Recent Legislation Amendments for Proposed Lots in Body Corporates

Following on from last month’s article relating to amendments to the Land Sales Act 1984 (Qld) for land not within a Body Corporate, we would like to draw to our readers’ attention the recent amendments also made to the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) (“the BCCM Act”) for proposed lots in Community Title Schemes, or Body Corporates as they are more commonly known.

A brief explanation on some of the changes affecting proposed Body Corporate lots from 1 December 2014 are as follows:

• Disclosure Statement and Plan will change slightly so that the Disclosure Statement is now required to state the Sunset Date of the Contract. For standard format lots in a Body Corporate (i.e. some smaller residential subdivisions or residential estates) the disclosure requirements will be greater in that a Seller will have to give a Buyer both a Disclosure Statement and a Disclosure Plan. In addition to this, if at registration of the plan the Seller intends that a building will be constructed on the lot, then the disclosure plan must show the location of the building and other features of the building such as area, number of levels and any other feature to be constructed.
• Where there is a change to the Disclosure Plan the amendments to the BCCM Act will simplify the process and hopefully avoid delays in settlement. Sellers will now have the ability to provide a Buyer with a statement regarding changes to the Disclosure Plan or the Disclosure Statement at any time whilst the Contract is on foot no later than 21 days before the Settlement Date. If a change relates to the Disclosure Plan then the statement regarding the change will need to be endorsed by a Surveyor. The Buyer then has the right to terminate the Contract if they are materially prejudiced by the change outlined in the further statement within the 21 day period prior to settlement.
• Sunset Dates for contracts for proposed Body Corporate lots will be extended to up to five and a half (5 1/2) years from the Contract Date. It is no longer necessary for Sellers to apply to the Government to extend the Sunset Date as was previously the case.The requirement to give a Buyer prescribed notice that the Sunset Date is more than three and a half (3 1/2) years has also been abolished.

If the Sunset Date is not specified in the Contract then it will be deemed to be three and a half (3 1/2) years from the Contract Date. If you are considering buying a unit off the plan in the foreseeable future or are interested in more information regarding the recent amendments to the BCCM Act then please do not hesitate to contact one of our experienced members of staff.