Buying off the plan
Small gardens, big rewards
Which capital city is booming?
From little things
We’ve all heard of tiny houses, but tiny gardens are a thing too
Think you don’t have enough time or space to grow your own vegies? You might want to check out The Plummery, an inner-Melbourne garden project that churns out enough fresh produce to feed two adults on a tiny 280sqm block – and yes, that includes the house.
What’s more, the woman behind the garden, Kat Lavers, reckons it’s all done on about four hours of work a week.
To be fair, Kat is no amateur. She is a professional permaculture designer and educator who set out to demonstrate that small, often-overlooked, suburban spaces can be hugely productive if we re-think the way we use them. In just 12 months, she harvested 428kg of herbs, fruit, vegetables and quail eggs from her 10sqm garden – an area that was previously just lawn.
That’s a pretty high bar. But don’t be daunted. Kat herself describes The Plummery as an experiment that prioritises productivity. But planting an edible garden can be about much more than just putting food on the table.
There’s a growing body of scientific evidence that spending time in green spaces has significant physical and mental health benefits. So much so that the UK’s National Health Service launched a program in 2021 called Green Social Prescribing that encourages doctors to refer patients to gardening groups.
Suburban gardens can also help build a sense of community. Toowoomba gardener Kushla Gale hoped to meet neighbours and share her passion for home grown produce when she planted out a little 50cm footpath strip outside her Queensland
home, encouraging passers-by to help themselves to the fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs.
Surrounded by new unit developments, Kushla is one of an increasing number of Aussie homeowners who have set up verge vegie patches to share their gardens and encourage residents to get out and about in their communities.
The colourful garden ended up wowing judges at Toowoomba’s famed Carnival of Flowers last year, taking out second place in the Footpath Garden section, a category usually dominated by ornamental displays. One judge commented her little footpath demonstrated “You don’t need acreage to be able to grow your own fresh organic produce.”
By switching out ornamental plants in favour of edible plants –even in small spaces – both Kushla and Kat hope to shift the dial on traditional ideas of what suburban gardens can be.
“I thought, ‘if I’m going to invest in buying plants, why not have things that are productive as well,’” says Kushla, who, apart from her footpath garden, has also planted out her 700sqm block with eye-catching and unusual plants that can be eaten. There are mango and banana trees, purple peas, red eggplants, strawberry guavas, striped tomatoes and cranberry hibiscus.
“I like to plant interesting food – things you can’t find in the supermarket,” she says, emphasising the fun factor of an edible garden that’s also a treat for the eyes.
Spring Tips
Whatever your motivation, now is the perfect time to get out in the garden and plant some plants to eat. Kat and Kushla share their top tips.
Start small: Don’t set yourself up to fail by being overly ambitious. “One of the best things you can do if you’re getting started is to start really small,” Kat advises. “Start with a square metre and look after it. You’ll actually get more produce out of a smaller garden that you’re managing and tending well than you will out of a huge garden that runs away.”
Use overlooked spaces: When Kushla had a new driveway put in, the concreter eyed the narrow gap alongside and said, “Just put in some mondo grass – that’s the solution.” “I laughed and thought, ‘you don’t know me,’” she says. That 20cm sliver of garden now produces fennel, cabbage, capsicum, tomatoes, peas, chives, chamomile and leeks. It’s a similar ethos to her award-winning footpath garden, which demonstrates the huge potential of often-forgotten spaces.
Know yourself and your garden: Just as you should take time to watch how the sun moves across your garden, also understand how you will move around your garden. Put plants that will require the most care, or that you will use most often (such as herbs and vegetables), in areas you walk past frequently. A vegie patch at the bottom of the garden is likely to be neglected, because out of sight is often out of mind when it comes to watering, weeding and pest control.
Embrace multi-function: Deciduous fruit trees (such as plum, persimmon and quince) can provide shade and wind protection for vegie patches (or homes) in summer. In winter, these trees lose their leaves and allow much-needed sunshine to flood in.
