As part of the conveyancing process your solicitor will calculate a settlement amount, which is the amount the buyer must pay for the property at settlement, taking into account adjustments for things such as, rates, water charges and body corporate fees. Your solicitor will provide you with a settlement statement prior to settlement that details how the settlement amount has been calculated.
An obligation of owning a property is to pay rates to your local council and in most cases this is the most expensive adjustment that is made at settlement and will either be added, or deducted from the amount a seller will receive, depending on if the rates for the current period are paid or unpaid.
Our conveyancing solicitors will make these adjustments for you when calculating the settlement amount. Specialising in property sales and purchases on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, these are the two local councils we deal with most. Below is some information on rates in the Brisbane City Council area.
Brisbane City Council Rates:
General rates are calculated upon the land valuation of the property and the rating category it fits into.
Land Valuations:
The value of land is based upon the site value, which is the market value of the land in its present state, taking into account improvements made to the land such as filling, clearing, levelling and drainage works, but not including structural improvements, such as the house itself, sheds, landscaping, or other buildings.
In calculating the land value Brisbane City Council averages the property’s previous three land valuations to determinate its rateable valuation.
Rating Categories:
In determining the rates payable for the property this land valuation is multiplied by a dollar rate, with this rate being dependant upon which rating category the property fits into. As of 1 July 2014 Brisbane City Council has 63 rating categories, taking into account whether the property is residential, rural, commercial, industrial, etc., with various categories for each type.
The rates notice for a property will provide information on the rating category that applies to a property and your conveyancing solicitor can also find out this information by conducting a rates search on the property.
Other Brisbane City Council Charges:
A rates notice will also include other charges that are imposed by Brisbane City Council, such as an environmental management and compliance levy, a bushland preservation levy, an emergency management, fire and rescue levy, rural fire service levy and waste management charges.
Some councils will include water and sewerage charges and water usage on their rates notice, while in Brisbane these services are provided separately by Queensland Urban Utilities.
If you would like more information on the rates payable, or how they are calculated by Brisbane City Council you can visit the Brisbane City Council website.