Re Raptis

[1998] QLC 132

[1998] QLC 132

 

LAND COURT,

BRISBANE

12 November 1998

Re:     Determination of Unimproved Value for
  Conversion of Tenure Purposes -
  NCL 44/838, Townsville District.

Lessee:  Theodoros Raptis

D E C I S I O N

Falling for determination is the unimproved of NCL 44/838, Townsville District, for the purpose of conversion of tenure as at a relevant date of 1 July 1996.  The lease is more particularly described as Lot 210 on Crown Plan EP475, Parish of Coonambelah, and contains an area of approximately 1215m5.  The lease is situated in the Southern Townsville suburb of Railway Estate at 17 Tenth Avenue, and is zoned “Residential 3” under the provisions of the City of Townsville Town Planning Scheme which was gazetted on 26 September 1994.  The land is encumbered by Easement No 602804770 in favour of the Townsville City Council over an area of approximately 162 square metres for the purpose of an underground stormwater pipe.  The easement intersects the allotment, is 4.023 metres wide and is 42 metres from the boundary.  The unimproved value being sought by the Crown is $47,500.
           The lessee, Theodoros Raptis, was called in evidence mainly to outline his experience with a flooding disability on the land.  Mr Raptis has resided in the house on the land for 21 years and he says that he experiences big problems with the drainage every time it rains.  Mr Raptis says that his land is lower than are surrounding properties and when his land floods he has to take his car out and move the electrics from downstairs to a higher place.  He confirms that the Council easement provides for a main drain in the area, and Mr Raptis has put his own drainage system in to connect with the main drain.  But in times of king tides, water backs up in his drain and overflows, so he has had to place a standpipe over the end of the drain to prevent drainage overflow onto his property.  In addition to rainfall inundation, tidal inundation occurs in Tenth Avenue outside his property when king tides arrive at Townsville.  A photograph is in evidence showing the flood water inundation on the property in January this year.
           Evidence was called by the lessee from Registered Practising Valuer, Melvyn William Evans, who values the land unimproved at $37,500.  Mr Evans describes the site as being generally level throughout and in its natural state has minimal filling and levelling.  He says the land is reasonably drained but confirms it is affected by tidal water during high tides and is subject to site inundation during tides in excess of 3.7 metres.
           Mr Evans describes the locality within which the land is situated as being an inner-city residential area developed with aged timber single unit residences of varying standards.  He says Railway Estate over the past few years has seen the renovation and refurbishment of a number of old Queenslander dwellings and Miners’ cottages. 
           Mr Evans considers the most appropriate method of assessment of the unimproved value is a direct comparison approach with the analyses of sales of comparable unimproved land within Railway Estate because of the unique characteristics of the Railway Estate suburb.  He informed the Court that the underlying market conditions during 1995 and the first half of 1996 were suppressed following a period of buoyant activity during 1993 and 1994, and sales of vacant residential land in Railway Estate during 1995 and 1996 mainly occurred in two particular subdivisional developments, both of which were made from previously low-lying land which required extensive fill and levelling.  Mr Evans says that Council engineers have confirmed that on average, Council-subdivided lots at Railway Estate required 0.5 metres to 0.75 metres of fill to bring the land up to Council level requirements.
           Mr Evans tabulates within his tendered valuation document details of seven such sales located in Xavier Street, Putt Street, Brookes Street and Twelfth and Thirteenth Avenues.  Of these sales, Mr Evans considers the most relevant to be:

·   Sale No 4 - Lot 1 on RP 895638 - 1140m5 - sold on 1 November 1996 for $40,500 - analysed unimproved value after allowance for fill (570m; @ $12 per m;) $33,700 - situation 25 Brooks Street.

·   Sale No 5 - Lot 14 on RP 895363 - 1291m5 - sold on 11 May 1996, for $44,000 - analysed unimproved value after allowance for fill (645m; @ $12 per m;) - $36,300 - situation 81 Twelfth Avenue.