Keep it simple: “I work full time. I’m a careless gardener. I forget to water,” Kushla admits. “So, things have to be tough to survive in my garden.” Low-maintenance, pest-resistant, drought-tolerant plants are a priority. She also opts for produce that doesn’t need to be picked immediately, so it can sit on the tree or vine until she needs to use it.
Join a garden group: “If there isn’t one to join, start one,” says Kushla, who is passionate about the social upside of gardening. Groups are a rich source of friendships and members are usually very generous when it comes to sharing seedlings and cuttings.
Stagger plantings: Avoid ending up with a mountain of produce one week and nothing for months by planting vegie beds out at intervals. Staggering plantings not only eliminates the pressure of planting out an entire bed in one weekend, but it also helps keep your garden in a continuous cycle of production.
Build watering and weeding into your day: Kat says she often makes phone calls to friends and family while she is doing mundane tasks such as picking slugs from her vegies, so she can cultivate her relationships at the same time as her garden.
For more tips on planting, pests or garden design see some of Kat’s videos online at www.katlaver.com/blog
Kushla’s footpath garden at 37 Gordon Ave, Newton is part of the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Open Gardens from September 2029, or visit her Facebook page at Toowoomba Edible Garden.
Gardener Kushla Gale’s narrow, forgotten spaces that run alongside her fences and driveway are now thriving with vegies,
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Capital Battle
Australia’s bridesmaid States are booming as Brisbane overtakes Melbourne and Perth soars.
How embarrassment
Be in the running to win $1,000 cash by regaling us with a tale of the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you. Share your most cringeworthy moment in 300 words or fewer to be in it to win it.
How: send your embarrassing story in 300 words or fewer to havencompetitions@afgonline.com.au placing ‘Most embarrassing moment’ in the subject line.
Include: your name, address, email, phone number and the name of your mortgage broker.
Dates: opens on August 9 and closes on October 7.
Winner: will be decided on October 8 and notified by telephone after this time.
Terms and conditions: visit http://bit.ly/HavenWin
The pecking order of Australia’s capital cities is being re-written as buyers flock to sunny second-string capitals, driving record price peaks.
Brisbane has now overtaken Canberra and Melbourne to claim the title of Australia’s second most expensive city behind Sydney, with a median home value of $840,000, according to the PropTrack Home Price Index for June.
Meanwhile, Perth – still only sixth on the list of the country’s most expensive capitals – is gaining ground fast, posting the fastest annual price growth in the country. In the past year, median dwelling values in the West Australian capital have leapt 22.5 per cent, going from around $577,000 in June 2023 to hit an all-time high of $713,000 in June this year.
That outstrips growth in its nearest rivals Adelaide, up 14.6 per cent in the past year, and Brisbane, up 14.1 per cent. Sydney remained the country’s most expensive city to buy a home, with solid annual growth of 6.4 per cent across all dwellings.
One of the most interesting pictures to come out of the recent PropTrack data update is the stark divide opening up around the country, with sustained strong growth in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, while many other capitals remain flat or fall back.
In the past year, median values in Melbourne dropped marginally, by 0.07 per cent, while in Hobart there was a more marked annual decline of 2.06 per cent. The Tassie capital, which posted incredible gains during Covid years, is now down nearly 10 per cent on its 2022 highs.
Taking a longer-term view, median dwelling values in capital cities in WA, Queensland and South Australia have all climbed around 70 per cent in the past four years. Not only is it an incredible gain, but it’s roughly double the rate of price growth recorded in other State capitals during the same period, perhaps reflecting demand for more affordable, lifestyle properties.
The most recent population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics backs this, with Brisbane and Perth the only capitals to gain population through internal migration from other States and regions in 2022/23. All other capital cities gained overseas migrants but lost existing residents, who either moved interstate or to regional centres within the same State.
