The West Live: Nigel Satterley leads push to lift virus restrictions and reopen ‘ghost town’ display villages
A powerful Perth property developer is fighting to re-open display villages, which have turned into ghost towns in the wake of coronavirus.
Nigel Satterley says the Federal Government’s decision to ban open home inspections as part of COVID-19 restrictions has had a devastating impact on the number of people attending display villages, which customers can now only visit by appointment.
But many interested parties are instead opting to stay at home, according to Mr Satterley who said the only people who come out are “quite advanced” in their plans to buy a house and land package.
“It is very, very quiet,” he told The West Live host, Jenna Clarke.
“Last weekend I visited 56 display homes in the southern corridor and saw four people wandering around.”
“One of my colleagues went to the northern beaches — he went to 58 display homes and saw 6 people.”
Mr Satterley has put a proposal forward to WA Housing Minister Peter Tinley which would see display homes re-open to the public on the weekend under strict social distancing restrictions.
“To get the display homes open will bring a lot of confidence back to the market — that may stabilise the established home market which is offering good buying,’ he said.
“I think in a couple of weeks hopefully there will be some announcements and very good safety nets putting our arms around first home buyers so that they feel confident to buy.”
Mr Tinley, who also spoke on the show this morning, told Jenna he was acutely aware that many WA construction bosses and developers are “heading towards the edge”.
Asked about the status of Mr Satterley’s proposal to open up display villages, Mr Tinley said that any decision made would have to be done in consultation with other states through National Cabinet.
“When the health officials are satisfied we can gather in large numbers, which is exactly what we’re talking about with display villages and cafes … that’s when the Premier and the National Cabinet will step into that decision,” he said.
But Mr Tinley said he personally believed “there’s never been a better time to buy a house”…
This news article first appeared in The Western Australian, you can read the full article here: