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Minister for Infrastructure and Plannin - The Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe.

Revised sustainability declaration now available

A simplified, new sustainability declaration is now available to ensure homeowners can supply important information to potential buyers.

Under laws in place since January 1, anyone selling a house, townhouse or unit must provide a declaration listing their home’s sustainable features.

Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said the State Government had revised the sustainability declaration to address concerns about its complexity.

“We’ve listened to people who said the first form was hard to understand and difficult to complete,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“For instance, we have removed the household report card, and simplified the savings column and the disclosure of access and safety features.

“There is still a high level of interest in sustainable housing, but feedback from 10 community roadshows late last year, the real estate industry and the public has been clear.

“Sellers want a form that can be filled out without assistance and without expert knowledge.

“This form is a key tool to help educate potential buyers about the operating costs of homes and the importance of sustainability features. It will ultimately help Queenslanders reduce the state’s carbon emissions.”

Some of the questions are as simple as whether a house has ceiling fans, energy-efficient lights, a solar hot water system or gas cooking facilities.

There are also questions on whether the home has a rainwater tank and dual-flush toilets. All of these are simple questions that can be answered through a basic household inspection by the homeowner.

The access and safety features section has been changed to provide greater flexibility for sellers to list features that will allow Queenslanders to enjoy their homes throughout all stages of their life.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) Queensland executive director Warwick Temby said the revised form was user-friendly.

“The sustainability declaration is a very important educational tool,” Mr Temby said.

“The presentation has been vastly improved by removing some of the technical information making the form much easier to understand.

“The inclusion of a section to add items not listed also provides flexibility to the form.”

If homeowners are unable to fully complete the sustainability declaration they can leave parts blank and still sign it.

“All existing sustainability declarations that have been signed will comply,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“To help the real estate industry adjust to this new declaration the old form will also remain available to allow the community and industry to adjust to the new form.

“Real estate agents and sellers will have time to adjust to the new sustainability declaration before on-the-spot fines for non-compliance commence.

“The state has previously announced on-the-spot fines for not signing or using a declaration to market homes would be delayed until March 1 this year.”

Mr Hinchliffe said Queenslanders were increasingly concerned about climate change and other environmental impacts, but many did not know what they could do to reduce these impacts.

“Considering these features is a simple first step,” he said.

“The sustainability declaration is about promoting the green features of our homes, reducing an individual’s carbon footprint, becoming more energy and water efficient and slashing running costs.”

From February 4 the new form, fact sheet and a reference guide will be available at www.dip.qld.gov.au

Media contact: 3227 8425

Changes include:

·household report card section removed

·insulation section simplified

·tapware and showerhead section simplified

·room provided to list access and safety features as well as any sustainable features not included on the form

·dual-flush toilets specified instead of toilet star ratings

·font size and spacing increased

·form shading improved for greater clarity.