Hackett, ACT 2602Home loan and property guide

Hackett location and character

Hackett lies approximately five kilometres north-east of the Canberra city centre, adjoining Ainslie, Watson and Downer, below Mount Majura and close to Mount Ainslie.

The suburb was gazetted in 1960 and named after Sir John Winthrop Hackett, who lived from 1848 to 1916, a newspaper editor and a worker for the Federation of Australia. The Federation naming convention that produced the 1928 suburb names was continued for these later suburbs.

Its position against the nature reserves to the east, combined with a housing stock that has seen comparatively little redevelopment, gives Hackett a quieter character than the light rail corridor suburbs immediately west.

Transport and amenity in Hackett

Hackett is not on the light rail line, but the corridor through Dickson and Watson is close. Light rail Stage 1 commenced services on 20 April 2019, running 12 kilometres from Gungahlin to the city with 14 stops. Transport Canberra buses serve the suburb and connect it to the corridor and the city interchange.

Road access is by Phillip Avenue and Antill Street, and the city centre is approximately five kilometres south-west.

The Hackett shops serve daily needs, with the Dickson group centre close for a fuller range. Mount Majura and Mount Ainslie nature reserves provide walking trails directly from the suburb. This guide does not describe school catchments, which the ACT Education Directorate can confirm.

Housing stock in Hackett

Hackett is built predominantly of detached family houses from around 1960, with a modest townhouse component and few apartments. It has seen considerably less redevelopment than the suburbs on the light rail corridor.

At the 2021 Census, 900 of the 1,181 occupied private dwellings were separate houses, 170 were semi-detached or townhouse dwellings and 109 were flats or apartments, so houses made up 76.2 per cent of occupied homes against 72.3 per cent nationally. Three-bedroom homes numbered 456 and four-bedroom homes 396, with 94 having five or more.

The Census also recorded 79 unoccupied private dwellings out of 1,261 on Census night, a low share. Inspections on housing of this era commonly consider roof and ceiling condition, original wiring and plumbing, insulation performance given the cold winters, and asbestos-containing materials, addressed further below.

Who lives and buys in Hackett

The 2021 Census counted 3,227 residents in Hackett, with a median age of 40 against 38 for Australia and an average household size of 2.6 people compared with 2.5 nationally. Adults aged 45 to 54 were the largest group at 520, followed by 494 children aged 5 to 14, 476 adults aged 35 to 44 and 376 aged 55 to 64, a settled family profile.

Ownership dominates and renting is uncommon for the inner north. The Census recorded 448 dwellings owned with a mortgage, 440 owned outright and 276 rented, so 38.1 per cent of households with a stated tenure held a mortgage, 37.4 per cent owned outright and only 23.5 per cent rented, against 35.0, 31.0 and 30.6 per cent nationally.

Median weekly household income was $2,623 against $1,746 and median monthly mortgage repayments were $2,500 against $1,863. Median weekly rent was $374, marginally below the national $375 and well below the light rail corridor suburbs, reflecting a stock of older houses rather than new apartments.

Leasehold title and planning in Hackett

Land in the ACT is not freehold. It is granted under a Crown lease, and most residential Crown leases run for 99 years, with a buyer taking on the remaining term. Every Crown lease contains a purpose clause specifying the permitted use of the land, which in practice defines what can be built on it.

Varying that purpose clause, most commonly to permit higher density, requires permission from the Territory Planning Authority and attracts the Lease Variation Charge on the resulting uplift in value. Hackett has seen far less of that redevelopment than Dickson or Lyneham, so a buyer should not assume density potential from what has happened along the light rail corridor.

The Mount Majura and Mount Ainslie nature reserves bound the suburb to the east, which is a permanent constraint on its extent and means its housing supply is effectively fixed.

Buying in Hackett under ACT contract law

Under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, a seller must attach a required set of documents to the contract before the property is advertised. Those include building and compliance inspection reports, from an inspection carried out not earlier than three months before the property was first advertised, building conveyancing inquiry documents, an energy efficiency rating statement, copies of all interests and encumbrances, an extract of the title, and the Crown lease and deposited plan.

A buyer therefore receives a building report before making an offer rather than commissioning one afterwards. A buyer is entitled to a cooling-off period of five business days, ending at 5pm on the fifth working day after it begins, and forfeits 0.25 per cent of the purchase price to withdraw during that period.

Home loan considerations for Hackett property

Detached houses on standard Crown leases are the most widely accepted security, and with 900 of them in a suburb of 1,181 occupied dwellings the stock is consistent enough to support valuation.

Loose-fill asbestos insulation is the principal caution. Between 1968 and 1978 the Canberra company D. Jansen and Co, later trading as Asbestosfluf Insulations and known since the 1990s as Mr Fluffy, blew loose-fill amphibole asbestos into the roof spaces of Canberra homes, and in 2015 the ACT Government released a list of 1,022 affected properties across the Territory. Houses built around 1960 were within the period when the product was installed.

Buyers should check the Affected Residential Premises Register for a specific address and read the asbestos information in the contract documents. With renting at only 23.5 per cent, the tenant pool here is small, which is relevant to an investor relying on rental income, and median monthly mortgage repayments of $2,500 mean serviceability usually binds before deposit.

Lending considerations for Hackett

• Houses built around 1960 fall within the loose-fill asbestos installation period.
• Only 23.5 per cent of households rented, so the tenant pool is small for investors.
• Density potential should not be assumed from redevelopment along the light rail corridor.
• Nature reserves to the east mean the suburb's housing supply is effectively fixed.
• Median monthly mortgage repayments of $2,500 mean serviceability usually binds.

Lender policy differs between institutions and changes over time. The guide to Australian lenders explains how credit policy varies, and the home loan guide sets out the main loan structures.