A sustainability declaration (SD Form) has been introduced in Queensland. It is a compulsory checklist that must be completed by the seller when selling a house, townhouse or unit from 1 January 2010. The declaration will inform buyers about the sustainability features of a property and increase community awareness of the value of such features. The declaration identifies the dwelling’s environmental and social sustainability features in four key areas: energy, water, access, and safety.
Sounds a great idea, doesn't it? Presumably this is in response to some huge outpouring of demand from the house buying public for this new information?
However there has been much adverse comment. One researcher claims to have spent 6 hours as part of a team of 15 lawyers reviewing the Sustainability Declaration, and says their findings are frightening.
"This Sustainability Declaration doesn’t just apply to your house. It covers the shed, garages, carports, fences, masts, antennas, retaining walls, Bali huts, pergolas, and gazebos – any structure on your land.
"The legislation says “Where the buyer incurs a loss or expense as a result of a false or misleading declaration, the seller of the building is liable to compensate the buyer for any loss or expense. A compensation claim may be made through a court.” A lawyer’s picnic. Open ended compensation claims through the courts."
Here are a few of your responsibilities under this act.
Not preparing, displaying or providing a declaration - $2,000 fine for the owner, $10,000 for the estate agent, with no excuse acceptable, no mitigating circumstances. Get detected and you get done. There is no need for the prosecution to prove that you had a guilty mind, just that you didn’t have the declaration.
Needless to say Queensland advertising is filling up with professional assessors offering to write the reports for you. Meanwhile the blogosphere is filling up with outraged remarks like "I don’t recall any of this being mentioned prior to the election just a few months ago". Still I suppose it will create more employment, spawning a whole new industry of bureaucrats.
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this Sustainability decelaration is another invasion of privacy and I had never heard of it until this year 2010. Of course I wish to sell MY property and what right has any govenment to make these sort of requests. It is also another way of gov. ruling the people we have NO rights anymore in this SO CALLED LUCKY COUNTRY. Come clean politicians with you enourmous appetite for greed.
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