The Valuer-General has this week released 507,000 new valuations in 22 council areas across Queensland.
For rural landholders, the figures released are what are known as the ‘unimproved value’, which is the amount for which your land could be expected to sell for without physical improvements such as structures, fences, clearing, yards and water.
Unimproved values determine what council rates rural landholders pay and are also used to calculate leasehold rents, so it’s important the figures are right.
Movements in valuations are highly variable, with a 10 to 30 per cent rise on average across Queensland this year and some individual properties in the Maranoa and Murweh shires increasing by 75 – 100pc.
The difficulty in using unimproved value as a basis for land rent and rates is that only a small portion of landholders in a market – the buyers – are setting the value for the rest.
This is despite the fact many primary producers living in council areas receiving new valuations are facing their sixth year of drought and can’t afford big increases in rent and rates.
I would encourage rural landholders who have received new valuations to check them using the Land Valuations Globe online and see how they compare to surrounding properties.
You can visit https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/title/valuation/annual/ for more information about valuations and to view the Globe.
It is important to take the time to look at your unimproved values to ensure they are correct as there can be significant savings in correcting a value that is too high.
The latest valuation increases also highlight the need for perpetual lessees to consider freeholding their properties before both freeholding and leasehold rents become unaffordable.
Landholders have 60 days to object to a new valuation, and I am happy to assist with more information or to help AgForce members who wish to lodge an objection. Contact AgForce on 3236 3100 to book a consultation.
