OUR SAY: Buyers have a right to certainty

Sales are driven by the requirements of end users as well as profit-motivated investors setting up an inevitable clash between the objectives of both.

PROPERTY is purchased on the Sunshine Coast for a variety of reasons.  

Sales are driven by the requirements of end users as well as profit-motivated investors setting up an inevitable clash between the objectives of both.  

It is clear rules around advertising the opportunity being offered need to be tightened and the resolve of state and local authorities to protect the integrity of planning schemes stiffened.  

If the advertising of land, units or homes sells ocean views or golf course frontage, any risks to those value-enhancing attributes should be clearly identified.   

Failure to do so leaves buyers exposed and unable to make an informed decision.  

Equally local authorities should be careful in their dealing with material change of use applications and truly mindful of the impact any decision to approve a development application may have on existing investment.  

Increasingly we are seeing on the Sunshine Coast conflict between the lifestyle expectations of those who have come here to experience a point of difference to that the places they have left and those who are looking for an opportunity to profit through ongoing development.  

The conflicting aspirations can co-exist as long as there is absolute transparency at the point of transaction - whether that be the sale of a parcel of land or the community benefit pitched by a developer in pursuit of a material change of use application.