14 November 2012

LDA has no interest in helping people

| birder
Join the conversation
21

Did anyone read this article in the Canberra Times about the OwnPlace scheme?

Oddly enough, I can’t find it anywhere on the Canberra Times website now.

But I was absolutely appalled by the apathetic and unfriendly attitude of the Land Development Agency. I don’t care if it’s not LDA’s responsibility. At the very least, they should have said, “While this is outside our responsibility, we are very sorry it has happened.”

They should also be investigating ways that they can help ensure it doesn’t happen to other people.

Who in the world would want to deal with this type of project in the future? You should be able to expect the responsible government authority to try to do what it can to help these people, some of whom have lost $10-15k because of the delays in negotiations between the builders and LDA.

Instead, LDA Chief Executive David Dawes has completely washed his hands of his customers. Why not ensure that people can’t take out the mortgage until the LDA and the builders have negotiated everything? Doesn’t that make sense?

My only knowledge of this travesty is from this article, so I may misunderstand some of the facts. But LDA’s complete lack of interest in the customer comes through loud and clear.

Join the conversation

21
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
Watson12:15 pm 15 Nov 12

WhyACT? said :

Dear Baldy,
So some of the facts that are missing from the article are as follows:
1. To purchase from the ‘OwnPlace scheme’, you go into a ballot. If selected out of that ballot, you go to the LDA website and select a block of land from the ones with their colour coding for ‘OwnPlace’. When you click on that block of land it will have a diagram of the houseplan that will be built on that block of land and the builder that will be building that house. You cannot buy that block without agreeing to that plan and that builder.
2. At the time this is happening, the subdivision is actually off limits to anyone other than the LDA as they are still building the roads and putting in driveways etc. The builder draws up the plans on the basis of the information given to them by the LDA.
3. When you have made your selection, you are given two contracts, one for the land and one for the builder. Because the land has not been fully subdivided, no specific dates are put onto contracts.
4. Your solicitor takes you through the land contract and then orgainses settlement for you once the LDA determines the land is ready.
5. Once you own the land, the builder can go onsite to finalise their plans. At this point, our builder discovered the LDA had put the driveways in differently to the plan they had sent the builder and the land contours were different to what the LDA had sent to the builder.(These driveways will be ripped up and replaced by the LDA in November which acknowledges their errors here).
6. ACTPLA refused to allow 3 houses in the row to be built as 2 bedroom with only a single garage. This is not a rule any of us could have known about as many many houses on the OwnPLace list were 3 bedroom with only a single garage. The LDA had divided the land in such a way that it would have been impossible to fit more than a single garage and thats also what their driveways were for.
The builder had suggested to the LDA to divide those three blocks as 2 rather than 3, but the LDA had already taken the money for the land.
The builder applied for an exemption with ACTPLA but was denied. This back and forth between the LDA and ACTPLA took 10 months because, despite being in the same building these two departments don’t talk to each other.
7. Those with the housing plans changed to one bedroom were never given the option to back out of the scheme and couldn’t because the LDA had already taken their money by that point and wiped their hands of it.
8. At the bare minimum this is a case of false advertising as the LDA website said you have to have this 2 bedroom house and then that couldn’t be delivered.
9. I don’t see how this can be the builders fault as they have also lost a lot of money. The wrong contour plans given to them by the LDA have also meant digging foundations into the side of a hill, as well as the cost of redesigning to meet approval.
10. Katy Gallagher happily advertised, in the build up to the election, the OwnPlace scheme as one of their great successes, but if the fault for this lies with the builder and not the government, then surely the success of the scheme would be for the builder and not the government.
11. The LDA claim that they have no contractual involvement is true – by setting up the scheme to be two contracts rather than one, they can take the money for the land and walk away. But can they really claim they have helped first homebuyers with this scheme?
I agree with you that too many people want to blame the government for everything, but I am not one of those people. When the government wants to take credit for something that has caused me harm though, I will speak out against it.
Oh and yes, I am the woman in the article. Unfortunately, while all of my neighbours (except 1) have contacted me over the last 10 months to tell me of how much this scheme has financially hurt them, they are all in either government or property industry jobs and too afraid to speak out.

