Podcast: Fast track flats put Nimbys on notice

We are back in the saddle for the new year with the news that the NSW government has come up with a new way of tackling the bureaucracy and red tape that’s holding back housing construction – by adding what looks like another level of bureaucracy and red tape.

To be fair, the intentions are good. Maybe more really is less, and the new Housing Delivery Authority will accelerate the construction of “State Significant Developments”, especially in areas ripe for development but where Nimbys rule the roost. We shall see.

However, one of the more remarkable achievements around this is that the government has managed to announce this without even mentioning one significant and controversial word.

Also we hear about the apartment residents who turned their harbour view flat into a huge, expensive New Years Eve event venue … only it wasn’t their flat. 

And we point the fingers at the Sydney residents who have taken Nimbyism to a new low – kicking locals who are already down and permanently out.

That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.

Transcript in Full

Jimmy

We’re back! It’s a new year, we’ve got Christmas out the way, we’ve got all the…

Sue

Happy New Year everyone!

Jimmy

Happy New Year, yeah, okay, start on a positive, good thought. This is going to be a very quick one, a short one, we’ve got a couple of things to go. Some of you are still on holiday, some of you are just back from holiday.

We’ve got one fun piece about something that happened over Christmas and another interesting development from the government, New South Wales government. That mooing sound you heard was Sue Williams.

Sue

I was interested to see what it was going to be.

Jimmy

Right, well we’ll talk about it later.

Sue

It wasn’t a mooing sound, it was a lovely sound.

Jimmy

A sound of interest.

Sue

Curiosity.

Jimmy

Curiosity and engagement. Okay, my name is Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review and I edit the flatchat.com.au website.

Sue

And I’m Sue Williams and I write about property for the Sydney Morning Herald, the AFR, the Melbourne Age and Domain.

Jimmy

And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.

So, Sue Williams, you are an expert in property.

Sue

Right, maybe.

Jimmy

You are. What is the most common reason given, especially by developers, for the slow rate of building apartment blocks?

Sue

Oh, bureaucracy and red tape. That’s kind of the same thing.

Jimmy

So, the New South Wales government has come up with a solution for this.

Sue

Oh, what’s that?

Jimmy

More bureaucracy and red tape. So, they’ve announced this thing called the Housing Delivery Authority, which was formed, I think, in December. It’s got three high-powered civil servants attached to it and it is going to fast-track applications for development approval for homes.

Well, it says housing and it says homes, but it has identified four areas of particular interest that they want to increase the rate of housing being built. Okay, so I’m going to, here’s a little quiz. I’m going to give you a definition, you tell me what it sounds like.

High-yield housing proposals focusing on known high-yield types of residential accommodation. What does that sound like?

Sue

Apartments.

Jimmy

Housing projects that can be assessed and constructed quickly by focusing on more compliant major housing proposals that can commence construction quickly. They’ve used quickly twice in one sentence.

Sue

Apartments.

Jimmy

Quality and affordable housing focusing on housing development proposals that are well located and have enabling infrastructure and contribute to affordable housing supply. Apartments. And complement the state rezoning, significant rezoning, blah blah blah.

Okay, guess what word does not appear in this press release?

Sue

Well, it’s terrible, isn’t it?

Jimmy

Yeah, like they’re going, okay, we’re gonna build lots of kind of buildings that go up quickly and you’ve got lots of people in them, but hey, they don’t have to be apartments.

Sue

They could be units.

Jimmy

So don’t panic everybody, we’re not going to be building apartments near you.

Sue

So I mean, I guess in theory it’s good to have a new body, fast-tracking everything, but the trouble is you’ve already got councils, you’ve already got state authorities, you’ve got the planning department. Yeah, so you’ve got all these people assessing proposals anyway and if you add another layer onto those, it can create delays, can’t it? Because you know, people can propose developments and then other people can appeal them.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

This means they’re gonna have another avenue to appeal them, doesn’t it really?

Jimmy

Well, I don’t know. I mean, it just suddenly occurred to me that it has a whiff of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency that they’ve invented in America and which has a another whiff of George Orwell about it, isn’t it? So we’ve got the department of this and that.

Look, the intentions are good, but you think? I know I’m a very simplistic person and my logic tends to be flawed, but I’m thinking if you’re putting in a department that’s going to push through housing developments, what are you taking out? What are you getting rid of?

Because you can have people pushing as much as they want, but if the bricks in the wall are still there, it’s not gonna make a lot of difference.

Sue

You mean, if you’re fast-tracking stuff, what are you gonna take out? Like minimum sizes, access to solar?

Jimmy

It could be to say to councils, you’ve got 30 days to decide on this approval, not six months, not three years. You’ve got 30 days and if you haven’t decided by the end of 30 days, we’re gonna step in and make the decision for you. Now, that would speed things up.

Of course, there’d be terrible outcry from the councils saying this is undemocratic and blah blah blah, because a lot of these NIMBY councils have got elected on the basis that they will not allow apartments to be built anywhere near them.

