Man who had 80 truckloads of TOXIC waste dumped at his backyard demands answers on who will clean up the mess preventing him selling his house
- Truckloads of toxic waste was illegally dumped on a western Sydney property
- The waste was dumped on a Leppington acreage three-and-a-half years ago
- Up to 1200 tonnes of bricks, concrete, metal, plastic and fibro was offloaded
- The owners now want to sell but are told no-one will buy it because of the waste
A semi-rural property turned into a dump site for toxic waste has left the owner furious and unable to sell the property.
Three and a half years ago property owner Jeff Demanuele watched as 80 truckloads turned up and dumped 1,200 tonnes of bricks, concrete, metal, plastic and fibro in a pile at his property at Leppington, western Sydney.
Mr Demanuele and his wife Rose, who captured the dumping on CCTV, said the illegal dump was so brazen in nature that a passing council ranger pulled in and spoke to the drivers and took down rego numbers.
However, three years on no one has been charged and now the couple want to sell the property but have been told no-one will buy it due to the toxic waste.
Three and a half years ago 80 truckloads turned up and unloaded 1200 tonnes of bricks, concrete, metal, plastic and fibro in a pile on the western Sydney property (left) and now owner Jeff Demanuele (right) is unable to sell the Leppington acreage
‘I’m shocked and outraged this has happened and my local council and the Environmental Protection Agency aren’t doing anything about it,’ Mr Demanuele told A Current Affair.
‘They opened the side gate and told the tenants that it was all approved by me.
‘I knew nothing of it and would never have allowed that.’
By the time Jeff got to his property, the trucks had finished and his backyard was left devastated with waste which Jeff estimates saved the dumpers millions of dollars in tipping fees.
He contacted the the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) who came to investigate and in three and a half years no progress has been made.
The NSW EPA website says they, ‘enforce strict laws relating to illegal dumping to ensure wrongdoers pay heavy penalties for potentially harming human health and the environment, and deter dumpers from repeating the offence.’
For individuals found waste dumping they can be fined up to $250,000.
If a corporation is found to be dumping waste, they can be fined up to $1 million.
NSW EPA told A Current Affair there wasn’t enough evidence to prosecute anyone over the illegal dumping of the waste.
Daily Mail Australia has approached the NSW EPA for comment.
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House prices in Australia are dropping at their fastest pace since the global financial crisis — and market conditions are “likely to worsen” as interest rates continue to rise, according to property analytics firm CoreLogic.
Key points:
- Economists predict Australian house prices could fall between 12 and 20 per cent
- The median property value dropped 8.5pc during the GFC
- Rents have surged 9.8pc in the past year
The latest data shows that the nation’s median property value has dropped by 2 per cent since the beginning of May, to $747,182 (a figure which includes houses and apartments).
“Although the housing market is only three months into a decline … the rate of decline is comparable with the onset of the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2008, and the sharp downswing of the early 1980s,” said CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless.
But he noted that, on average, prices had jumped 28.6 per cent from mid-2020 (the low point of the housing market during the COVID-19 pandemic) to April 2022 (when national prices hit their peak).
Regional Australia had an even bigger surge, with prices up 41.1 per cent in two years — as smaller towns outside the capital cities experienced a huge influx of city-dwellers seeking better lifestyles (as working remotely became the new normal).
“In Sydney, where the downturn has been particularly accelerated, we are seeing the sharpest value falls in almost 40 years.”
The median price in Australia’s most expensive city fell by 2.2 per cent in July (taking its quarterly loss to 4.7 per cent). Despite that, an average house in Sydney still costs around $1.35 million, while an average unit may fetch about $806,000.
Melbourne and Hobart also recorded steep falls, with prices in both cities down 1.5 per cent last month, while Canberra prices dropped 1.1 per cent.
Prices in Brisbane and regional Australia fell 0.8 per cent (their first monthly decline since August 2020).
At the other end of the spectrum, Darwin, Adelaide and Perth were the only capitals where prices actually went up in July (by between 0.2 and 0.4 per cent). However, it has been a sharp slowdown since May, when the Reserve Bank began to aggressively lift the cash rate from its record low levels.
‘Short and sharp’
“I think this downturn will be similar to the global financial crisis in that it will be quite short and sharp,” Mr Lawless told ABC News.
