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New REIQ residential contracts being released January 2022

New editions of the Contract for Houses and Residential Land (17th edition) and Contract for Residential Lots in a Community Title Scheme (13th edition) are due to be released by the Queensland Law Society and the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) in just a couple of days on 20 January 2022.

There are some significant changes that have been made to these REIQ contracts which will impact both buyers and sellers. Some of these contract changes include the following:-

  • Clause 6.2 will permit the ability of either party to acquire a short extension to the settlement date in the event that the party is unable to complete settlement due to the inaction or delay of their financier or for any other reason;
  • There is the inclusion of a new smoke alarm Clause 7.8 in response to changes in smoke alarm legislation which came into effect on 1 January 2022. This new clause will enforce a contractual obligation on the seller to install smoke alarms that comply with the new legislative requirements.
  • Amendments have been made regarding obligations for Pool Compliance Certificates. Namely, all sellers must hand over a Pool Compliance Certificate at settlement for any non-shared pool located on the property. The only exclusion to this contractual obligation is if the seller has provided a Notice of No Pool Safety Certificate to the buyer prior to contract.
  • There is now also an express provision whereby a “grace period” is allowed when a buyer pays a deposit by way of direct debit. This provision addresses the effect of delays in the deposit of money to bank accounts by direct debit.

Our TWC lawyers are dedicated to keeping you up to date with changes to standard contract conditions.

It is important that you obtain legal advice before you sign off on a contract and are legally bound to buy or sell the property.

If you have any further questions or would like to discuss how these contract changes may affect you, please feel free to contact our property team on (07) 5522 5777 or email us at admin@twclawyers.com.au