South Road Upgrade

862 Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (15 October 2021). With regards to land acquisition funds access:

(a) From the point when a landowner agrees to sell their property to the government, how long will it take for that landowner to have access to the proceeds of that sale? That is, how long will they wait to access funds that they can withdraw to purchase another property?

(b) Is it true it will take two months, or longer, for a landowner to have access to the proceeds of their home after they sell it to government? What is being done to ensure this wait is shortened?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing): I have been advised:

There are two ways in which an owner can access funds related to the acquisition of their property.

In the first instance, once a Notice of Intention has been issued, the authority and the property owner may reach a negotiated settlement before a compulsory acquisition. In this scenario, a standard settlement process would occur whereby the owner will engage a conveyancer and the authority will do the same. It is a matter for the conveyancers to determine how quickly the settlement can occur, however generally in most cases it can take 4 to 6 weeks from when the contract is executed.

Where a property is compulsorily acquired, pursuant to section 23A of the Land Acquisition Act 1969, the authority must within seven days after making an offer of compensation, pay the amount offered into the Court.

The claimant has a right to remove the funds paid into Court without impacting their right to claim additional compensation. The claimant can have their lawyer make an application for the funds to be removed or can request the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) instruct the Crown Solicitor's Office (CSO) to make the application on the claimants' behalf at no cost to them.

Once the application is made it is out of DIT's control as to how long an order is made by the Court considering all relevant consents, including that of the mortgagee is required.

In both a negotiated settlement and compulsory acquisition, DIT does everything possible to ensure the claimant receives their compensation as soon as possible.