Scott Cam has spent the last 12 days in hospital ahead of The Block’s season premiere.
The long-time host told B105’s Stav, Abby & Matt that he’s been recuperating following knee replacement surgery that has left him incapacitated.
‘I am calling you from my hospital room, which I’ve been in for 12 days. I just had a knee replacement,’ he told the hosts.
‘First five days is not good. Let me tell you. I’m at the back end now.’
The 63-year-old TV veteran went on to reveal the surgery knocked him around a bit.
‘I was on the heavy duties [painkillers] in the early days because knee replacements are pretty big,’ he said, before adding, ‘Yeah, there’s a lot of pain involved.’
Scott Cam has spent the last 12 days in hospital ahead of The Block’s season premiere
But now I’m at the back end. I’m going home on Sunday, and I’m still incapacitated a little bit with a walking stick,’ he concluded.
It comes after Scott delivered a grim assessment of Australia’s housing crisis.
The Channel Nine presenter revealed that his three adult children – Charlie, Bill and Sarah – are among the growing number of young Australians struggling to break into the property market.
Scott said the path to home ownership is dramatically different from when he and wife Ann bought their first Sydney property more than three decades ago.
The couple purchased a ‘beautiful little terrace’ in Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Zetland in 1994 for $200,000 – a purchase that helped launch a property portfolio reportedly worth up to $25million.
But as their children attempt to buy homes of their own, Cam said the outlook was bleak.
‘It’s impossible,’ Cam recently told realestate.com.au. ‘You can’t buy anything right now.’
Scott revealed one of his sons had initially been pre-approved for a loan of $800,000 before his borrowing capacity was dramatically reduced.
‘It’s really impossible from the beginning,’ Cam said
‘The (Federal) Budget was supposed to help young people, but the bank re-established his loan to $510,000,’ he said.
Cam explained his son had been hoping to purchase a property valued at just under $1million, but the revised lending figure had effectively derailed those plans.
‘That’s based on the negative gearing factor,’ he added.
Cam said that his children have faced ‘far greater’ challenges in the housing market than he did at their age.
Away from concerns over affordability, Cam also warned struggling homeowners about the costly mistakes many make when renovating.
‘I think most of the time the mistake they make is their budget, and underestimating costs, therefore jobs don’t get finished,’ he said.
‘Underestimating the timeline as well is a big, big mistake. You’ve got to find the good trades, the right trades too.’
The long-time builder also stressed the importance of conducting building and pest inspections before purchasing a property, particularly older homes.
‘Pest control is a really big one — it’s essential,’ he said.
The Block returns to Channel Nine and 9Now at 7pm on Sunday, August 2
Read the full article here
