Gold Coast development: How body corporate rule changes will create more towers
Prominent Gold Coast developers have revealed the impact on the city’s property market of dramatic changes to body corporate laws which will prevent holdouts from blocking the sale of units.
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PROMINENT Gold Coast developers and real estate figures are backing controversial plans to reform body corporate laws, saying it will unlock thousands of new units for the city.
The state government last week announced it would alter its rules to make it easier for unit blocks to be sold with 75 per cent support of lot owners.
Currently a single owner can block a sale.
Developers have largely welcomed the moving, saying it would help take pressure off the Gold Coast’s tight property market.
Steer developments boss Rob Steer welcomed the news but said it was just the first step needed to address housing shortages.
“It will make it easier to acquire unit block sites however, the real question is, is this new legislation being implemented to combat the accommodation shortage?
“In my opinion it is not necessarily an acquisition issue, this is a local council processing issue because right now, development applications take far too long to be approved.
“In saying that, this new legislation will assist in acquiring sites because developers won’t have to pay over market price to secure development blocks.
“Developers often make their money in the land purchase – so ultimately the purchase price of the land will drive the end sale price of new dwellings meaning more affordable dwellings.”
HomeCorp founder Ron Bakir, who is currently building two tower projects at Labrador and Varsity Lakes, said the changes would make a difference, but admitted he understood why some people would be opposed.
“From a development perspective, I think it is great because it will allow more projects to come to the market,” he said.
“There is a complete lack of product on the Gold Coast right now and we need to get more homes but on the flip side, the people who are emotionally attached to their homes will not be happy.
“The key will come down to the fine detail, which I would like to see.”
The Bill is expected to be introduced to state parliament for a vote before June 30.
Steven King of Colliers Gold Coast said the legal changes would have far-reaching consequences for key beachside suburbs.
“There are a lot of ageing buildings located on the Gold Coast that have been held back from a very small minority of owners not wanting to sell in the past,” he said.
“It will certainly open up more opportunities, particularly with some of the better positioned beach fronting buildings from Main Beach to Burleigh Heads where we have consistently had a number of body corporate committees contact us in recent years seeking advice on how to go about achieving the best possible sale outcome.
“In most instances however, unless 100 per cent of all owners are on-board, we have had to decline taking on these opportunities because many developers have had bad experiences in the past and were held to ransom with a small minority of owners who held out in selling and were seeking/asking highly inflated and unviable prices, ultimately wasting everyone’s time, and causing the sales not to proceed.
“If this new reform takes place, we have no doubt there will be a number of developers
willing to re-engage again and move forward if viable development opportunities exist.”
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