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Policy Watch

Rent caps Australia: 80% back them, but what do they do?

A new poll says four in five Australians want rents capped or frozen. The harder question is who pays when supply tightens.
Policy Watch

WA pre-sale scheme: a $250m backstop shifts risk, not the bank test

A $250m fund aims to help WA apartment developers reach construction finance. Whether it adds homes depends on who ends up carrying the risk.
Policy Watch

Foreign investor property tax Victoria: Labor flags a review

Labor says it will review Victoria's two overseas-buyer taxes if re-elected. The harder question is whether that brings in new homes or just more bidders.
Policy Watch

Victorian reserve price laws: who gains when sellers show their hand

Some Melbourne vendors are already publishing reserves under new state laws. In a falling market, that could change who holds the power at auction.
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Policy Watch

Tradie shortage Victoria: 27,000 worker gap threatens 4,000 homes

Victoria's construction workforce is falling 27,000 workers short by 2035, enough to wipe out 4,000 new builds, planning reforms mean little when no one can frame the houses.
Policy Watch

Development contributions Geelong: why $823k charges threaten supply

A major developer just opened its books to show council fees will price vacant blocks past $500,000, killing the affordability case for the city's biggest growth corridor.
Policy Watch

ASIC compensation loophole blocks investors from defective administration claims

A regulatory carve-out has shielded ASIC from the same compensation framework that applies to every other Commonwealth entity for over a decade.
Policy Watch

House prices falling: why Labor won’t claim the win it engineered

Investor retreat is doing exactly what the tax changes were designed to do, so why is the government scrambling to distance itself from the outcome?
Policy Watch

Property tax revenue hits $34bn as builder collapses double

State governments collected record stamp duty while construction insolvencies climbed past 7,700 in two years, the revenue windfall makes the supply crisis self-reinforcing.
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Policy Watch

ING liquidity breach: what APRA missed for years

A major lender's years-long miscalculation flew under the radar until mid-2024. The question now isn't just capital, it's whether oversight gaps will reshape lending access.
Policy Watch

Housing supply crisis: why the tax debate misses the real constraint

While Parliament argues over investor incentives, developers face a cost-revenue gap that neither side's policy addresses.
Policy Watch

Medium-density housing developer failure shows why supply targets may miss

A builder specialising in townhouses and units has collapsed mid-construction. The project type matches policy goals perfectly, but couldn't secure finance or make the numbers work.
Policy Watch

Capital gains tax modelling: seven assumptions Treasury won’t explain

Treasury's CGT revenue forecasts rest on behavioural assumptions it hasn't disclosed. If those assumptions miss, the budget numbers don't hold.
Policy Watch

APRA superannuation property investment oversight shifts as deputy chair appointed

David Bradbury takes control of super regulation at the same moment institutional capital is reshaping housing supply, his background suggests the collision is deliberate.
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Policy Watch

Housing Australia delivery bottleneck: can a corporate turnaround fix public housing?

A new chair with a track record in shipping and tourism inherits a pipeline that's stalled on finance, approvals and construction.
Policy Watch

Retirement age pushed back as deposits double for first buyers

Millennials are putting down 16–20% deposits while expecting to work three to ten years longer, but the retirement-income system still assumes a 67 finish line.
Policy Watch

Pre-sale finance guarantee NSW: can state backing fix mid-tier funding gap?

NSW doubles down on construction risk-sharing for affordable and regional projects, but lender appetite, not government balance sheets, will decide if smaller developments actually start.
Policy Watch

Retirement village waitlist: 27,000 Australians stuck, family homes locked

Near 27,000 older Australians are queued for retirement housing while the family homes they occupy sit off-market, pipeline collapse meets planning gridlock.

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