UDIA WA welcomes new President and Council members
We are pleased to announce that property industry leader Col Dutton was elected President of the UDIA WA at the first Council meeting following the AGM yesterday evening. Mr Dutton is taking over from outgoing President Nick Allingame who did an excellent job in the position during his tenure and now assumes the role of Immediate Past President.
Alf Lay was re-elected to the position of Treasurer and Jeremy Cordina and Jane Bennett voted into the positions of Vice President.
At the AGM, the 2019/2020 State Council was declared and resulted in some new faces joining the Council.
The full register of council members are as follows:
- DUTTON, Col (President)
- BENNETT, Jane (Vice President)
- CORDINA, Jeremy (Vice President)
- EDWARDS, Vivienne
- KENNY, Lyle
- LAWRANCE, Kim
- LAY, Alf
- MORGAN, Paul
- ROWBOTTOM, Anthony
- ROWE, Greg
- THOMSON, Avril
- WALSH, Darren
With several new faces joining continuing council members, it provides fresh impetus for the year ahead and UDIA is looking forward to working with the State Council throughout the year.
The AGM also included a vote on a special resolution to rectify a previous error in the constitution that required all State Council Executive Positions to be spilled in year 9 of the decade. The new amendment requires the Treasurer and one vice president to be spilled in every even year of the decade and the President and other vice president spilled every odd year of the decade.
At the AGM, the annual report was tabled including updates from each of the Committee chairs as well as a President’s report, CEO’s report, Treasurer’s report and updates on UDIA’s submissions this year. To view the Annual Report click here.
Stamp duty concession introduced
Yesterday UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck attended the announcement by Premier Mark McGowan, Treasurer Ben Wyatt and Planning Minister Rita Saffioti that introduced a stamp duty rebate for off-the-plan apartment buyers.
The announcement came just one week after UDIA joined forces with the four other major industry bodies in Western Australia to present a package of housing stimulus policy measures to Housing Minister Peter Tinley and Minister Saffioti, which included a stamp duty concession for multi-unit developments.
As part of the new rebate, buyers who sign pre-construction contracts to purchase a new residential unit or apartment in a multi-tiered development will be eligible for a 75 per cent transfer duty rebate of up to $50,000.
The rebate will be available to any purchase of a dwelling in a multi-tiered development for two years from yesterday. There will be no cap placed on the purchase price and multiple rebates will be available to the same applicant for additional unit or apartment purchases within the same or different developments.
While UDIA is supportive of this rebate that has the potential to significantly benefit off-the-plan apartment buyers across the spectrum from first home buyers through to older Australians looking to right size, it must be acknowledged this is just one aspect of the property market and there is much more still to be done.
Following this announcement, UDIA is hopeful the state government will look to the other stimulus measures presented last week as further ways to assist the property and development industries. UDIA will continue to advocate for further measures to be introduced.
Full details of the scheme are available on the Department of Finance’s website.
View UDIA’s media statement here.
UDIA in attendance for new waterwise measures
Earlier today UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck joined Water Minister Dave Kelly where he released the state government’s Waterwise Perth Action Plan, which will be a significant step forward in planning for our city’s water future.
Unveiled at an event at Optus Stadium, the plan aims to make Perth a leading waterwise city by 2030.
The Waterwise Perth Action Plan sets targets to respond to the major impacts of climate change on water resources and liveability to support the 3.5 million population anticipated to reside in Perth by 2050.
A key aspect of the plan is the way it suggests we should be moving away from simply saving water to actively improving how we manage our water resources.
The new plan includes several targets for improving Perth’s status as a waterwise city, many of which are very achievable and UDIA is supportive of the action plan and its implications for the future.
UDIA was pleased to participate on the Water Sensitive Transition Network which formed the foundation principles for the plan.
For more information about the plan, click here.
Housing Industry Forecasting Group
Last week, alongside other key industry and government agencies, UDIA took part in the Housing Industry Forecasting Group (HIFG) meeting to discuss the state of the current housing construction market and forecasts for dwelling commencements in 2019-2020.
The HIFG Report is currently being finalised by the Department of Communities, UDIA will inform members when the final Report is available.