While the total populations of Melbourne and Sydney grew strongly throughout the 2022/23 financial year, according to the ABS insights this increase was overwhelmingly fuelled by overseas migration.
During 2022/23 about 38,400 existing residents left Melbourne to move interstate or to regional Victoria, while during the same period about 15,300 people moved to Brisbane and about 10,700 moved to Perth from other parts of Australia.
With some of Australia’s traditionally more affordable capitals facing increasing price pressures, real estate experts at Oxford Economics Australia have predicted unit prices, which have lagged behind houseprice growth, will pick up and even outpace housing growth in some centres as buyers chase value.
The Oxford Economics Residential Property Prospects Report also predicted Perth would continue to be the country’s standout real estate performer through to 2027, with a strong economy underpinning price growth. The report forecast Darwin, which has underperformed in recent years, would pick up, with housing and unit growth tipped to average 7-8 per cent through 2025 and 2026.
PropTrack Home Price Index June 2024
All dwellings Annual growth Change since March 2020 Median Value June 2024
Sydney 6.39% 37.8% $1,107,000 Brisbane 14.14% 70.6% $840,000
0.58% 36.0% $836,000 Melbourne -0.07% 16.5% $803,000 Adelaide 14.61% 70.5% $759,000
Perth 22.52% 68.7% $713,000
Hobart -2.06% 34.2% $671,000
Darwin 2.63% 29.1% $477,000
*Due to its limited geography, dominated by Canberra, median dwelling price is reported as a whole for ACT. Source: PropTrack
Interesting idiom origins
Mad as a hatter
You might think it is from Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland, but its origins are from 17th century France. Hat makers used mercury to stiffen felt used in hats, causing chronic mercury poisoning among their community. Symptoms of mad hatter disease included irritability, nervousness, psychosis, paralysis, and tremors, in turn making the hat maker appear mad. Today we continue with the theme, using it to describe someone who is completely crazy.
Bite the bullet
In days of old, when a doctor was short of either anaesthetic or time on the battlefield, they would have the wounded soldier bite down on a bullet to help distract them from the pain. Now we use it as a metaphor to accept something unpleasant or difficult.
Break the ice
When ships were the primary mode of transportation for world trade, during winter the vessel would often get stuck due to ice formation. The country set to receive the incoming goods would send a smaller ship to break the ice and clear the way for the incoming large trade ship. In modern day use, it means to either start a friendship or break off a conflict.
Cat got your tongue?
The English Navy used to use a cat-o’-ninetails whip for flogging punishment of sailors. The pain inflicted was so severe, that it caused the victim to remain mute for a long time. Now we ask it of someone who is at loss of words.
Turn a blind eye
Now this means to refuse to acknowledge a known truth. But its origin is with British Naval Admiral Horatio Nelson, who was blind in one eye. Once when British forces signalled for him to stop attacking a fleet of Danish ships, he held a telescope to his blind eye and declared, “I do not see the signal.” He continued the attack and was victorious.
famous person was the brief, and our Haven competition winner Verushka met it.
When holidaying in Las Vegas, Verushka and her then partner attended an Anthony Hopkins art exhibition. Not only did they purchase one of his works, but Verushka also met the main man and snaffled this winning photo with him.
Seems that not only is Sir Anthony Hopkins an Oscarwinning actor, but he is also quite the artist!
Best laid plans
The
risk and reward of buying off the plan
In a rising market, purchasing off the plan can be an attractive option, allowing buyers to lock in a property at today’s price without paying until two or more years down the track, when construction is complete.
But alongside the positives are potential pitfalls, from builder collapse to overlooked fees and sunset clauses.
Let’s look at the upsides, downsides and the often-overlooked sides of buying off the plan.
Why sell off the plan?
Selling or buying off the plan means the property you are committing to buy has not been constructed, or in the case of land developments, the lot has not been sub-divided or registered. So, the agreed sale is for a property that is planned but does not yet exist.