This is exactly the same process I had to follow when I bought my affordable house to be. Except, I signed a contract with a developer, not directly with the LDA. My solicitor was crap and didn’t explain the process to me. It’s only now I am stressing out big time about when they will finally start building that I realise that the clause “Building approval will be obtained 90 days after the contract was signed” actually doesn’t apply if the land has not yet been released and changed hands. So I am assuming that the 90 days start from settlement, but the contract doesn’t have a provision for that.

The 90s are up today and I am anxiously waiting for news that the original plans have passed ACTPLA’s scrutiny. If all goes well, this delay will only cause me 90 days of extra interest and rates. Even that resulted in me being homeless soon though – finances were too tight to start with. And my contract doesn’t offer me any protection if the plans were to be rejected either. So I really feel for the people that are affected by the OwnPlace cock-up.

All good and well to say that people shouldn’t have signed up for the deal if it was that risky. But beggars can’t be choosers. We are talking people who stretch themselves beyond their limits to buy their first home on a low income and they have no reserves to soften blows like these.

Reply
Pork Hunt8:47 pm 14 Nov 12

LSWCHP said :

Pork Hunt said :

LSWCHP said :

BigBangBallers said :

My apologies, I should clarify. Our firm, Johannessen Legal, was involved in the conveyancing of a number of OwnPlace properties, and having raised several issues of concern with the LDA regarding the scheme and the associated contracts, are not altogether surprised that such an issue has arisen.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your options.

Sincerely,

Pierre Johannessen

This is off topic I know, but I hafta say that BigBangBallers is a pretty hardcore username for a legal firm to have on this forum.

Not being critical, in fact I think it’s great, but…ahhh…just a little unusual…:-)

Let us not forget “Eyeball in a quart jar of snot” who sometimes contributes on these pages…

Indeed. And there’s a bloke whose avatar is a pigs bum and whose username means something completely different when spoken quickly. :My wife asked me why someone would call themselves something so odd, and her eyes bulged when I explained how to enunciate it. -)

Anyway, JB has cleared up the ball banging business, so good on Pierre for being involved with that crew.

Whale oil beef hooked!!

Reply
LSWCHP8:14 pm 14 Nov 12

Pork Hunt said :

LSWCHP said :

BigBangBallers said :

My apologies, I should clarify. Our firm, Johannessen Legal, was involved in the conveyancing of a number of OwnPlace properties, and having raised several issues of concern with the LDA regarding the scheme and the associated contracts, are not altogether surprised that such an issue has arisen.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your options.

Sincerely,

Pierre Johannessen

This is off topic I know, but I hafta say that BigBangBallers is a pretty hardcore username for a legal firm to have on this forum.

Not being critical, in fact I think it’s great, but…ahhh…just a little unusual…:-)

Let us not forget “Eyeball in a quart jar of snot” who sometimes contributes on these pages…

Indeed. And there’s a bloke whose avatar is a pigs bum and whose username means something completely different when spoken quickly. :My wife asked me why someone would call themselves something so odd, and her eyes bulged when I explained how to enunciate it. -)

Anyway, JB has cleared up the ball banging business, so good on Pierre for being involved with that crew.

Reply
Pork Hunt8:03 pm 14 Nov 12

LSWCHP said :

BigBangBallers said :

My apologies, I should clarify. Our firm, Johannessen Legal, was involved in the conveyancing of a number of OwnPlace properties, and having raised several issues of concern with the LDA regarding the scheme and the associated contracts, are not altogether surprised that such an issue has arisen.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your options.

Sincerely,

Pierre Johannessen

This is off topic I know, but I hafta say that BigBangBallers is a pretty hardcore username for a legal firm to have on this forum.

Not being critical, in fact I think it’s great, but…ahhh…just a little unusual…:-)

Let us not forget “Eyeball in a quart jar of snot” who sometimes contributes on these pages…

Reply
LSWCHP7:52 pm 14 Nov 12

BigBangBallers said :

My apologies, I should clarify. Our firm, Johannessen Legal, was involved in the conveyancing of a number of OwnPlace properties, and having raised several issues of concern with the LDA regarding the scheme and the associated contracts, are not altogether surprised that such an issue has arisen.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your options.

