1. Home building contracts
If you’re building your home and engaging a builder for that purpose, then he or she is obliged under the Home Building Contracts Act 1991 to provide you with a written contract and must obtain home building insurance in your name before commencing any building work. If you have a dispute regarding the contract or workmanship, then you may bring a claim to the Building Disputes Tribunal, provided that your claim does not exceed $100,000.
2. Financial hardship and mortgage repayments
If you are unable to meet your mortgage repayments due to financial hardship, or even if you are unwell and need to meet medical expenses, you may be eligible to apply to your superannuation provider for an early release of superannuation due to financial hardship. Contact your superannuation fund to find out what entitles you to early release of funds. Alternatively, visit the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) website at www.apra.gov.au
3. Encumbrances
Before buying or selling your house, always thoroughly check a title search for your property to determine what encumbrances exist on the property. There might be some encumbrances that run with the property and will affect your title, for example, a restrictive covenant. A recent trend is toward environmentally-conscious residential estates which are owned and subdivided by a developer before being sold to the general public. This subdivided land may carry restrictive covenants regarding the characteristics which buildings constructed on the property must have, for example, with regard to orientation, roof, and rainwater tanks.
4. Compulsory acquisition
The compulsory acquisition and sale of a property is something all landowners dread will happen to them, particularly if you live near arterial roads. Under the Land Administration Act 1997, the Crown may compulsorily acquire privately owned land for “public work”, that is, work that is deemed to be in the public interest. Compensation may be awarded to a landowner whose land is compulsorily acquired for the taking of the interest of the land, or if there is damage to their property. If there is a dispute over compensation then the landowner may commence a claim in the State Administrative Tribunal.
5. Derelict buildings
Any local government has the power under the Public Health Act 1911 to declare premises unfit for human habitation. Local governments may also issue a notice ordering the owner to repair a building or order that it be destroyed. If an owner does not comply with the notice within the specified time frame then the local government may step in and act. Owners who occupy, or allow to be occupied, premises which are declared unfit for human habitation commit an offence.