Body Corporate

This bill reforms Queensland's body corporate and off-the-plan property laws. It creates a new process for terminating ageing community titles schemes that are no longer economically viable, modernises body corporate governance rules around pets, smoking, and parking, and protects off-the-plan buyers from developers misusing sunset clauses to cancel contracts.

This bill replaces Queensland's nearly 50-year-old Property Law Act 1974 with a modernised framework for property transactions. It introduces a statutory seller disclosure scheme requiring sellers to provide standardised information to buyers before contract signing, facilitates electronic conveyancing and electronic deeds, and simplifies rules governing mortgages, leases, co-ownership, and trusts.

This bill reforms governance of older multi-owner property developments in Queensland that pre-date the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997. It strengthens protections for unit owners in these older schemes by improving committee eligibility rules, financial accountability, dispute resolution, and transparency. It also enables the state's Office of Fair Trading to issue infringement notices for breaches of gift card requirements.

This bill reforms Queensland's rental laws to strengthen protections for renters, stabilise rents in the private market, and ease cost-of-living pressures. It also introduces mandatory professional development for property agents, removes compulsory superannuation contributions for local government employees, and fixes technical issues in body corporate termination processes.