Old Housing Stock Key To Reducing Emissions
A report indicates the redevelopment of old housing is essential to carbon neutral plans.
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Nearly 8 million homes are past their use-by-date according to the Australia Affordable Housing Environmental Scan 2022 by PowerHousing Australia.
The report suggests that many of these outdated properties could be torn down to build multiple energy-efficient dwellings and address the housing crisis.
According to the report, one old standard house on an 800 to 1000sqm block could make way for up to three new homes. Most of the homes have existed for 30 years or more and contribute up to 18% of the country’s emissions.
While Australia looks to tackle rising emissions with advances in technology, PowerHousing Australia chief executive Nicholas Proud suggests the redevelopment of old housing could help tackle both emissions and affordability while technology comes up to speed.
“Australia’s 8 million pre-energy rated homes are now well past their use-by date, contributing up to 18 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and a real liability when it comes to hitting our Paris Agreement commitments for net-zero emissions.”
Mr Proud suggests that Australia will struggle to meet the UN net zero emissions target for 2050 without the repurposing of building materials
“The first step to meet our obligations to future generations is the repurposing and refurbishing older inefficient dwellings, as existing dwellings account for 95 per cent of our building stock and already have an embodied carbon component,” he said.
In 2003, a four-star Nathers energy rating became mandatory for all new homes. Prior to this, there was no obligation to make homes energy efficient and most homes built after the 1950s came in at one to two stars.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Capital cities lead the way as median home values see clear upswing
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Home values continue their upwards trajectory, recording the strongest monthly growth in 18 months, CoreLogic data shows.
The property data provider reports that their Home Value Index has noted a third consecutive rise in values in May, accelerating 1.2 percent over the past month. This is on the back of a 0.6 percent increase in March and 0.5 percent rise in April.
Sydney recorded the strongest results, up 1.8 percent, the highest recorded in the city since September 2021. The fall in Sydney’s home values bottomed in January but have since accelerated sharply by 4.8 percent, adding $48,390 to the median dwelling value.
Melbourne recorded more modest gains, with home values increasing by 0.9 percent, bringing the total rise this quarter to 1.6 percent. It was the smaller capitals of Brisbane (up 1.4 percent) and Perth (up 1.3 percent) that reported stronger gains.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the lack of housing stock was an obvious influence on the growing values.
“Advertised listings trended lower through May with roughly 1,800 fewer capital city homes advertised for sale relative to the end of April. Inventory levels are -15.3 percent lower than they were at the same time last year and -24.4 percent below the previous five-year average for this time of year,” he said.
“With such a short supply of available housing stock, buyers are becoming more competitive and there’s an element of FOMO creeping into the market.
“Amid increased competition, auction clearance rates have trended higher, holding at 70 percent or above over the past three weeks. For private treaty sales, homes are selling faster and with less vendor discounting.”
Vendor discounting has been a feature in some parts of the country, particularly prestige regional areas that saw rapid price rises during the pandemic – and subsequent falls as people returned to the workplace in major centres.
The CoreLogic Home Value Index reports while prices appear to have found the floor in regional areas, the pace of recovery has been slower.
“Although regional home values are trending higher, the rate of gain hasn’t kept pace with the capitals. Over the past three months, growth in the combined capitals index was more than triple the pace of growth seen across the combined regionals at 2.8% and 0.8% respectively,” Mr Lawless said.
“Although advertised housing supply remains tight across regional Australia, demand from net overseas migration is less substantial. ABS data points to around 15% of Australia’s net overseas migration being centred in the regions each year. Additionally, a slowdown in internal migration rates across the regions has helped to ease the demand side pressures on housing.”
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