Developers often sell off the plan because having buyers locked in reduces risk in the eyes of lenders and allows them to access more favourable finance to complete construction.
Most commonly, buyers sign a sales contract and put down a deposit (generally 5-20 per cent), with the balance due on completion. Each State has its own regulations governing off-the-plan sales. For example, in Victoria deposits are capped at 10 per cent.
It’s a format frequently used to sell unit or townhouse projects, but is also used for land subdivisions.
Why buy off-the-plan?
Although it is driven by developers, there are potential benefits for buyers. These include:
• Price discounts: Early-stage buyers are usually offered properties at a lower price than when they will be brought to market as the project progresses.
• Time to save: The extended period between deposit and settlement gives buyers time to build savings and reduce the amount they need to borrow on completion. Of course, having cash tied up in a deposit over many years can be a drawback, so some lenders offer deposit bonds and other tailored products that aim to minimise off-the-plan deposits. Some schemes even allow buyers to earn interest on deposit amounts during the construction phase. Always deal with well-trusted deposit-bond providers and talk to your broker about off-the-plan lending options.
• Design input: Buying off the plan can come with the chance to choose fittings and finishes such as benchtops and cabinetry, or the option to alter a floorplan or make minor design variations.
• Potential capital gain: If the market rises during the construction period, buyers can end up owning a property worth more than the sale price come settlement.
• Stamp duty concessions: To encourage supply of new housing stock, many States now offer stamp duty concessions for properties purchased off-the-plan.
What to watch
The devil is always in the detail and that’s certainly true when it comes to off-the-plan purchases. Some common pain points include:
Contract fine print: Most residential property sales are made using well-understood, industry-standard contracts. However, off-the-plan sales typically use non-standard contracts drafted by the developer. These may include unique clauses, so it’s strongly recommended buyers seek legal advice to ensure they understand all possible obligations. Some circumstances, such as price spikes, supply chain issues or labour shortages may require buyers to pay additional fees, or may trigger design variations.
Sunset clauses: A sunset clause essentially sets a time limit on settlement to prevent buyers being locked in to a development stricken by unreasonable delays. The length of these can vary State by State and by development type. For example, in Queensland the maximum length of a sunset clause is 18 months for a property subdivision and up to 5.5 years for a unit development. The intention is to prevent buyer deposits being tied up in stalled developments. However, there have been concerns raised that developers could potentially exploit sunset clauses in a rising market to crash contracts then re-list properties at a higher price. In late 2023 Queensland joined NSW, ACT and Victoria in
tightening laws to close this loophole. Previously, laws governing sunset clauses allowed either a buyer or seller to terminate a sales contract if an agreed period of time had elapsed and the property was still not complete. Amendments now prevent contracts being terminated without the seller’s permission, a court order or a separate government regulation.
Builder/developer bankruptcy: Given the number of longestablished builders going to the wall in recent years, this can be a tricky one to predict. But buyers should complete thorough due diligence on the companies involved in any property development before signing a contract and putting down a deposit.
Price expectations: Savvy real estate investors understand property prices can move both up and down. While house prices have boomed in recent years, prices for units – the primary segment of off-the-plan sales – have not climbed quite as steeply. It’s hard to value a property that doesn’t exist, but check valuations on comparable properties in the same area and research price predictions.
Borrowing capacity: A lot can change in the time between putting down a deposit and reaching settlement on an off-the-plan purchase. If a buyer’s borrowing capacity has changed when it comes time to pay, it can create big problems. This can happen in a number of ways, including through reduced income, interest rate rises, a lower-than-expected bank valuation on the finished property, or a tightening in government or bank lending practices. It’s always wise to build breathing room into your budget.
Major lenders now have specialist off-the-plan lending products to support home buyers and developers in bringing more supply to market. Contact me to find out more.
Buying off the plan is a complex decision that may require specialist advice. Before making any decision, you should consult your own tax, legal, investment and accounting advisers before engaging in any transaction.