Sincerely,

Pierre Johannessen

This is off topic I know, but I hafta say that BigBangBallers is a pretty hardcore username for a legal firm to have on this forum.

Not being critical, in fact I think it’s great, but…ahhh…just a little unusual…:-)

ReplyView 1 reply
johnboy7:54 pm 14 Nov 12

Big Bang Ballers is the name of a basketball based youth outreach charity.

http://bigbangballers.org/

ReplyHide replies
WhyACT?5:40 pm 14 Nov 12

Thanks Pierre. I have called a neighbour who is affected by the 2bedroom to one bedroom issue. They will call you to discuss.

Reply
BigBangBallers5:02 pm 14 Nov 12

My apologies, I should clarify. Our firm, Johannessen Legal, was involved in the conveyancing of a number of OwnPlace properties, and having raised several issues of concern with the LDA regarding the scheme and the associated contracts, are not altogether surprised that such an issue has arisen.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your options.

Sincerely,

Pierre Johannessen

Reply
BigBangBallers4:52 pm 14 Nov 12

@WhyACT? feel free to contact Pierre at Johannessen Legal & Migration if you need any assistance. http://www.johannessenlegal.com

Reply
RedDogInCan4:30 pm 14 Nov 12

Speak to a lawyer. The LDA land contract can be voided because the goods sold (ie the land) are not fit for the purpose for which they was sold (ie suitable for a two bedroom house). This is a standard common law right and there is even scope to claim damages for the for their stuff up. Every thing said by the LDA is purely legal bluff. Unfortunately this will involve dealing with a lawyer.

Reply
Chop713:34 pm 14 Nov 12

Don’t whinge, go legal

Reply
Baldy3:23 pm 14 Nov 12

WhyACT? said :

Dear Baldy.

Excellent response that clearly informs what happened. Much better then the news article or the origional post, both of which were short on facts and high on emotive ‘blame the government” comments.

Thank you WhyACT for explaining your side of the story and in which case I retract my comments on you just blaming the government with no cause.

Reply
chewy142:06 pm 14 Nov 12

WhyACT? said :

LOTS

If what you say is true, the the LDA have behaved disgracefully over this matter.

Reply
WhyACT?1:38 pm 14 Nov 12

Dear Baldy,
So some of the facts that are missing from the article are as follows:
1. To purchase from the ‘OwnPlace scheme’, you go into a ballot. If selected out of that ballot, you go to the LDA website and select a block of land from the ones with their colour coding for ‘OwnPlace’. When you click on that block of land it will have a diagram of the houseplan that will be built on that block of land and the builder that will be building that house. You cannot buy that block without agreeing to that plan and that builder.
2. At the time this is happening, the subdivision is actually off limits to anyone other than the LDA as they are still building the roads and putting in driveways etc. The builder draws up the plans on the basis of the information given to them by the LDA.
3. When you have made your selection, you are given two contracts, one for the land and one for the builder. Because the land has not been fully subdivided, no specific dates are put onto contracts.
4. Your solicitor takes you through the land contract and then orgainses settlement for you once the LDA determines the land is ready.
5. Once you own the land, the builder can go onsite to finalise their plans. At this point, our builder discovered the LDA had put the driveways in differently to the plan they had sent the builder and the land contours were different to what the LDA had sent to the builder.(These driveways will be ripped up and replaced by the LDA in November which acknowledges their errors here).
6. ACTPLA refused to allow 3 houses in the row to be built as 2 bedroom with only a single garage. This is not a rule any of us could have known about as many many houses on the OwnPLace list were 3 bedroom with only a single garage. The LDA had divided the land in such a way that it would have been impossible to fit more than a single garage and thats also what their driveways were for.
The builder had suggested to the LDA to divide those three blocks as 2 rather than 3, but the LDA had already taken the money for the land.
The builder applied for an exemption with ACTPLA but was denied. This back and forth between the LDA and ACTPLA took 10 months because, despite being in the same building these two departments don’t talk to each other.
7. Those with the housing plans changed to one bedroom were never given the option to back out of the scheme and couldn’t because the LDA had already taken their money by that point and wiped their hands of it.
8. At the bare minimum this is a case of false advertising as the LDA website said you have to have this 2 bedroom house and then that couldn’t be delivered.
9. I don’t see how this can be the builders fault as they have also lost a lot of money. The wrong contour plans given to them by the LDA have also meant digging foundations into the side of a hill, as well as the cost of redesigning to meet approval.
10. Katy Gallagher happily advertised, in the build up to the election, the OwnPlace scheme as one of their great successes, but if the fault for this lies with the builder and not the government, then surely the success of the scheme would be for the builder and not the government.
11. The LDA claim that they have no contractual involvement is true – by setting up the scheme to be two contracts rather than one, they can take the money for the land and walk away. But can they really claim they have helped first homebuyers with this scheme?
I agree with you that too many people want to blame the government for everything, but I am not one of those people. When the government wants to take credit for something that has caused me harm though, I will speak out against it.
Oh and yes, I am the woman in the article. Unfortunately, while all of my neighbours (except 1) have contacted me over the last 10 months to tell me of how much this scheme has financially hurt them, they are all in either government or property industry jobs and too afraid to speak out.

