Hacker News Reader

Comment by collyw | Hacker News Reader

As someone who has just bought in another European city with high demand for housing , this sounds great on the surface level, but again the devil is in the details.

> It’s not yet been clarified, for example, how long an owner would have to occupy their home before being able to rent it out.

My GF has had offers of a years work in Melbourne and we have talked about it saying, it would be nice to do. Right now it would be easy to rent our place out, but it would be impossible if the rule stated that you must live in the place for 5 years.

View on HN

I can understand the dilemma if you intend to go to Melbourne and "test the waters" and potentially want to move back again. But if you move to Melbourne permanently, I would expect you to sell your house in the EU.

Well thankfully the dilemma doesn't actually apply where I live at present.

I like it here, so the plan wouldn't be to sell, but it would be nice to experience Australia for a year. But then again, plans can change.

How many people buy a new build house, and then within a year decide to move half-way around the world, whilst still keeping the house?

Bought the house, then got a long-term assignment/promotion in another city, but 100% plan on moving back in the future.

This is not uncommon.

Its probably only people with "good jobs" with opportunities like that who can afford to buy in major cities these days.

I did, but TBH, I think that makes me (and most of HN) part of the economic class cities want to keep out of their culture, and I don't blame them.

Job offer overseas might be too good to turn down. A regulation like this would then deny this couple a potentially big improvement in their quality of life because there would be no income mobility for them. They would be unable to rent their place to go try out a potentially life changing opportunity in a different country. Regulations like these always end up having unintended consequences and hurting random people like this.

Just buy an existing house. It appears to only apply to “new” houses, not “new to you” existing houses.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com