THE OWNERS of the embattled Brassall townhouse complex Mi Hi Grove received their final buy-back contracts last week, two years after the floods that left their previous homes uninhabitable.
After receiving the contracts, the majority of former owners are not happy, with one contacting the Local Ipswich News to voice their displeasure.
“There is now not enough money to get back into the housing market because the whole process took far too long,” they said.
“I would have been able to get back into the market if we were paid out when the rest of the applicants were.
“The average offer was $200,000 to $220,00, which would have worked two and half years ago, before the housing boom.
“Absolutely no way in now with this offer.”
One of Ipswich’s top real estate agents, June Frank from Walker’s Real Estate, echoed the former owner’s thoughts.
“They would be forced to look at living in another city – at that price,” she said.
“In 2011 I remember putting an offer of $250,000 to the owner at the time for one of those units and being told he was not giving the property away.
“I am selling three-bedroom units in Goodna for $410,000 in well-known flood zones, and when I let the prospective owners know this they respond with ‘we have done our research and that’s why you have flood insurance’.
“How the Council approved the construction of these properties in those areas is beyond me.”
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said Mi Hi Grove had been on a long and emotional journey to enter the Resilient Homes Fund Voluntary Home Buy-Back Program.
“Mi Hi Grove was initially considered ineligible for a Voluntary Home Buy-Back as the complex sits under a community title and required all 42-unit owners to be registered for the program. Understandably, you can’t buy back and demolish half a townhouse complex,” Cr Harding said.
“In the end, all 42 owners had registered for the program and were eager to move on from their flood-affected homes.”
The owners were offered a valuation based on the property value before the 2022 flood event and another based on its current value, which was used to determine the final offer once insurance was factored in.
Mi Hi Grove Body Corporate representative Odette Summers said she met with Disaster Recovery Minister Nikki Boyd last month to put forward a final plea from owners.
“I believe the questions being raised by owners about the discrepancies between offers and the fact that they are much lower than what was initially indicated warrants a response,” Ms Summers said.
“To date, the concerns we have put forward to Minister Boyd and her officers have gone largely unanswered. When you are talking about taking someone’s home, I think the least we deserve is an opportunity to have these questions and concerns addressed.
“Minister Boyd was firm during our meeting that there would be no further discussion about the valuations, and the offers given stand as they are.”
Cr Harding believes an opportunity for concerned Mi Hi Grove owners to work with the Queensland Government to access their own independent valuation offers a fair and simple solution to break this stalemate and provide some relief for these residents.
The former owner of the Mi Hi Grove townhouse said it was a case of the buck being passed between the three levels of government.
“It would make a great Fawlty Towers or Yes Minister episode,” they said.
“Federal Government have innocently kept saying they just provide the funds.
“QRA and the Queensland Government say all sorts of things. Consistently quoting policy which was changeable to this unique situation.
“Which leads us back to Ipswich City Council, who approved this development in the first place.
“Although initially they have supported us, in the long run have also continued to take no financial responsibility for the ‘Buy-Back’ at the same time as continuing to charge rates and water fees to 42-unit owners of uninhabitable properties for over two years now.
Last month in Goodna, the first unit complex bought by the QRA Buy-Back scheme was demolished, while the Mi Hi residents still awaited their Contract of Sale.
