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Red tape slashed
for homebuyers
Plans to slash red tape in the housing market have been announced by the Premier, Anna Bligh, based on the creation of a single contract for the sale of a home.
Ms Bligh said the one-contract requirement could be in place by the end of February, cutting legal costs and reducing the number of forms homeowners needed from as many as six down to one.
“We have listened to the industry and they have been telling us loud and clear that this is what they want,” Ms Bligh said.
“Simplifying the paper work involved in a residential property contract will not only help conveyance lawyers and real estate agents but we believe the public will benefit from less paperwork and associated costs.”
| Paperwork cut to single form |
She said current requirements in a house contract could include the need for a Sustainability Declaration, a Pool Safety Declaration, a Warning Statement, an Information Sheet, Disclosure Statement as well as the contract of sale.
“At the moment each one of these means a separate form, each with a fee, and often repeating the same type of information,” Ms Bligh said.
“We intend to rid the industry of unnecessary complications making it easier to buy and sell a home in Queensland.”
She said she would also look at phasing out the current ‘sustainability declaration’ needed to sell a home.
“Many of the measures contained in it are increasingly being covered by building code requirements.”
She said the decision to move to a ‘one contract’ system followed a range of submissions to the Parliamentary Legal Affairs, Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services Committee and discussions between the Queensland Law Society, Real Estate Institute of Queensland and the Attorney-General.
Edition 201, 26 January 2012
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