Reply
birder1:31 pm 14 Nov 12

Baldy said :

Mothy said :

These people (particulaly the OP and the woman in the article if they are different people) should take responsability for the fact they signed up for something that they didn’t knwo anything about. It certainly isn’t LDA’s fault. They did exactly what they were required to do.

I’m the OP, and I’m certainly not the person in the article (the Riot Act administrators know this, as they have my email address). How do you know the person in question didn’t know anything about what she signed up for? How do you know that the LDA has done everything they were required to do? Because they said so? Wow, you must have a lot more trust in government than I do. What we do know is the LDA sees that this woman is basically screwed and their response is, “Who cares? Not us!” Aren’t the conservatives who hate government always saying that government should be more responsive and should treat taxpayers as their customers? Shouldn’t we have higher expectations for government? And as a mechanism for self-preservation, should LDA avoid complete screw-ups like this so that people are not completely turned off of their offerings?

Reply
Baldy12:57 pm 14 Nov 12

Mothy said :

Particularly when buying off the plan, part of that process should be ensuring said plan was ACTPLA approved?

I agree. This seems to be a case of “I didn’t read the fine print or fully research this before I signed and now it’s the Governments fault.

I hate how the modern thing to do these days is to blame the Government (at whatever level) for individual and personal mistakes.

Who signs up for things without fully investigating and research them anyway? And it is shows the character of the person when they then blame whatever the closest Government agency for the buyers mistake.

These people (particulaly the OP and the woman in the article if they are different people) should take responsability for the fact they signed up for something that they didn’t knwo anything about. It certainly isn’t LDA’s fault. They did exactly what they were required to do.

Reply
devils_advocate12:35 pm 14 Nov 12

Mothy said :

Particularly when buying off the plan, part of that process should be ensuring said plan was ACTPLA approved?

Well one reason for waiting until the buyer had committed before seeking approval would be, if there was scope to make minor variations to the plan before submitting to ACTPLA.

But the overarching point is – the builder is a repeat player, they should know very well what plans will and won’t be allowed by ACTPLA. Probably they went super-aggressive with what they were trying to squeeze on the blocks and then got knocked back. Or, arbitrary decision-making by a faceless bueracracy. As noted above, difficult to know what to think without further info/comment from involved parties.

Reply
NoImRight12:31 pm 14 Nov 12

Ive been waiting forever to say this…….wont someone please think of the children?

Mmmm. Kind of a let down after all that. 🙁

Seems to be an issue for the builder not LDA. Maybe start a hate thread on them?

Reply
Mothy12:17 pm 14 Nov 12

Read same. While also surprised at the LDA response of Mr Dawes (“…said his agency only had a contractual obligation to sell the land and it was up to the builder to secure the necessary approvals”) buyer beware has to play a part, surely?

Particularly when buying off the plan, part of that process should be ensuring said plan was ACTPLA approved?

Being landed with a 1bdr when you bought a 2bdr off the plan is a nightmare, no doubt.