·   Sale No 6 - Lot 15 on RP 895636 - 1291m5 - sold on 11 May 1996, for $45,000 - analysed unimproved value after allowance for fill (645m; @ $12 per m;) - $37,300 - situation 76 Thirteenth Avenue.

·   Sale No 7 - Lot 24 on RP895635 - 1135m5 - sold on 12 June 1996 for $36,000 - analysed unimproved value after allowance for fill (567m; @ $12 per m;) - $29,200 - situation 49 Brooks Street.

It is to be observed that each of these sales are situated within the reclaimed Townsville City Council estate.
           Mr Evans is of the opinion that these sales in their unimproved state are generally inferior to the subject land, and in view of the size of the subject land, together with its zoning and location, he believes the highest and best use of it is as a dual occupancy or duplex site.  This also applies to Mr Evans’ Sales Nos 4, 5 and 6, but he regards his Sale No 7’s highest and best use to be as a single unit residential site.
           Mr Evans confirmed in evidence that there is a dip in the land opposite the subject land, and it appears to be lower than land at either end of the street.  He says that adjoining properties seem to be 10-15 cms higher.  He also confirmed that there are severe drainage problems on the land with ponding after heavy rain.  At the date of his inspection, there was a 3.9 metre tide and tidal water was coming out of the gutter.  By way of comparison, all of the sales lots referred to in his evidence were of high and dry lots owing to the fill and drainage carried out by the Council subdivider.
           Valuation evidence for the Crown was provided by Registered Valuer Robert Arthur Noakes, who is a Senior Valuer in the employ of the Department of Natural Resources at Townsville.  Mr Noakes also describes the nature of the subject land as being at street level, somewhat low-lying and generally level.  It has a westerly aspect with no views.  Mr Noakes regards the highest and best use of the land to be for residential purposes in line with the usage of adjoining properties.  This is mainly so because of the location of the drainage easement on the land. 
           Mr Noakes produced in evidence three Schedules of Sales of which he believes those within Schedule 1 are the best basis of valuation since they are sales prior to and subsequent to the relevant date for valuation and because they are located within the suburb of Railway Estate.  Sales contained within Schedule 2 (11 in all) are in adjoining suburbs and indicate a level of prices being paid relative to those being paid in the suburb of Railway Estate.  Sales within his Schedule 3 (26 in all) are within the Townsville City Council subdivision of reclaimed land in Railway Estate.  Mr Noakes says this area is blighted by the knowledge of the former low-lying nature of the land.  He is of the opinion that sales within the Council’s reclaimed estate are only useful to value the estate lands themselves as the sales in the estate have taken place at lower levels than other sales in the suburb.  It is to be noted that Mr Evans’ sales 4 to 7 are included within Mr Noakes’ Schedule 3.
           Details of Mr Noakes’ Schedule 1 sales are:

·   Sale 1 - Lot 7 on RP 703371 - 809m5 - Morrish to Farmer on 3 March 1992 for $61,000 - improvements fencing $500 - situation 51 Ninth Avenue, Railway Estate.

This is a regular inside level allotment, at street level with a westerly aspect and no views.

·   Sale 2 - Lot 341 and 342 on RP 703355 - 809m5 - Ryde to QHC on 13 October 1993 for $67,000 - improvements fencing $500 - situation 32 Eleventh Avenue, Railway Estate.

This is a regular level inside allotment, at street level with an easterly aspect and no views.

·   Sale 3 - Lot 329 on EP 986 - 759m5 - Webb to Frost on 9 September 1992 for $50,000 - improvements fencing $500 - situation 210 Boundary Street, Railway Estate.

This is a regular inside allotment, at street level, generally level, with a northerly aspect with an outlook across tidal land adjoining.

·   Sale 4 - Lot 329 on EP 986 - 759m5 - Frost to QHC on 10 August 1994 for $62,000 - improvements fencing $500 - situation 210 Boundary Street, Railway Estate.

