Policy Watch

A survey of 2100 buyers shows hassle and tax, not lack of interest, hold older owners in large houses. Could cutting the tax free up more homes than building?

A bill before parliament could force one in five small builders to restructure or pay more tax. The housing supply shortfall is the risk no one has priced in.

Over-55s hold millions of unused bedrooms, but the barriers to moving look more like policy design than stubbornness.

Institutional rental apartments are 0.2 per cent of residential value, and the economics keep blocking more. Reform may decide whether that changes.

Rent-tech platforms are replacing banned card surcharges with service fees and paid memberships. Who pays, and is it even legal?

The Greens want landlords licensed and banned after three strikes, as more rental rules roll out. Whether that lifts standards or drives investors out is the open question.

A payments reform sold as a win at the coffee counter could tighten working capital for small builders, just as housing supply falls further behind.

A heritage parcel near Melbourne sold for $1m, far below nearby land values. The real issue is what that means for housing supply.

A pledge to cut net overseas migration to 100,000 a year would slow population growth sharply. Whether that drags on prices is a different question.

Allowing super withdrawals for home deposits is back on the agenda, but the policy runs into a supply-constrained market.

The regulator has paused offers in three retail mortgage funds holding about $252m, and the disclosure gaps behind it matter well beyond one manager.

A national estimate puts the paperwork bill near $60 billion a year. Property investors carry a particular share of it, and a 10% cut is no sure thing.

A $242 billion infrastructure pipeline is being sold as a productivity win. The harder question is whether it crowds out the builders housing needs.

A developer has finally secured approval for 1,100 homes after 12 years. The delay shows how time itself becomes a cost in supply.