Reply
Slashor10:44 am 14 Nov 12

The original article in the times is here. http://canberratimes.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/bonner-home-dream-becomes-bureaucratic-nightmare-20121112-297xw.html (Can’t work out how to make that url pretty.)

Reply
ezy10z8:57 am 14 Nov 12

id like to know who the builder is?

Reply
View more conversations

What's Trending

News10

'Invisible' Liberal Senate candidate faces disendorsement

google_user4 hours ago

Even for the pro-capitalist ACT Liberals, the idea that you can buy a seat in the Senate by coughing… View

Tramcar Trev4 hours ago

Geoff Stewart another Zed would be better than Gallagher. View

Garfield4 hours ago

It's not a matter of paying $1m to the party, but raising the necessary amount to fund a competitive… View

Join the conversation
Opinion9

As if Katy isn't already busy enough, Prime Minister

JustSaying4 hours ago

@Henry Probably … I think it’s a bridge too far, to hope for voters to elect two independents,… View

Anthony Chase5 hours ago

This is no problem for Gallagher and her ilk. This government is a one-trick idealogical pony. When… View

Robyn Taylor Kelly13 hours ago

Hans Di most definitely! #TeamPocock2025 View

Join the conversation
News26

CIT debunks 'email' posted on social media claiming it prioritises international students over locals

dogwomble5 hours ago

As to whether the journalist has access to that technical knowledge, they may not. But most of us… View

dogwomble5 hours ago

Faking email headers is not a trivial task. Relying on SPF is a fairly standard thing now. The… View

dogwomble18 hours ago

It is possible to forward an email in a way that preserves the original email headers in most email… View

Join the conversation
Business10

Tradies not showing up for jobs – it baffles this award-winning plumbing business

Tilly12 hours ago

Had Ben and Josh here this morning (early) 17 January 2025. This article is 100% true. Highly… View

megsy26 days ago

I've lost count of the number of times I've been given the excuse that their truck broke down. Too… View

Elf26 days ago

Some tradesman don’t know how to say no. Just because they make money, they think they’re good… View

Join the conversation
Opinion

Here's why gardening might be the biggest scam of the 21st century

By Zoe Cartwright
15
News

UPDATED: 'Very dangerous thunderstorm' on the way for Canberra region, says BOM

By James Coleman
Start the conversation
News

Electric buses sent back to manufacturer for rehab after running out of puff

By Ian Bushnell
225
News

Severe thunderstorm with large hailstones on the way, says BOM

By Ian Bushnell
20
Opinion

A guide to driving the Kings Highway and saving everyone's sanity

By Karyn Starmer
66
News

Clean-up ongoing after horror storm sweeps across Canberra region

By James Coleman
4

Featured Properties

Zango Logo

Today's Poll

Do you support banning under 16s from social media?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
Explore 'Probing the Polls'

Featured Businesses

Professional Services

RSM

We share skills, insight and resources, as well as a client-centric approach that's based on a deep understanding of your business.

Find out more

Community Club

Canberra Southern Cross Club

We're proud to give you a place where friends and family can come together for good food and great entertainment.

Find out more

Mortgage Brokers

Clarity Home Loans

A passionate team of Canberrans helping other Canberrans secure their home loans. No frills, no commissions, no brainer.

Find out more

Insurance Brokers

allinsure

Allinsure has been a trusted insurance advisory to thousands of Australian business owners for almost 20 years.

Find out more

Lawyers

MV Law

Through a spirit of entrepreneurialism, collaboration, and future-forward thinking, MV Law have earned an industry-leading reputation.

Find out more

Lawyers

BDN Lawyers

BDN has provided legal services to to Canberra, Queanbeyan and the region for over 160 years.

Find out more

Lawyers

Kamy Saeedi Law

When you need a criminal or commercial lawyer, you don’t want to take any chances. You want someone in your corner that you can trust like your life depends on it - because it does.

Find out more

Electricians

True Connection Electrical

Since 2014, True Connection Electrical have been servicing residential and small commercial clients with reliable, trustworthy and top-quality electrical work.

Find out more
View the best of Canberra

What's On

Exhibition - Hopes and Fears: Australian Migration Stories
View all upcoming events

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.