Australia’s median property price fell by around 8.5 per cent over an 11-month period during the GFC, according to CoreLogic.
Mr Lawless said the property downturn is “accelerating”, and that he would not be surprised if “the current decline gets worse than what we saw during the GFC”.
He noted the main difference is that governments and central banks are currently determined to withdraw trillions of dollars worth of stimulus, in a desperate bid to lower inflation (instead of pumping it into the global economy, liked they did after the 2008 crisis).
Many analysts are predicting Australian property prices, on average, will fall between 10 and 20 per cent (from peak to trough) — with the two most expensive cities Sydney and Melbourne likely to suffer the biggest declines.
But even if the worse case scenario eventuates, it will not drastically improve housing affordability.
“If we saw say, a 15 per cent drop in national housing values, it would take prices back to where they were in about April 2021.”
How quickly (and by how much) prices fall will depend on how aggressively the RBA decides to lift its cash rate target in the next few months.
Since May, the RBA has lifted its cash rate target from 0.1 to 1.35 per cent.
If the central bank delivers another double-sized rate hike on Tuesday (0.5 percentage points), as widely expected, that would bring the new cash rate up to 1.85 per cent.
Buyers’ market and surging rents
“The market has moved to being very much more in favour of buyers over sellers now, especially in markets like Sydney and Melbourne,” Mr Lawless said.
“Buyers are getting back in the driver’s seat. They have more choice, and there’s less urgency.
“But for sellers, it means they need to be much more realistic about their pricing expectations, and they should expect there’s going to be more negotiation.”
Renters are also disadvantaged in the current property market. As their landlords’ mortgage repayments increase (and more foreign workers and students) return to Australia, rents have surged rapidly.
“Rental markets are extremely tight, with vacancy rates around 1 per cent or lower across many parts of Australia,” Mr Lawless added.
“If you consider the history of rents, it’s very rare to see dwelling rents rising at more than say 3 – 4 per cent per annum.”
But in the past quarter, the national average rent jumped 2.8 per cent — and they are up nearly 10 per cent in the past year.
Looking forward, Mr Lawless said renters may be under increasing pressure to rent out any spare bedrooms to more flatmates, look for cheaper rents in apartments (rather than houses), or “stay at home with mum and dad longer”.
“There’s definitely going to be some negative social outcomes from such high rents, which aren’t showing any signs of slowing down at the moment.”
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Tuesday, as investors weighed oil prices, inflation worries and corporate earnings.
Benchmarks in Tokyo and Shanghai were higher in morning trading. Shares fell in Sydney, South Korea and Hong Kong, where investor sentiments were subdued after an early rally evaporated on Wall Street.
“The news paints a deteriorating picture for the outlook of major companies amid global growth fears. Traders will be paying close attention to the ongoing earnings season for further signs of how companies are faring in a weakening economy,” said Anderson Alves, a trader at ActivTrades.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 reversed early losses and added 0.8% in morning trading to 27,013.98. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 6,675.50. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.2% to 2,369.68. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.7% to 20,702.53, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,281.46.
Analysts say the Tokyo market is seeing some buying after a three-day weekend. Monday was a national holiday in Japan. Investors are playing catchup and so the rally may be short-lived. Among the issues picking up so far are Fast Retailing, the group company for the Uniqlo clothing retail chain, as well as Sony Corp.
The S&P 500 fell 32.31 points, or 0.8%, to 3,830.85, after having been up 1% earlier. The index broke a five-day losing streak at the end of last week.
Gains in energy producers, big retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending were outweighed by a pullback in health care and technology stocks.
The Dow slid 215.65 points, or 0.7%, to 31,072.61, and the Nasdaq gave up 92.37 points, or 0.8%, to 11,360.05. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies also fell. It dropped 5.96 points, or 0.3%, at 1,738.42.
Markets are likely to remain volatile through the upcoming earnings season. Johnson & Johnson, American Airlines and Tesla are among the dozens of S&P 500 companies scheduled to issue quarterly snapshots this week.
The U.S. market has been lurching mostly lower for weeks on worries that the Federal Reserve and other central banks will slam the brake too hard on the economy in hopes of bringing down high inflation. If they’re too aggressive with their interest-rate hikes, they could cause a recession.
