We call them banana benders or cane toads and sometimes use the state they live in as a punch-line for unkind jokes, but for the most part Queenslanders are no more stupid and backwards than the rest of us. However I’m not sure that The Australian’s Malcolm Colless agrees with me.
from next January all homeowners in Queensland must complete an exhaustive sustainability report card before they can put their house, townhouse or unit on the market.
..it could discourage homeowners from selling their properties if they first have to go through this tortuous and potentially costly process.
People are not going to sell their homes because of a checklist?
Colless’ ire is directed at the “environmental red tape that poses a real and present economic threat” that he sees embodied by this sustainability checklist. The idea behind it is to give people a clearer picture about the costs associated with living in a particular property, not unlike the energy efficiency star rating that we have had on electrical appliances for some time now. It seems a simple concept with multiple benefits, buyers are better informed when comparing similar properties, and it should encourage home owners to think about ways to improve the efficiency of their homes.
So what is it about the process that Colless fears so much?
Meanwhile, the detailed 56-point questionnaire demands complex information on issues ranging from the number of energy-efficient light fittings to window treatments, the colour of the roof, whether east and west-facing windows are covered, the use and size of any rainwater and grey water tanks, the dimensions of shower heads and taps, the layout of the premises for disability purposes and whether the dwelling number is clearly visible from the street.
This stuff is complex? How many lights do you have and what colour is your roof? My five year old could tell you that much. Surely there must be something more difficult than that to have alarmed Mr Colless so much?
it asks for details on the number of people who typically live in the home, the annual household electricity costs and annual electricity usage in kilowatt hours.
It also asks for the approximate amount of greenhouse gas emissions from this electricity use and for the annual water bill and its use in kilolitres.
Which is info that you’d have on every gas, electricity and water rates bill. Does anyone, even Malcolm Colless, really believe that a half hour filling out a checklist will put people off selling a house? Amongst all of the other things involved this seems like one of the less onerous tasks.
So to all of our friends in Queensland, I’d like to let you know that I believe in you. I don’t think that you are incapable of measuring the shower heads and counting the light bulbs in your own house, I’m confident that you can figure out whether your western windows have curtains, and I refuse to believe that you will be destined to never move house again because you can’t identify the colour of your roof. After all, if the checklist is written by Queenslanders, how hard can it be?
14 Comments
The real estate market is already extremely healthy in QLD…nothing but another right whinging anti-GW cheap stab..
for once they’re ahead of the rest of the states, but we NEED the Australian with its gaggle of conservative rabble to tell us night is day.
I gotta say that if it DOES discourage homebuyers, that can only be a good thing, since anyone who is put off buying a house by this is probably not ready for home ownership.
Turn this around: most of this information is readily available through the due diligence a purchaser is going to make before putting up an offer on a property. I tend to look at how many showers a house has and what its orientation to the sun is before I purchase it, and I suspect I’m not alone. So what’s the point?
Those who think it how one lights one’s home and how one showers is the right and proper business of the state will have no problem with this sort of death-by-a-thousand-cuts meddling which may not crash the property market but will surely add one more hassle to an already stressful process.
Those of us who think that adults entering into a property transaction should be left to sort such things out for themselves, and who are still annoyed at being forced to buy inferior lighting products in the service of “sustainability” might feel differently.
Shabadoo, sometimes these things may not evident – for instance, wall insulation. the owner may as well tell you rather than put holes in the wall to find out.
I also believe this will educate people. The amount of those downlights that go into a modern house is astronomical. Not only are they inefficient, but the heat they generate means you have to pull 50cm of insulation away from the fitting to reduce the fire risk. 50% of your heat will be lost through a 5% gap in your ceiling insulation. People are not aware of this, but if they see it is on the checklist, they may realise what they are getting themselves into – a life time of high energy bills.
Shad, what’s your opposition to having this information in a standardised format that can be used to compare properties? It’s not just about energy efficiency either, it’s also about issues like accessibility for people as they age, which will be a bigger and bigger issue for Australia over the coming decades.
The same thing happened in the ACT when the government introduced energy ratings for all homes before they could be sold. The ‘Woe is Me’ brigade instantly declared it would be the end of the real estate makret in Canberra and doom and gloom pronouncements about the value of homes decreasing significantly. Not only did nothing of the sort happen*, but similar laws were introduced in other states as well.
*the housing market did crash when Howard government came in and immediately started slashing Canberra jobs.
“It also asks for the approximate amount of greenhouse gas emissions..”
Would everyone be able to calculate this ? Just asking….
“…and it should encourage home owners to think about ways to improve the efficiency of their homes.”
Except that I doubt anyone will read the questionaire before selling their house, nor would it drive behaviour. A $500K home doesn’t become a $505K home by adding a $5K water tank. It’s value stays at $500K. So let the next guy install the tank if he/she wants one.
People (including me in my previous home) bought water tanks when the water shortage was critical, water restrictions were severe, and the government offered a rebate. That’s what drives behaviour. That, and upping the cost of water.
So what does the questionnaire really achieve? It gives Anna Bligh some green credentials for the next election. That’s about it. And lets face it, after the Traveston Dam debacle, she needs some.
Chistery from Brisbane
#6 You don’t see many of the “Woe is me brigade” still whining about the “Keating years” in every second blog comment. It’s time to let go.
I’ve stated a fact. What’s to “let go” of?
“#6 You don’t see many of the “Woe is me brigade” still whining about the “Keating years” in every second blog comment.”
How many blogs were there two years after Keating was ousted?
Though, you could go over to somewhere like Bolt’s blog, mention Whitlam. I wonder what the reaction would be?
RobJ, have you seen the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark?
A bit like that.
“have you seen the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark?”
I have, a long time ago, I’m a bit slow this morning, can you expand?
OK – I got it