Affordable rental houses on way for QLD.

More than 1,500 new, reasonably priced rental homes are to be built across Queensland through the Federal Government's National Rental Affordability Scheme.


Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek said that 1,532 houses, apartments, townhouses and duplexes would be good news for Queenslanders battling in a tough private rental market.

The not-for-profit Queensland Affordable Housing Consortium had been awarded the scheme's incentive - currently $9,140 annually for each property for 10 yrs - to built the new homes across the state, from the Gold Coast to Townsville.

The Moreton Bay region will receive the largest number of residences with 389, followed with Townsville with 300 and Ipswich with 239.

A further 156 are destined for Logan, while 122 will be built in Mackay.

Mortgage Exit Fees officially banned

Mortgage Exit Fees, which sometimes are as high as AU$7,000 will be banned from July 1.

The regulation, which did not need the approval of Parliament, is intended to make it easier for home borrowers to shop around for better deals, even if they already have a loan.

The Government believes Mortgage Exit Fees have been "one of the biggest roadblocks stopping Australians getting a better deal for their families".

Treasurer Wayne swan produced the regulation, which became law on March 23rd, 2011 as part of a package to boost competition among lenders, particularly the major banks.

Mr Swan believes it will allow borrowers to "walk down the road if their bank isn't doing the right thing by them".

Andy [Armando] Cristofori
- Education & Marketing Strategist

Andy holds formal qualifications in Finance [Managed Funds & Securities], Real Estate [Full Lic], Education, Safety & Security, Timeshare, Marketing & Advertising, Travel & Tourism and Architecture. Andy brings a plethora of valuable knowledge and skills to the NRAS Education Team.

Andy brings real life hands-on experience in all aspects of marketing and has held senior marketing and general management positions in Property Marketing where he was responsible for designing and co-coordinating the global division of one company and later the recruiting & training of a national sales-force for others. Andy has also been the Licensee Director for a number of commercial and residential real estate agencies in Queensland and in NSW.

He has been responsible for the launch of a number of dealer incentive and consumer loyalty programs as well as for several product launches and corporate restructurings both in Australia and interxnationally.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s he held senior marketing and general management positions in the Investment & Finance Industry with companies such as Investment Products [discount broker], IPAC Securities [Financial Planners],Fidelity Securities [Managed Funds Mgr],and Morgan Grenfell [Privately owned bank].

Andy has also held senior marketing and general management positions with Flight Centre, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thailand Board of Investments [responsible for the ASEAN and the Mekong Basin countries] and in the mid to late 80’s with Thomas Cook [then the oldest and largest travel & tourism operation in the world].

In his spare time Andy trained and mentored others in leisure and services marketing including at various private colleges, TAFEs and universities in Sydney, Bangkok and on the Gold Coast.

Andy is passionate about assisting people to become financially independent.

http://www.nraseducation.com/

National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS)

The National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) is a long term commitment by the Australian Government to invest in affordable rental housing. 

The Scheme seeks to address the shortage of affordable rental housing by offering financial incentives to the business sector and community organisations to build and rent dwellings to low and moderate income households at 20 per cent below-market rates for 10 years. NRAS aims to:

• Increase the supply of new affordable rental housing;
• Reduce rental costs for low and moderate income households; and
• Encourage large scale investment and innovative delivery of affordable housing.

The Australian Government has committed $1 billion to the Scheme over four years to stimulate construction of up to 50,000 high quality homes and apartments, providing affordable private rental properties for Australians and their families.

With an NRAS property your eligible tenants will be qualified and referenced.

NRAS tenants and landlords are regulated under State and Territory tenancy laws. The same rules regarding evictions, maintenance obligations and responsibilities of tenants apply to NRAS tenants as they do to other tenants in the private market.

NRAS tenants tend to be key workers, such as childcare workers, teachers, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, trades people and paramedics.

Approximately 1.5 million households are currently eligible to rent NRAS properties.

Investors can pick any tenants for NRAS properties, as long as these tenants do not exceed a certain income and asset threshold and in Queensland are Australian and Queensland residents.

Upper levels for eligible NRAS tenants are generous and allow for tenant salary increases of 25 per cent above the entry income limit.

With an NRAS property you will have a secure income stream that significantly increases your return on investment.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the full value of the NRAS Incentive is passed to all investors. If you have any questions, speak with your accountant

The Australian Government has no legal or equitable claim over an NRAS property.

Australian housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable, according to experts. House prices continue to surge, and interest rates maintain an upwards spiral.

As Australia’s population continues to grow, and the gap widens between availability and demand for dwellings, many people are now resigned to renting. For investors in property, this means continued strong demand and increasing rental returns.

With an NRAS property your Property Managers and NRAS Compliancy Management* are accredited and highly regulated.

As with any private investment property, there are a range of property and tenant management services that need to be performed for all NRAS properties.

NRAS investors must appoint a tenancy and/or property manager to provide services including selection of tenants and periodic assessment of their ongoing eligibility to rent an NRAS property, as well as property maintenance.

Standard State and Territory residential tenancy laws apply to NRAS properties just as they do for any private residential investment. This includes laws applying to registration and licensing requirements for tenant managers.

*NRAS Compliancy Management is undertaken by an approved applicant to ensure your apartment complies with NRAS standards and you receive your incentives for the 10 year life of the scheme.