National
10/07/08
War of the high rises
Queensland court decision sets high-residents at war with each other
High-rise unit owners in Queensland are fighting a civil war in the wake of a court decision that could potentially have national ramifications on whether owners on higher levels should pay higher levies.
In the “Centrepoint case”, the Court of Appeal in Queensland found that unless a particular lot owner could show that they used more or less services than other lots in that building, then the body corporate levies were to be equal.
Australian Property Investor magazine’s October issue reveals that since that decision, Queensland tribunals have determined 27 applications from owners who’ve taken umbrage at paying higher levies than others in the building – and there are 40 more on the cards.
Clayton Glenister, a partner at MBA Lawyers on the Gold Coast, believes that, “Unless good and valid reasons exist, then all owners, whether in the penthouse or the ‘doghouse’, should now be paying equal levies unless it can be shown that the services to one unit add to the running costs of that building.”
While some media reports have declared that battlers on the bottom floor were now subsidising millionaires on the top floor, Glenister notes in API that in reality the reverse is true.
“Why should you pay higher levies when you use the same services as others just because you live on a higher floor and therefore your unit is worth more money?” he asks.
In the “Centrepoint case”, the Court of Appeal in Queensland found that unless a particular lot owner could show that they used more or less services than other lots in that building, then the body corporate levies were to be equal.
Australian Property Investor magazine’s October issue reveals that since that decision, Queensland tribunals have determined 27 applications from owners who’ve taken umbrage at paying higher levies than others in the building – and there are 40 more on the cards.
Clayton Glenister, a partner at MBA Lawyers on the Gold Coast, believes that, “Unless good and valid reasons exist, then all owners, whether in the penthouse or the ‘doghouse’, should now be paying equal levies unless it can be shown that the services to one unit add to the running costs of that building.”
While some media reports have declared that battlers on the bottom floor were now subsidising millionaires on the top floor, Glenister notes in API that in reality the reverse is true.
“Why should you pay higher levies when you use the same services as others just because you live on a higher floor and therefore your unit is worth more money?” he asks.
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