A key report released last week indicated expectations are easing for inflation among households. That could prevent a more vicious cycle from taking root and ease the pressure on the Federal Reserve.
Expectations have come down for how aggressively the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next week. Traders are now betting on a roughly one-in-three chance for a monster hike of a full percentage point, with the majority favoring a 0.75 percentage point increase. As recently as Thursday, the heavy bet was on a hike of a full point.
Economists at Goldman Sachs are among those forecasting a 0.75-point increase, which would match last month’s hike, instead of a more aggressive one. They cited in particular the softening of inflation expectations after Chair Jerome Powell said last month that the Fed pays close attention to them.
Later this week, investors expect the European Central Bank on Thursday to raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years to combat inflation. Many investors expect an increase of 0.25 percentage points, “but more is not unthinkable,” economists wrote in a BofA Global Research report.
Interest rates are one of the two main levers that set prices for stocks. The other is corporate profits, which are under threat given high inflation and slowdowns in parts of the economy. For the moment, at least, analysts are still forecasting continued growth.
Earnings season kicked off last week, and banks have dominated the early part of the schedule for reporting how much they earned from April through June.
Goldman Sachs was among the latest to report, and it rallied 2.5% after its profit and revenue were better than analysts expected.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.98% from 2.96% late Friday. The two-year yield, which rose to 3.17%, is still above the 10-year yield. Some investors see that as an ominous sign that could presage a recession in a year or two.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 20 cents to $102.40 a barrel. It rose 5.1% Monday. Brent crude the international standard lost 34 cents to $105.93 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 138.21 Japanese yen from 138.12 yen. The euro cost $1.0135, down from $1.0150.
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AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Alex Veiga contributed.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Why young couple were willing to pay $820,000 more to be the winning bidders on this $5.32million five-bedroom brick house
- Couple paid $820,000 more for their dream home because of ‘good feng shui’
- East Killara five-bedroom home was sold for $5.32 million at auction on Saturday
- Previous owners built home with feng shui principles of balance and harmony
A Chinese couple coughed up an additional $820,000 to secure their dream home because it had ‘good feng shui’.
The five-bedroom house in East Killara, on Sydney‘s upper north shore, sold for $5.32 million on Saturday, well over its price guide of $4.5 million.
The auction attracted more than 60 people who watched as 12 registered bidders battled to secure the ‘expansive double-brick residence’.
A Chinese couple have credited ‘good Feng Shui’ for why they coughed up an additional $820,000 in order to secure their dream home (pictured, the East Killara home)
The five-bedroom property located in Sydney’s upper north shore sold for $5.32million on Saturday, well over its price guide of $4.5million (pictured, the master bedroom)
Auctioneer Clarence White started the bidding at $4.2 million before moving upwards in increments of $20,000, until it came down to just two buyers.
After just 35 minutes, young couple WeiWei Chu and Yueqin Zhai secured the property, which boasts a pool, a spa ensuite, and spacious entertaining areas.
However, it was the ‘good feng shui’ that ultimately resonated with Chinese bidders and saw the home sell for $820,000 over the price guide.
Location was also a selling point, with the property a short distance from prestigious high schools, Killara train station, local shops and golf courses.
Feng Shui is the Chinese practice of creating balance and harmony in a space to optimise the flow of energy and allow its inhabitants to live peacefully.
Feng Shui is the Chinese practice of creating balance and harmony in a space to optimise the flow of energy and allow its inhabitants to live peacefully (pictured, the living room)
This harmony is achieved by bringing and balancing five naturally-occurring elements to the property – water, fire, metal, wood and earth.
The previous owners incorporated this ancient practice when designing the home after buying the 1,012sqm plot for $801,000 back in 2000.
The auctioneer who sold the home said the result was ‘a statement about this home, not about the market’.
‘It was a really nicely appointed home,’ Mr White told the Daily Telegraph.
‘It’s in East Killara too, which is the prestigious end.’
The Springdale Road residence has ‘manicured lawns, beautifully sculpted gardens and sparkling in-ground pool’ according to the listing (pictured, the exterior of the home)
The Springdale Road residence has ‘manicured lawns, beautifully sculpted gardens and sparkling in-ground pool’ according to the listing.
