Page 3932 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 1 December 2021
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when I introduce the second public health amendment bill tomorrow. In the meantime, I commend this bill to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.
Bill agreed to.
Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Amendment Bill 2021
Debate resumed from 9 November 2021, on motion by Mr Rattenbury:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR CAIN (Ginninderra) (11.21): The intent of this bill is, in my opinion, identical to a private member’s bill I presented on the same day as this bill was introduced—9 November this year. For off-the-plan property purchases, under the bill developers must obtain a buyer’s consent before they rescind a contract using a sunset clause or other specified delay event. Otherwise, the developer will need to apply to the ACT Supreme Court to justify termination.
The bill amends the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 to compel a seller, usually a developer, to obtain a buyer’s consent before they end a contract for a purchase of an off-the-plan property. The bill encompasses a range of delay events—for example, a sunset clause, delays to construction and approvals, and a few other delay-type approaches. It will also apply to detached housing.
If the bill is passed, it is my understanding that the amendments to the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 will commence on 9 November, the day the bill was presented to the Legislative Assembly. Accordingly, these amendments will have retrospective effect.
There is a provision in the bill for the minister to make a regulation that prescribes a circumstance when rescission will be allowed despite the purchaser refusing to agree to the rescission. I will speak on that later.
The bill also includes a requirement for the minister to review the proposed new part of the act as soon as possible after the end of its second year of operation and to report to the Legislative Assembly within six months of the review commencing.
On 21 October 2021, I was quoted in the Canberra Times as stating that my bill, which I had in hand, would be presented on the first sitting day in November, that being 9 November. It is my opinion that my statement that I had a bill to present on that day is what spurred the Attorney-General to present this bill.
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