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<p>GUEST OBSERVER</p>
<p>The Premier, Gladys Berejiklian’s reason for continuing with Sydney council mergers is to increase housing supply but approvals are dropping partly due to the confusion of the merger process.</p>
<p>The NSW Government decision to continue with council mergers will be good in the longer term for more effective planning processes but the transition phase is likely to slow down housing approvals.</p>
<p>The Premier has stated the advantage of council mergers is to increase housing supply and improve planning but over the next two years the amalgamation process is likely to make planning more complex.</p>
<p>The Government must take a stronger role in driving housing supply during the transition to larger more efficient councils by unlocking large housing projects caught up in the planning system. The Urban Taskforce is aware of over 30 large housing projects caught up in the planning process that could be turned into real projects. Some of these projects have holding costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.</p>
<p>The continuation of the merger process needs to be accompanied by a fast track approach to large housing projects during the transition process. The Minister for Housing, Anthony Roberts, should establish an action team under a Commissioner for Housing Supply for a two year period to lift housing approvals.</p>
<p>While the increase in housing completions to 33,000 for Greater Sydney is good news this needs to be balanced by falling housing approvals. The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the housing approvals in NSW dropped by 25 percent between July and December 2016.</p>
<p>The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with Housing Minister Anthony Roberts to suggest ways to increase housing supply and housing affordability.</p>
<p><em>Chris Johnson is chief executive officer of property development industry group Urban Taskforce and can be contacted <a href="https://www.urbantaskforce.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=97&amp;Itemid=126#.WKTDGTt942x" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p>
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elalademann0606-LAMLni4EAX

Premier needs to take a stronger role with housing supply during the transition to merged councils: Chris Johnson

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<h2><strong>GUEST OBSERVER </strong></h2>
<div>New research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) finds that, alongside the growing shortage of affordable housing, the country’s largest non-government affordable housing providers have substantial under-used capacity. Making more effective use of this resource calls for concerted and purposeful action from both levels of government to support the industry in playing a fully effective part in the expansion of affordable housing supply recently pledged by Federal Treasurer, Scott Morrison.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The research, ‘Developing the scale and capacity of Australia’s affordable housing industry’, commissioned by AHURI and led by the University of New South Wales, highlights the role of affordable housing providers as players within a wider system. Importantly, this system extends beyond the organisations directly responsible for providing secure low-cost housing (mainly not-for-profit community housing providers) to include supporting entities and institutions such as service delivery partners, lenders, peak bodies and government policy-makers, program managers and regulators. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The research identifies industry capacity challenges in four main areas: </div>
<ol>
<li>the lack of a resourced plan for tackling the national affordable housing shortage</li>
<li>a major loss of housing policy-maker expertise over the past 10–20 years and, over the past five years, a neglected and underperforming affordable housing regulatory system</li>
<li>stronger and more enduring leadership is needed from both governments and housing providers</li>
<li>support for the Indigenous housing sector has lagged behind that for mainstream providers.</li>
</ol>
<div>Key recommendations include revitalisation of the affordable housing regulatory system; official recognition of affordable housing as a long-term national policy goal (through the Council of Australian Governments), and the creation of a joint government-industry Affordable Housing Industry Council to direct and oversee industry development. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The report also stresses the importance of Indigenous-controlled and culturally appropriate service models in better meeting the housing needs of Indigenous communities.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>‘We believe there is a case for national legislation that defines affordable housing and sets out the economic and social purpose of the industry,’ says Inquiry leader, Professor Hal Pawson. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>‘Australia’s leading affordable housing providers are, in our judgement, ready for further growth. With the right leadership, resourcing and regulatory accountability, they have what it takes to help this country tackle what has become a key problem governments can no longer ignore.’</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Hal Pawson is a Professor of Housing Research and Policy, Associate Director of the City Futures Research Centre, and Director of the UNSW AHURI Research Centre.</div>
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Affordable housing industry has capacity, lacks Government certainty: Hal Pawson

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<p>GUEST OBSERVER</p>
<p>Aussies are missing out on savings of up to $3,184 a year by shunning online lenders in favour of the big banks according to financial comparison site Mozo.com.au.</p>
<p>A nationally representative survey conducted by Mozo found Aussies are less likely to apply for a home loan online than other financial products despite the huge savings on offer.</p>
<p>“Our research shows while more than half of consumers are comfortable taking out car insurance, credit cards and personal loans online, just 27 per cent would consider doing the same for a home loan,” says Mozo Director Kirsty Lamont.</p>
<p>“Surprisingly, less than half of consumers would consider getting a home loan with an online lender despite the majority saying the main drawcards of signing up with an online lender are cheaper interest rates and lower fees.”</p>
<p>Mozo compared 504 home loans from 89 providers to identify Australia’s best value home loans for its annual Mozo Experts Choice Home Loan Awards, and found that nearly two thirds of the best value home loans on the market are from online lenders.</p>
<p>“We found that online lenders are on average 0.70% cheaper than the Big 4 banks for a typical loan of $350,000 over 25 years. When you look at the room for savings, it’s well worth looking beyond the traditional bricks and mortar lenders.”</p>
<p>Mozo found the biggest barrier to Aussies getting a home loan online is their lack of familiarity with online lenders, with 56 per cent saying they simply don’t know enough about them.</p>
<p>“Unfamiliarity with online lenders is stopping borrowers from accessing better home loan deals,” says Lamont. “Many online lenders are able to pass on significant cost savings to consumers because they have fewer overheads than traditional banks.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/05/24/MOZO%202.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<p><img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/05/24/MOZO%202.png" width="700" height="343"></p>
<p>The research shows more males than females would consider applying for a home loan online, while females were more likely not to borrow from an online lender because they didn’t know enough about them.</p>
<p>Of those who said they would apply for a home loan online, half are between the ages of 25 and 44, which indicates that Gen X and Y are more comfortable applying for a home loan online than other generations.</p>
<p>In addition to lack of familiarity, 43 per cent of consumers say they avoid shopping online for a home loan because they’d prefer to discuss their needs face to face with a mortgage expert.</p>
<p>“Seeking expert advice from a third party might be a valuable service in navigating the mortgage application maze but this could come at a steep price if borrowers neglect to do independent research beforehand,” says Lamont.</p>
<p>“Many borrowers who go through a bank or mortgage broker often don’t get to see the full spectrum of offers available and may be unsure of what rates are available elsewhere, especially in the online space.”</p>
<p>Online lenders iMortgage, loans.com.au and UBank were among the major winners in this year’s Mozo Experts Choice Awards, while Homestar was named the Non-Bank Home Lender of the Year after raking in mentions across five home loan categories.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/2017/05/24/MOZO%20-3.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a></p>
<p><img src="https://www.urban.com.au/images/2017/05/24/MOZO%20-3.png" width="700" height="417"></p>
<p>Kirsty Lamont is the director of <a href="https://mozo.com.au" target="_blank">Mozo.com.au</a></p>
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