‘Set on a blue ribbon level block of 1,012sqm with generously-scaled interiors designed to accommodate growing and multi-generational households, the property’s remarkable solid construction exceeds expectations,’ it read.
Selling agent William Chan from Marshall. Chan. Yahl. North Shores said the proximity to local shops, schools and transport also attracted buyers.
‘The home was pretty much the perfect family home for a lot of people, with level land, a bush view out the back and solid construction,’ he said.
He said homes continued to be bought in the upper north shore without a home loan by buyers with assisted by family wealth.
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A real estate expert with with a property portfolio worth $15million has offered his advice for home investors to save big this tax time.
Lloyd Edge from Aus Property Professionals said there are very generous tax deductions for property investors and it’s important to be equipped with the right information and tools to bring in the savings this June 30.
‘The ATO reports that around eight per cent of Australians own an investment property, and it treats those investments like businesses,’ the Sydney property guru said.
‘It’s important that property investors do their research and get their finances in order ahead of tax time, to avoid any potential pitfalls.’ he said.
With the ATO announcing that this tax season they will be cracking down property investor this financial year, Mr Edge revealed his top five insights for this tax time.
Lloyd Edge (pictured) from Aus Property Professionals has shared his top five tips to save property investors big this tax time
1. KEEP RECORDS OF EVERYTHING
If you invest in a rental property, you’ll need to keep records right from the start.
You’ll need these records to calculate expenses that can be claimed as deductions, and to ensure you declare all rental income in your tax return.
If you’re claiming expenses related to items you’ve purchased for the property, you’ll need receipts for those.
Your tax accountant should be across all the finer details.
Your property manager also plays an important role at tax time and should have provided you with all the relevant documents for your property.
2. COMPLETE PROPERTY MAINTENANCE BEFORE THE EOFY
Any necessary maintenance work or repairs you carry out before the end of the fiscal year are expenses you can claim sooner.
If you miss the 30 June EOFY deadline, you’ll have to wait another 12 months to claim these costs.
There are very generous tax deductions for property investors and it’s important to be equipped with the right information and tools to bring in the savings this June 30
3. DECLARE ALL YOUR RENTAL INCOME
Property investors need to declare all the income generated from their property in the financial year.
This includes not just rental income, but also any rental bond money you are entitled to retain—for example, when a tenant defaults on rent or you incur maintenance costs, and receive insurance pay-outs as a result.
4. WORK OUT EXACTLY WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T CLAIM
Not claiming enough or the right expenses can cost property owners hundreds or even thousands of dollars on their tax returns and hinder their journey towards financial freedom.
Depending on your individual circumstances, some of the expenses you may be able to claim at tax time include home loan interest, negative gearing, advertising and repairs and maintenance.
Further deductions you may be able to claim include depreciating assets, property management and agent fees, insurance (including building, contents, public liability, and income protection insurance), strata fees, council rates, water bills, land tax, certain legal fees, cleaning, gardening and lawn mowing, gas and electricity, pest control, stationary, travel expenses, and Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).
Also, it is important to note that there are some items you can claim in the financial year, and others are capital expenses (expenses you incur when purchasing or selling an investment property).
Capital expenses, including conveyancing costs, valuation fees and stamp duty, can help you reduce the amount of Capital Gains Tax you pay when you sell your property.
5. UNDERSTAND HOW DEPRECIATION CAN WORK FOR YOU
A depreciation schedule is a report that outlines the decline in value of certain assets within a property, such as carpets, appliances, and equipment.
Appoint a qualified quantity surveyor to produce a depreciation schedule for each property you buy.
You can claim depreciation over a period of up to 40 years.
As your portfolio grows, make sure you are continuously getting those reports- especially for duplexes, as you can get significant depreciation since there are two of everything.
Although it is important to keep taxes in mind when buying property, you must also ensure that you are investing in property for the right reasons.
‘I don’t advocate buying an investment property or building a property just because you want to claim depreciation. Tax deductions are one positive outcome, not an investment strategy or reason to invest,’ Mr Edge said.
‘But if you’re leaving money on the table, you’re disadvantaging yourself. You can get better returns on newer properties, which typically need less maintenance. It’s important to think about that when investing.’
NSW has raked in an extra $5 billion in stamp duty due to vastly higher home prices in Sydney since the pandemic started more than two years ago.
