These four empty cottages should be Exhibit A in the debate Sydney needs to have about its vacant homes at a time of soaring rents and property prices.
The cottages – three Federation style and one terrace – are located at Seaview St, Dulwich Hill, just off the suburb’s main Marrickville Rd shops.
Google Streetview shows that, up until around 2016, the cottages were all occupied.
However, since this time, the cottages have been slowly vacated and now, at night, no lights are on and there are no signs of life.
At Christmas – a time of year we are meant to be looking after each other – the cottages could be providing a roof over someone’s head. Instead, they are empty.
What’s more, the cottages could be supplying residents who are buying goods and services from local businesses, helping keep these businesses alive.
So what has brought about this unfortunate situation?
Three of the homes, 18, 20 and 22, are owned by a company called Bucchaneer Investments Pty Ltd, which appears to be a shelf company holding the land on behalf of another entity.
Bucchaneer’s sole current director is a Sydney real estate lawyer, whose major clients include Goodman, Stockland, Metcash and Coles.
A previous company director, also a real estate lawyer, has a website CV which says he has represented “ISPT, Citigroup, Challenger, Built., AMP, Investa, QUBE Logistics, Coles Supermarkets, Australian Industry Group, YuHu and Daiwa House.”
Notice the clue in the above? Both lawyers have represented Coles.
Several years ago, Inner West councillors were told (in a private briefing) that Coles wanted to develop the homes and the surrounding carpark site for a supermarket development.
This means the finger is pointing very clearly at supermarket giant Coles as the ultimate owner of the homes, and the entity which has made the decision to keep them vacant.
This week I sent a media inquiry to Coles, asking if it owned the homes, and if so why they were being left empty. No reply was received.
Given this, it can only be assumed that Coles is ‘land banking’ the homes for a future development and deliberately keeping them in a depressed condition to make its future development look more appealing.
And furthermore, Coles faces no public sanction for keeping the homes empty.
Victoria has a vacant property tax, under which homes vacant more than six months in inner and middle ring suburbs of Melbourne need to pay an annual tax (set at 1% of the land value).
And yet, there are no plans for a similar tax here in NSW.
It’s a curious position. No-one could argue that filling vacant homes will solve NSW’s housing supply needs. But, by the same token, it can’t hurt.
According to experimental data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in August 2023, anywhere between 24-26,000 Sydney homes were vacant around June 2021. This represented around 1.2-1.4% of the city’s housing stock.
If these homes were filled, it would represent about a third of the State’s housing stretch target in any one year.
According to the ABS data, the problem with vacant homes also appeared to be worse in major redevelopment areas, where major new apartment buildings were constructed.
In some of these areas, the vacant home rate was more than 3%, which means that even new supply doesn’t guarantee a roof over someone’s head.
The Australian Government in December, meanwhile, announced increased taxes for foreign investors who leave their homes vacant.
Based on a quick look around Dulwich Hill, the vacant home problem is also not limited to Seaview St.
On New Canterbury Rd, there are developable blocks of land, which have been vacant for many years and in Canonbury Grove, a home which has been vacant for at least a decade.
NOTE: The 4th empty home, number 16, is owned by the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (NSW Government social housing authority). It’s also unclear why this home is empty.
Are there vacant homes in your area? Do you think there should be a vacant homes tax? Please let me know?
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