Housing market has a big impact on the economy
The importance of the residential housing market to the broader economy was reinforced this week by RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle during a presentation in Sydney. Mr Debelle noted that developments in the housing market, both the established and housing construction sectors have ‘a broader impact than the simple numbers would suggest.’
While highlighting that historically markets around the country vary, construction and price cycles are usually highly interconnected. However, currently markets around the country are quite different, despite record low interest rates and this is a timely opportunity to analyse the housing industry’s significant impact on the economy.
Mr Debelle has some interesting insights into the context of the national market, you can read the full presentation here.
New milestone for Infrastructure Western Australia
Earlier this year the state government established Infrastructure Western Australia (IWA) as the entity to advise the government on the State’s infrastructure needs and has recently launched its new website.
The website includes links to the latest news and the State Infrastructure Strategy as well as access to the latest publications from IWA.
To view the website in detail, click here.
National Judges came to town
For three days last week judges for the UDIA National Awards for Excellence visited the winners from the UDIA WA 2019 Awards for Excellence that are eligible for a national award. They travelled from Dalyellup Beach in the south to Broome in WA’s north.
Across the three days the judges attended a variety of different projects and UDIA WA thanks the award winners for their hospitality and time in showing the National Judges around.
We wish all of the winners in contention for a National award the best of luck and hope to see a number of WA projects picking up a National gong next year.
Cirque Mount Pleasant Site Tours
Earlier today UDIA WA was joined by members on a site tour of Stirling Capital’s Cirque Mount Pleasant, which recently won the Russel Perry Award for Urban Development Excellence at the UDIA WA 2019 Awards for Excellence.
Set in the burgeoning Canning Bridge precinct, Cirque also won the Excellence in High Density Award and is now in contention for the UDIA National Award and we wish Stirling Capital the best of luck when the National Awards come around.
We would like to thank the Stirling Capital team for their hospitality and providing an exclusive look inside such an iconic project.
And the winner is…
Those who participated in our recent member survey were entered into a draw to win a golden ticket to all of UDIA WA’s breakfast events in 2020 and the winner has now been drawn.
Congratulations to Claire Boland from Taylor Burrell Barnett for winning the golden ticket! We look forward to seeing you at our breakfast events next year.
Thank you to everybody who took the time to complete our member survey, the results from the survey will assist our strategic planning and team development into the future.
UDIA WA office closed for the day
Tomorrow the UDIA WA office will be closed as the team are participating in a team development day where we will analyse the results from the member survey to plan and prepare for the future in the best way possible.
We will respond to any enquiries when we return to the office on Monday morning and hope you have a wonderful weekend.
UDIA National Congress ticket now on sale
Sydney will play host to the UDIA National Congress in 2020 with the three-day event kicking off on Tuesday 17 March and ending on Thursday 19 March.
There will be over 500 property industry delegates who will be treated to a variety of local, national and international speakers. There will be the chance to visit one of over 20 exhibitor trade activations and it will be a great opportunity to grow your networks.
Ticky Fullerton from Sky News has been announced as the Congress MC and tickets for the three day event are now on sale.
Visit here for more information and to register your interest in attending.
Mixed results for employment figures in September
In September, the number of employed persons in WA fell 0.2% month-on-month to sit at 1.349 million, driven by a 10,500 person drop in the number of part time workers. Meanwhile, the number of full-time workers increased by 7,222 persons.
WA’s unemployment rate fell to 5.6% in September, 33 basis points down from the same time the year prior, with 80,600 total persons unemployed. Of this number of unemployed persons, 54,700 were looking for full time work and 25,900 were looking for part-time work.
WA’s median duration of job search for September increased to 23 weeks, the longest amount of time to find a job since October 2017 (27 weeks), and above the national median of 18 weeks. Out of the other states, WA had the third longest median time to find a job, behind the Northern Territory (40 weeks), South Australia (31 weeks), and coming an even third with Tasmania (23 weeks).
We value your feedback!
UDIA is currently working on several submissions on behalf of members. We encourage you to forward any feedback on these items to policy@udiawa.com.au
- DWER Climate Change in Western Australia – Issues Paper (here). Submissions close November 29, 2019.