Sue

And it’s really hard because some people just object to anything. I mean, we’ve had that big row in Riverwood about an apartment development really for, I think, elderly homeless people.

Jimmy

Yes.

Sue

And lots of Riverwood locals objecting to that, which sounds awful really. And it’s quite funny.

Jimmy

The magic word there is homeless, isn’t it?

Sue

Yeah. But, you know, we’ve got a new apartment complex for elderly homeless people in Darlinghurst, which isn’t very far away from us. We do.

And there was a bit of an outcry about that, but not so much, I guess, because Darlinghurst is used to, you know, homeless people really. And there was such a need for it, it was really necessary. And it went up and it’s fantastic.

It’s a really nice building. You occasionally see residents wandering around. And there was a really interesting letter in the newspaper saying, taking the mickey out of all these objectors, saying that, oh gosh, you can’t have old people, poor people living nearby because they might be really noisy up at eight o’clock in the evening.

And they cause enormous trouble because they say good morning to you and good afternoon and they delay you.

Jimmy

They ruin your day by talking to you.

Sue

It was very funny. So, I mean, you know, people tend to object to anything, but it’s a shame when they start objecting to really good proposals that look good and obviously going to increase housing for everyone and, you know, attract more amenities to the areas as well.

Jimmy

And I was sitting eating my obligatory smashed avocado and poached eggs on the street the other day and watched an old person coming out of that building and walking very slowly with one of those walking things. But I suddenly realised there were three young people around that old man. Looking after him?

Yeah, they weren’t bothering him. They weren’t holding on to him. They were just kind of hovering there.

Sue

In case he needed them.

Jimmy

In case he needed. And I thought, that’s really nice. We got to look after old…

I speak as an old person. We need to look after our old people and it’s nice to see it being done. And the people in Riverwood, have a look at yourselves.

For goodness sake. You know, really? I mean, you’re going to object to people who’ve been homeless, who are going to spend probably just the last couple of years of their lives, because being homeless is not a healthy option.

And giving them a bit of comfort and a bit of security in the last couple of years of their lives. Goodness me, it makes you wonder.

Sue

Yeah, I mean, it contrasts quite strongly with, you know, those Paddington people that I’ve been writing about a bit, who’ve been really supporting the boarding house occupants, who are being threatened with being kicked out, because a developer wants to redevelop their apartment.

Jimmy

Oh, he’s bought the building, hasn’t he?

Sue

Yeah, and he wants to redevelop it into smaller luxury houses, rather than the apartments. And those Paddington people have really rallied around those residents.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

And it’s been fantastic. And they say, look, the residents are really important to our way of life anyway. They look after the place.

They kind of keep an eye on who’s coming in, who’s coming out. They’re kind of like a neighborhood patrol group, in lots of ways, really. And it just seems to be such an acute contrast, really.

Jimmy

Yes.

Sue

Paddington people aren’t, you know, generally, they’re pretty wealthy too.

Jimmy

You have to be, to live in Paddington.

Sue

Yeah, it’s one of the most, well, I think actually, it’s the most expensive area in the whole of Australia, Paddington.

Jimmy

Is it? Like, for clues?

Sue

Per square metre, yeah.

Jimmy

Wow.

Sue

More than for clues, yeah. So, yes, we want to have people being more flexible about looking at apartments and thinking, oh, great, we’ll have some nice new neighbours.

Jimmy

Yeah, and when this new agency, I’ll put the press release on the Flat Chat website, but maybe this new agency will go to Riverwood and say, get real, you know.

Sue

Yeah.

Jimmy

This is a good development for lots and lots of reasons and all your objections are imaginary, so just behave yourselves. We’re going to build it. That would be a good test.

Sue

Be a good outcome. Yeah, absolutely.

Jimmy

When we come back, we’re going to talk about one of my favourite subjects, which is Airbnb and how totally mental it can become when people start seeing the dollar signs. That’s after this. So, Sue, you heard a conversation, you’re having a conversation with somebody recently about something in an apartment block, an Airbnb rent.

Sue

What was it? Yes, they rented an Airbnb in an apartment building in Sydney for the New Year.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

But the apartment nearby was advertising for a New Year’s Eve party, but they were holding a New Year’s Eve party with a series of professional DJs.

Jimmy

Right.

Sue

You know, each with their own deck and stuff and food and drink and it was a ticketing event. So she went there. It was actually an Airbnb.

Jimmy

Right.

Sue

And these people had rented the Airbnb for the New Year.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

And had organised a party, a professional party within the Airbnb apartment.

Jimmy

Right. So an event.

Sue

An event. And they were making money from it because it had quite nice views of the harbour so you could see the fireworks. So they were making quite, well, a lot of money because it was a ticketed event.

So young people were, well, because I guess they’re mostly young.

Jimmy

We keep hearing young people don’t have any money.

