Sellers go green

Letea Cavander | 24th November 2009

DO you know how many litres of water your toilet flushes, or the rating of your shower head?

Eleanor Davey is trying to work out the new Sustainability Declaration to sell her home with real estate agent Ken Wilson.

ROB BARICH

DO you know how many litres of water your toilet flushes, or the rating of your shower head?

How about the R-value of your insulation?

If you want to sell your home, you’d better find out, because these things are among two pages of questions you’ll need to answer.

The document is part of the state government’s Sustainability Declaration, which all home sellers will have to fill out from January 1, detailing their home’s energy efficiency.

Pensioner Eleanor Davey was horrified when she took her first look at the form.

Ms Davey is trying to sell her Bundaberg unit and she said she could not afford to hire tradesmen to tell her what kind of taps she had.

“It’s not cheap to hire tradies. I’m sure they do a good job, but they’ve got to be paid and I’m on a pension,” she said.

Ms Davey said she would probably only be able to easily answer about three questions on the 32-question document.

Real estate agent Ken Wilson was worried about the confusion the form may cause his clients.

“The idea behind the whole thing has merit, but it’s the execution of the details in the documentation that is going to cause so much confusion and stress,” he said.

The real estate agent said home sellers would also have to add up the last 12 months total electricity and water usage.

“If I sell a rental property, it’s not the home owners’ electricity bill, so how do we get hold of the information?” he said.

Member for Bundaberg Jack Dempsey said it was a badly planned form.

“It’s going to cost the industry and it will end up being another fee,” he said.

But Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said properties with more sustainability features could have lower operating costs and be more energy and water efficient, and that was an important consideration for prospective homeowners.

“Prospective purchasers will be able to get an indication of the ongoing water and electricity savings that could be achieved by certain features, including energy-efficient lighting and insulation,” he said.

For more information about the sustainability declaration, or to get a copy of the form, visit www.dip.qld.gov.au.

Fast facts