- Proposed reforms to the building approval process for single residential buildings in WA (here). Submissions close December 9, 2019.
- Draft East Wanneroo District Structure Plan (here). Submissions close December 20, 2019.
Amendments made to clearing vegetation documentation
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation have made minor changes to documentation around the clearing of vegetation.
The changes have been made to Fact Sheet 7: Clearing previously cleared land, grazing on and management of pastoral leases and Pastoral Lands Board requirements and A guide to the exemptions and regulations for clearing native vegetation.
Minor changes were made to these documents to provide clarity on the application of the clearing exemptions under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 in relation to pastoral leases. Other changes were limited to updating the department’s name and contact details.
To view the updated documentation click on the below links.
- Fact Sheet 7: Clearing previously cleared land, grazing on and management of pastoral leases and Pastoral Lands Board requirements
- A guide to the exemptions and regulations for clearing native vegetation
Please note that A guide to the exemptions and regulations for clearing native vegetation was not updated in its entirety, and, apart from the changes outlined above, is unchanged from the previous version published in November 2013.
Native Title Act amendments introduced to parliament
Last week the Federal Attorney-General, the Hon Christian Porter introduced the Native Title Legislation Bill 2019 which contains a number of reforms to the Native Title Act which will create greater efficiency in the operation of the legislation.
Once the bill passes through Parliament it includes amendments that provide improved opportunities for native title holders to jointly manage conservation estate.
Corporate Golf Special
For anybody looking to hit the fairways this Christmas, Joondalup Resort have some excellent corporate offers this festive season.
As part of the offer groups of between 12 and 40 people can enjoy a game of golf, followed by a pizza and a pint in the new Tap Room bar at the clubhouse.
For $99 per person you can get 18 holes of golf, a shared motorised golf cart, bucket of range balls and a pizza and pint in the Tap Room.
$59 per person will get you 9 holes of golf plus the other above extras. Included within the package are two free novelty prizes and a free gift for the organiser for groups of 20 or more.
For more information click here.
UDIA Submission: Design WA Stage 2 – Precinct Design
Last Friday, UDIA provided a submission on behalf of members regarding the Draft SPP7.2 – Precinct Design Guidelines and Discussion Paper. While we support the much-needed policy and guidelines, we have made some recommendations to improve the draft and ensure that it is implemented effectively.
Along with outlining the importance of an implementation and compliance framework, UDIA has also recommended that the triggers requiring the preparation of a Precinct Plan are rationalised.
There are several other more detailed suggested actions and recommendations based on feedback from our members included int eh submission, that can be read in full here.
Waste Data Reporting Fact Sheets available
Following the amendments to the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Regulations (WARR) earlier this year, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) have released further guidance and supporting information to assist with the reporting.
As part of this, three separate fact sheets (for local governments, liable recyclers and liable non-metropolitan landfills) have been made available on DWER’s website along with an FAQ page on the website to clarify aspects of the reporting requirments.
Click the following links to view any of the new documentation.
Waste data reporting – local governments
Waste data reporting – liable recyclers
Waste data reporting – liable non-metropolitan landfills
FAQ – waste and recycling reporting requirements
For any further information, click here.
National water week provides great focus for saving water
All this week it is National Water Week, which is designed to help us understand and encourages us to actively protect and conserve water resources and habitats.
This year’s theme is ‘Its time to change the world’, which encourages people to think about how we use water and how we can protect it, so we have it in the future.
Australia is known for its dry climate and WA’s south west is one of the most affected areas on the planet as a result of climate change and declining rainfall. With a 15 per cent decline in long term average annual rainfall since the mid-1970s, streamflow into Perth’s drinking water dams has reduced by up to 80 per cent.
September this year was the hottest on record for Perth and was its driest for 42 years with just 31.4mm of rain received, significantly short of the 84.8mm average for the month.
So far this year Perth’s dams have received just 41 billion litres of streamflow from rain, compared with the pre-1975 average of 420 billion litres per year.
With these figures showcasing the challenge we are facing, it makes it becomes even more important that we understand the role we can play in saving water and making the best possible use of whatever water we have.
One quick and easy way to save water is to check for leaks using the Water Corporation’s simple online leak detection tool, here.