House prices surged astronomically in that time, with the buyer of a typical $1.4 million Sydney home paying $62,000 in stamp duty.
Premier Dominic Perrottet last year proposed to replace the hated fee with an annual land tax, but that plan has been dumped.
The Labor opposition also has no plan to ditch stamp duty if it wins power in the state election nine months from now.
The NSW Government collected $12.2 billion from land-related transfer duty in the 10 months to April 2022, according to Revenue NSW.
A Sydney suburban house is seen for sale. House prices rises have led to record stamp duty revenue for the NSW government
In the 2020-2021 financial year, $9.6 billion of land duty was collected, while in 2019-2020 stamp duty brought in $7.1 billion to the NSW coffers.
Even with house prices tapering off in recent weeks, and even falling in some suburbs, the state government is likely to have taken in $14 billion in stamp duty by the end of the 2021-2022 financial year on June 30.
Revenue collected from the duty already this financial year is 370 per cent higher than the $3.3 billion it raised in 2011-12, the first year of the Coalition’s three terms in power.
Monthly revenue from stamp duty surged during the Covid pandemic from a low of $450 million in May 2020 to a peak of $1.6 billion in October and December 2021.
The figure dropped to $976 million in April as house prices stabilised or fell.
The state government will hand down its budget on June 21, when it will also reveal more about NSW’s finances overall.
NSW Treasury said stamp duty revenue changes from month to month ‘due to a number of market, economic and other impacts including the global Covid-19 pandemic’.
Before he became premier last year, Dominic Perrottet, who was then the state treasurer, proposed giving new property owners the option of paying an annual land tax of at least $400 instead of an upfront stamp duty in the tens of thousands.
Under the land tax, the buyer of a typical $1.4 million Sydney house would have paid an annual bill of $2,400.
A signboard of a sold property in McMahons Point on May 5, 2022 in Sydney, Australia
He argued a land tax option would create 75,000 jobs and see 300,000 more people achieve home ownership.
But since that ‘progress paper’ was released in June last year, the Coalition failed to confirm whether this policy would even be implemented before the next election in March 2023.
The Labor opposition also made it clear it has no intention of replacing stamp duty with a land tax.
Shadow treasurer Daniel Mookhey told Daily Mail Australia that should Labor leader Chris Minns win the next election and become premier, stamp duty would be here to stay.
This means someone buying a typical Sydney house has to pay $62,000 upfront to the state government. Under the alternative, a land tax, the same buyer of a $1.4million house would be paying an annual bill of $2,400 (pictured is an auction at Hurlstone Park in Sydney’s inner west)
‘We are worried that Mr Perrottet’s proposal will lead to a forever tax on people’s forever homes,’ he said.
‘As inflation rises and rises, hard-working families will struggle to pay the premier’s land tax.
‘The average homeowner in NSW would have seen their land tax bill more than double in the past five years, if they were paying Mr Perrottet’s land tax.’
First home buyers can qualify for a stamp duty exemption for homes they buy for less than $650,000 while a concessional rate is available for properties worth up to $800,000.
The rule applies whether the home is brand new or existing.
Home buyers are set to continue paying hated stamp duty in Australia’s most populated state whoever wins the next election despite the hype (pictured is a unit block in Sydney)
First home buyers don’t pay stamp duty on land worth less than $350,000 with a concessional rate applying up to $450,000.
The last NSW Budget paper, released in June 2021, said existing stamp duty was stopping many younger people from buying a home.
‘Removing stamp duty, which is one of the principal barriers to home ownership, would lower the up-front cost of home purchases for all buyers,’ it said.
‘It would help to enhance household mobility, allowing more people to choose the right home for themselves and their families at every stage of life, without being penalised by stamp duty.’
Sydney postcodes near the harbour earn the state a lot of money from stamp duty when they are sold. Pictured is a house in Vaucluse in the Sydney’s eastern suburbs
But almost a year on from that ‘progress paper’ on replacing stamp duty, nothing has changed.
The real estate industry wants stamp duty axed, but Tim McKibbin, head of the Real Estate Institute of NSW said: ‘We don’t see much point in getting rid of stamp duty and replacing it with a property tax.’
Mr McKibbin told the Sydney Morning Herald that stamp duty inflated house prices and 40 per cent of the cost of new housing was taxes and charges from the three levels of government.