennett Springs.
As part of the experiment a family of four have moved into the house with their energy and water use being monitored over 12 months to help gain an understanding of the cost savings that can be achieved by living in an energy-efficient home.
The home has been built to a 9.1-star energy rating, taking into account various energy saving initiatives, including solar passive design, and water and energy efficient appliances.
Synergy has provided rooftop solar panels and a battery to further reduce the energy requirements of the home and help the family better manage their electricity bills.
The family will pay rent to Mirvac, which will be set aside as a deposit; following the completion of the experiment, the family can use that money set aside as a deposit to purchase their first home.
Work Health and Safety Bill passes Upper House
Yesterday the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Bill officially passed through the Legislative Council and will now be sent to the Legislative Assembly for the final vote, which is expected on November 3, and will become law once the supporting regulations are finalised next year.
The new laws will offer greater protection to Western Australian workers, capturing modern employment relationships, such as subcontractors or casual workers, not just the classic employer/employee relationship. In particular, they will introduce the term ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’.
As a result of significant public concern and the recommendations of two national reviews, the new legislation includes criminalising industrial manslaughter – this includes a maximum penalty of between five and 20 years of imprisonment for an individual and a maximum $10 million fine for a body corporate.
Other new aspects include increased penalties, prohibiting insurance coverage for WHS penalties and the introduction of enforceable undertakings as an alternative penalty.
The new laws will harmonise WA with other States and Territories, except Victoria, although amendments have been made to tailor the laws to reflect our unique State.
This means companies that operate across Australia will have similar obligations and requirements in each State and Territory.
UDIA requests for feedback
UDIA is working on submissions and responses in relation to the following. Members are encouraged to provide feedback and comments to inform our submissions to policy@udiawa.com.au by the specified dates below:
Review of the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007 (here) DUE 25 November
Discussion Paper ‘Waste Not, Want Not – Valuing Waste as a Resource – Proposed legislative framework for waste-derived materials’ (here) DUE 18 December