Sue

We’re paying, you know, quite a lot of money to go into this party and have a drink, have something to eat and watch the fireworks and dance the night away. And you think those poor neighbours.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

Oh my goodness.

Jimmy

Yes. Well, here’s my thought about this. If you charge an entrance fee and you advertise it, probably on social media and you hire musicians, if you can call DJs musicians, I get into trouble for that.

A lot of people think that’s really insulting to DJs. Is that not now a commercial enterprise?

Sue

Yeah, it is.

Jimmy

Obviously. So is that not then a change of use? And should they not have got planning permission for that?

Sue

Oh, okay. But I guess the trouble is it’s just for New Year’s Eve.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

And some of the neighbours will be thinking, oh, well, it’s a one-off really.

Jimmy

Yeah. As we do.

Sue

Yeah. But then maybe those people would have made enough profit and think, oh, Australia Day is coming up soon. Let’s have an Australia Day event.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

You know.

Jimmy

Oh, now you’ve done it. There’s going to be all over the place.

Sue

Yeah.

Jimmy

There’ll be one above us or below us or probably all around us. Hey, it’s the Rugby League Cup final. So let’s have a football fiesta.

Sue

And it’s probably quite hard to catch people. I mean, you can see them advertising on social media. So you kind of have to police that really.

But yeah, it’s quite difficult.

Jimmy

Oh, yeah. It’s always after the event in Strata. A notice to comply is not a fine.

A notice to comply is saying to people, don’t do this again or stop doing this.

Sue

But even if they get three warnings or something and end up with a fine.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

The fine is not going to be too much compared to how much money they’re making.

Jimmy

Yeah. I would get the council on. I’d get the council to say you did not ask for planning permission for this.

Sue

But the council and the owner will say, well, I had no control over who rents.

Jimmy

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because Strata law says that as the owner of the apartment, you are responsible for the behaviour of your tenants and their guests.

Sue

Oh, OK. Oh, so you would be punished.

Jimmy

So if you knew if you knew that this was going on, then you you would be in trouble. I don’t know how much trouble you’d be in. Probably not a lot.

Sue

But you probably only find out from the neighbours afterwards, wouldn’t you? Really?

Jimmy

Yeah. Yeah.

Sue

Often the police, when they scratched your car. Yes. So, yeah.

So hopefully that won’t happen again on Australia Day.

Jimmy

We’ll see. We’ll keep an eye on that one. That Airbnb stuff is not ever going to go away.

But, you know, it’s ironic that we’re talking about, on the one hand, people saying we don’t want an apartment block for elderly, homeless people. And then we’ve got people saying we want to turn this boarding house that houses, you know, a couple of dozen people into luxury apartments that’s going to accommodate three privileged, entitled dickheads.

Sue

Well, it’s luxury houses, luxury houses. So it’s going to be even fewer than luxury apartments.

Jimmy

Right. And , you know, then you’ve got people who are going, oh, Airbnb. Great.

We can just we can have an event. When we think about it. They would not have got planning permission for that because they wouldn’t have had the safety measures and they wouldn’t have had the security.

You know, how do you accommodate the possibility of having 100 people in one apartment and there’s some incident, there’s a fire or something. It’s not designed for it. So, yeah, they need to stop it.

Sue

Absolutely.

Jimmy

And on that note.

Sue

Yes, we’ll be back next week with a much more cheery.

Jimmy

I think it’s hilarious. It’s fantastic. I think it’s funny because people in apartment blocks will go, oh, we don’t want to restrict Airbnb because we might want to rent our place.

I mean, when you think about it, some of these luxury apartments, they’re going for about fifteen hundred dollars a night over Christmas and New Year. That’s a cruise. That would cover the cost of getting everything that you own packed up and put in storage, going on a cruise and coming back and getting the same people who packed it up and put it in storage to come back and put it back as it was.

Sue

That sounds quite attractive.

Jimmy

It does. I think we’ll do that next year. The party will have three DJs and a bagpiper.

Get your booking in now. Thanks, Sue. You’re having a very, very busy time because your new book has just come out.

Sue

Yes. What’s it called? Okay.

It’s called The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress.

Jimmy

Right.

Sue

And it’s about the third governor of New South Wales.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

Obviously, which became Australia. Philip Gidley King, who had a convict mistress.

Jimmy

Yeah.

Sue

And also a wife.

Jimmy

Wow.

Sue

And children from them both. And it was a scandal.

Jimmy

Well, still is and will be again. And the next time you’re driving up King Street in the city or King Street in Newtown, it’s not named after a king. It’s named after Philip Gidley King.

There’s a little bit of trivia for you. That’s all from us for this week. Thanks for listening.

We’ll talk to you again soon.

Sue

Bye.

Jimmy

Bye. Thanks for listening to the Flat Chat Wrap podcast. You’ll find links to the stories and other references on our website, flatchat.com.au. And if you haven’t already done so, you can subscribe to this podcast completely free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcatcher. Just search for Flat Chat Wrap with a W, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. Thanks again. Talk to you again next week.

 Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.