We admit we can get a little city-centric here at Flat Chat so last weekend it was good to get out of the urban jungle and find out what’s happening elsewhere.And the news is that Newcastle is booming, beach holiday homes are bouncing back and the roads are almost as crazy as they were pre-covid.Back in what passes for the real world, in this week’s Flat Chat we talk about how construction insurance premiums for low rise buildings and renovations are getting out of control, based on this story.LISTEN HEREAnd we chat about the pretty disappointing investment on affordable housing announced by the government, as covered in this story in the Guardian.We also discuss Sue’s major piece in Domain about why apartments may be better for families than you think. We have an edited extract HERE.And we talk about whether charcoal barbecues can be allowed on balconies. That’s kicked off in the Forum again, HERE.All in all, a pretty varied and wide-ranging podcast. Enjoy.TRANSCRIPT IN FULLJimmy 0:00 We just got back from Newcastle. Well, not Newcastle (although we've been to Newcastle); up to Forster and...Sue 0:06 The mid North Coast and then Newcastle and then Lake Macquarie. Just having a bit of an explore, really.Jimmy 0:13 Newcastle is going gangbusters on apartments; the skyline is full of cranes. Most prices are higher than the cranes are!Sue 0:22 Yeah and apartment prices are getting pretty expensive as well. Some of those new ones, off the plan; I mean, the architects have won prizes for the designs and the prices really reflect that.Jimmy 0:33 Right, okay, but we're not going to be talking about that in this show. We've got so many other things to talk about. We're going to talk about building insurance. We're going to talk about barbecues on balconies. We're going to be talking about affordable housing and families; are apartments appropriate for families, or even better than houses? Is that possible? I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.Sue 1:00 And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain.Jimmy 1:03 And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.Did you see that story about insurance premiums for new buildings?Sue 1:25 Yes, that they've gone up five times in the last few years.Jimmy 1:28 And, do you know what it's all about?Sue 1:31 I get so confused about home warranty insurance in apartments. It just seems so complicated.Jimmy 1:36 So basically, that's because with any apartment block over three storeys high, the builder doesn't need to take out building warranty insurance.Sue 1:46 Right, so our insurance though (for the people in those blocks), is just going sky-high, it seems.Jimmy 1:52 Well, the ones who will be buying properties that are covered by building warranty insurance, are finding (and there was a report earlier, and we mentioned it on the podcast), that the fund for these insurance claims was $700 million in debt and so they're trying to claw that back by increasing the premiums. But, it's a very strange system. That insurance only kicks in if you have building defects and it's within the first six years and the developer is either dead or has gone out of business. So, it's very limited an
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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.
