Granted I’ve become partly known for witty even at times absurd missives, but I confess that this week’s note is a little more on the serious side (sorry to disappoint).
Recently I’ve been called into more and more living rooms by anxious property owners wanting to understand the impact of the LMR zoning density changes on their property value…with good reason.
For clarity, I’m not claiming to know it all on this subject matter however I have spent considerable time over the last 6 months reading over the policy changes and feel I have a pretty informed view (let’s settle on maybe more than most, maybe less than some).
I’d also like to say that I don’t think reactively panic-selling your home is a good idea, quite the opposite. It will take time for this to play out and despite agents/developers trying to scare you into selling I’d urge you to do your homework before running for the proverbial hills.
In summary, the objectives of these sweeping reforms are to increase the number of dwellings around town centres and transport hubs, and areas like Mosman will be significantly impacted.
Personally, I hold the view that change has been long overdue. If you care about housing inequality it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have single residential homes in hubs where demand for dwellings is at its highest. The ongoing lack of supply in Sydney combined with inadequate infrastructure has created these so called hot spots. Population growth combined with advancements in medical science (we live longer now) have created the perfect storm. ‘Up’ rather than ‘out’ is probably because going ‘out’ would mean sitting in a car for half of your life.
In addition, local councils have been too slow for too long. Building approvals have moved at a snail’s pace and the state government stepped in. And boy have they stepped in?
The question is, is going from zero to a hundred the right approach? It is feasible that with record-high building costs some of these new builds on the horizon may be compromised in terms of quality and I don’t think that would be good for anyone.
Will prices for Torrens title homes now go up? That’s also feasible, owning a non-strata home may become more of a pipedream than ever.
So what should you do if you think that you may be impacted by this new normal? The first thing I’d suggest is throwing out the letterbox drops you are getting from estate agents claiming to be development experts…please. Talk to council, go online and do some research, speak to a good architect and of course talk to your neighbours.
With this new legislation now in place our landscape is set to change. Perhaps it’s a sign that I’m getting old but I do lament that the streets that I grew up on may look very different for my kids.
Interesting times ahead…and I didn’t even mention America! Seriously, adding a journalist to a national security signal group…David has left the chat.
Until next week,
David Murphy