This is the same land as Sale No 3.

·   Sale 5 - Lot 1 on RP 865793 - 641m5 - Landel to Top Deal - on 24 November 1994 for $52,000 - improvements nil - situation 2 Ninth Street, Railway Estate.

This is a regular level allotment at the end of the street, with a northerly aspect with an outlook across mangrove land adjoining.  It is formerly low-lying land and has been filled.

·   Sale 6 - Lot 2 on RP 865793 - 701m5 - Landel to Gamble on 10 November 1994 for $45,000 - improvements nil - situation 4 Ninth Street, Railway Estate.

This is a regularly level inside allotment at street level, with a northerly aspect and with no view.  Formerly low-lying land which has been filled.

·   Sale 7 - Lot 15 on RP 868109 - 613m5 - Landel to Millar on 5 March 1996, for $45,000 - improvements nil - situation Xavier Court, Railway Estate.

This is an irregular level inside allotment in a cul-de-sac, above street level with a south-westerly aspect and with no view.  It is formerly low-lying land which has been filled.

·   Sale 8 - Lot 3 on RP 865793 - 770m5 - Landel to Patterson on 28 June 1996 for $55,000 - improvements nil - situation 9th Avenue, Railway Estate.

This is a regular level inside allotment, at street level, with a northerly aspect and with no view.  It is formerly low-lying land which had been filled.

·   Sale 9 - Lot 18 on RP 868109 - 681m5 - Landel to Freeman on 2 July 1996 for $45,000 - improvements nil - situation Xavier Court, Railway Estate.

This is a regular level inside allotment in a cul-de-sac, above street level with a westerly aspect and with no view.  It is formerly low-lying land which has been filled.

·   Sale 10 - Lot 17 on RP 868109 - 733m5 - Landel to Leavesley on 4 November 1996 for $45,000 - improvements nil - situation Xavier Court, Railway Estate.

This is a regular inside level allotment in a cul-de-sac, above street level with a westerly aspect with no views.  Formerly low-lying land which has been filled.

·   Sale 11 - Lot 16 on RP 868109 - 705m5 - Landel to Johnston on 11 April 1997 for $45,000 - improvements nil - situation Xavier Court, Railway Estate.

This is a regular level inside allotment in a cul-de-sac, above street level with a westerly aspect and with no views.  It is formerly low-lying land which has been filled.

·   Sale 12 - Lot 1 on RP 905705 - 405m5 - Ashbourne to Hickson on 1 April 1997 for $38,500 - improvements fencing $500 - situation 39A Tenth Avenue, Railway Estate.

This is a regular level corner allotment at street level, with a northerly aspect and with no views.
           Mr Noakes is not surprised by the evidence of the photograph taken by Mr Raptis of flood water inundation which he says is peculiar, but not limited to the suburb of railway estate.
           Now on the evidence before me, I am not prepared to set aside the sales evidence used by Mr Evans for the blighting reason outlined by Mr Noakes.  There are in evidence a series of photographs taken by Mr Evans on 26 February 1998 showing the subject land and his sales Nos 4 to 7 sites and these confirm that Sales Nos 4 to 7 are high and dry sites whereas the subject land is affected by water inundation on the road, although itself being dry.  But I offer the opinion that it would seem to be unnecessary for Mr Evans to analyse his sales by deducting a value for the fill to arrive at the unimproved value of those sale lands before making a comparison between them and the subject land.  In their unimproved state after allowing for fill, these sale lots would certainly be quite inferior to the subject land about which there is no evidence of fill.
           Taking an overview of the evidence, and giving weight to the advantages and disabilities suffered by the subject land, I find that a fair unimproved value of it as at the relevant date of 1 July 1996 is $42,500.
           Accordingly, the unimproved value of NCL 44/838, Townsville District, for the purpose of conversion of tenure is determined in the sum of Forty-two thousand, five hundred dollars ($42,500).

(CH Carter)  
Member of the Land Court