Faulty and Misguided Sustainability Legislation Pt 2

Feb. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- Part Two


The simple fact is that some of the declaration is quite simple
(ie. reasonable) to complete, especially if you follow the
Government’s guide to completing the declaration. However it
still remains if the seller of a property does not complete any
part of the declaration that they could reasonably find out the
information for, they can be fined.
If the Government had no intention of fining home owners for
not completing the declaration in a reasonable manner they
wouldn’t have legislated fines for doing so.
Consumers Face Potential Litigation
Legislation allows buyers to sue sellers if they feel that any
information on a declaration is false or misleading. Any such
legal action will most certainly cost either, but probably both
the buyer or seller dearly.
The pressure on the seller to complete the declaration to the
best of the sellers ability to ensure a speedy sale at the best
possible price will certainly lead to errors. As a result, court
action will be inevitable in many situations.
Legal representatives of buyers will take full advantage of this
sloppy legislation to protect their clients’ interests. Sellers will
have to be very careful about the way they complete their
declarations.
Real Estate Agents Face Hefty Fines
Real estate agents have been handed the responsibility of
ensuring that Sustainability Declarations are readily available
to prospective buyers, with stiff penalties for every instance
where they get it wrong.
The legislation outlines strict procedures to follow in respect to
advertising and making copies of the declaration available to
buyers.
An agent can be fined up to $10,000 per infringement.
Given the volume of properties placed on the market and
advertised every day in Qld, it is without a doubt that errors
may (and will) occur in respect to this legislative process
regardless of an agent’s best intentions.
Declaration is Contradictory
The basic concept of having a sustainability declaration was to
educate people into making their homes more environmentally
friendly.
The concept of education is a very good idea, but did anyone
in the Government stop to think about the extra paper and ink
required to produce the many hundreds of thousands of copies
of these declarations and information sheets each year?
An agent MUST provide a copy of the declaration to anyone
who asks for it for any property. Given that one prospective
buyer alone could request declarations for any number of
properties from numerous agents, the amount of extra paper
used within the industry per year will be absolutely enormous.
It takes one whole tree to produce approx. 150 reams of
paper!
Apart from the fact that one tree can extract up to one metric
ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year,
enormous amounts of electricity, water and pollutant chemicals
are required to produce all this extra paper & ink.
(The above article represents the opinion of Alan Liddle and is not meant as professional advice nor is it necessarily the
opinion of A.D.L. Software.)
The pulp and paper industry represents around 10% of all
global emissions.
Refer the Green PDF Document and
Paper Facts & Figures
There must be a more efficient way to educate the populace.
Given the State and Federal Governments’ stand on carbon
emissions, the State Government’s actions are a
demonstration of hypocrisy at its worst!
But Wait There’s More!
“ALL Australian homes will soon have to undergo a
mandatory energy-efficiency assessment costing up to
$1,500 per property.”
This will mean that every home will have a star rating for its
energy efficiency, similar to electrical appliances.
Pure Bloody Insanity!
Click here to read more about the proposed rating system
A home is not a simple appliance. It is a complex combination
of electrical circuitry providing electricity to many appliances
and electrical devices. A home is constantly changing and
evolving.
As soon as a new appliance, or even a light bulb, is added or
replaced in the home (don’t forget the work shed and garden)
the rating for the home would be out of date – woops another
$1,500 needs to be paid for an update to the home’s rating.
Regardless of how energy efficient a home is, its energy supply
can still be abused. On the contrary, a low rated home could be
used efficiently by environmentally conscious occupants.
Where does the Federal Government expect to find enough
professionals to not only provide the initial rating scores for all
9.8 million homes in Australia, let alone maintain those ratings?
If this goes ahead not just homes will be rated, but whole
suburbs, based on the average rating of the homes in the
suburb. As if we haven’t got enough emphasis on social class
in our society already!
The best rated homes will most likely be owned by the wealthy.
The worst rated homes will be occupied by tenants and the
financially disadvantaged. The gap between the classes will
dramatically widen.
This home energy efficiency rating system is basically flawed
from the get-go. It cannot possibly work.
Waste of Governments’ Time & Effort
Not withstanding the fact that there should be NO Sustainability
Declaration and NO Home Rating system, both the Federal
and State Governments have wasted precious time, effort,
resources and our money by NOT working together on a
suitable solution to educate consumers about energy
sustainability.
Instead they have attacked the situation separately and come
up with two very different unworkable solutions.
The Truth
Our Government is clutching at straws! They should first
ensure they can produce the energy required to power
Queensland’s rapidly growing population and supply its
growing water needs..
They have seriously burdened the Real Estate industry and the
State’s home owners with the costly job of educating people to
be more energy and water wise, with the very real threat of
extra expenses in the way of hefty fines and litigation. This is
most certainly their job – NOT OURS!
When there are little or no positive results the Government will
blame the PEOPLE for the Government’s inability to supply.
In the long term, housing prices will rise, pushing rental prices
up and greatly disadvantaging tenants.
It is time for the Government to start building more dams and
environmentally friendly power supplies if they want
Queensland to move forward with the rest of the world.
The Sustainability Declaration MUST GO! It is a burden on the
community. It is unfair, discriminatory and confusing. In a
nutshell, it is a smokescreen by the Government to lull you into
believing they are doing something positive – DON’T BELIEVE
IT!
With the Sustainability Declaration in place everyone is a
LOSER!
With an Australia-wide Home Energy Rating in place
everyone is a LOSER!
If we don’t succeed in putting a stop to Qld’s Sustainability
Declaration we won’t stand a chance against the proposed
Federal Energy Efficiency Rating System.
It is time to let our Governments know that they are here to
serve us. They MUST take responsibility for their own lack of
action.
Carter Capner Law have kindly provided a pre-completed email
to the Minister for the Department of Infrastructure and
Planning, Shadow Minister, Premier and Opposition Leader
demanding that Queensland’s Sustainability Declaration be
abolished.
Click here to send your email to the Minister

# # #

What can Mareeba First National Real Estate do for you?
We can provide advice on a number of issues pertaining to your potential purchase or sale.
Our services include:
Market Appraisals
Sale and Purchase
RentalAppraisals
PropertyManagement
Finance