Redland Council Land Auction 07 September 2022

Date: 8 September 2022 Author: Chris McGregor

Redland Council held an Auction on Wednesday 7 September 2022, for land with outstanding rates. 19 blocks of land were listed for Auction, two blocks were on Macleay Island and 17 blocks were on Russell Island. The purposes of this Land auction was to recoup unpaid land rates from the property owners.

A recent change in the legislation which allows Local governments (Councils) to sell land for unpaid rates effectively hindered the sale of the land at the Redland Council Auction. The change in the legislation states:

The local government must set a reserve price for the auction that is at least;-

(a) the market value of the land; or

(b) the higher of the following—

(i) the amount of all overdue rates or charges on the land;

(ii) the value of the land.

As a result of the above changes to the legislation, Councils can now only sell land for its market value, or the total amount of all overdue rates or changes, whichever is the highest. at the Council auction yesterday only one of the 19 blocks of land sold under the hammer. Redlands Council was not able to negotiate with the highest bidder to attempt to close any further sales.

Historically, Councils have been able to sell land to the highest bidder at a reasonable sale price under Auction conditions, often below Market Value. This is no longer the case.

There were approximately 50 registered bidders at the Redland Council Auction on 7 September, but only one bidder secured a property. No other property was sold as no further bids reached a reserve price. The reserve prices were set by Redlands Council, based on a recent valuation of each property, supplied to council by a Licensed Property Valuer, within the last month.

Unfortunately, Redlands Council was only able to recover unpaid rates from one property yesterday, 18 property owners each still owe Redland Council several years of unpaid rates.

See the Auction Results below:

Property	Bidding Result
13 Squire St Macleay Island	Sold for $75,000
7 Hamilton Pde Macleay Island	Passed in for $50,000
50 Crescent Dr Russell Island	Passed in for $35,000
3 Panorama Ave Russell Island	Passed in for $55,000
31 Pookana St Russell Island	Passed in for $35,000
45 Hemp Hill Rd Russell Island	Passed in for $33,000
6 Skiff St Russell Island	Passed in for $31,000
13 Inlet Ave Russell Island	Passed in for $69,000
10 Field St Russell Island	Passed in for $30,000
52 Jasper St Russell Island	Passed in for $32,000
28 Beacon Dr Russell Island	Passed in for $32,000
6 Stuart St Russell Island	Passed in for $38,500
15 Leichhardt Tce Russell Island	Passed in for $36,000
75 Glendale Rd Russell Island	Passed in for $36,000
4 Bunning St Russell Island	Passed in for $46,000
16 Jiwali St Russell Island	Passed in for $30,000
21 Meadsotone St Russell Island	Passed in for $44,000
6 Stradbroke Dr Russell Island	Passed in for $26,000
24 Titala St Russell Island	Passed in for $50,000