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{{propApi.successMessage}} {{region}} Change locationGoulburn Mulwaree Council must stop gouging new home buyers
Goulburn Mulwaree Council must stop gouging new home buyers
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“Development application fees are based on the estimated development cost (EDC), so there is an incentive for councils to inflate the estimated cost of building a new home. The higher the EDC the higher the DA fee collected by council.
“Goulburn Mulwaree Council is regularly imposing an estimated cost that is hundreds of thousands of dollars above signed building contract price. This increased EDC is based on irrelevant and inappropriate claims such as allowances for promotional discounts and unrealistic driveway and landscaping costs.
“If this was any commercial business they would be forced to stop overcharging consumers and required to issue refunds. The same should apply to councils,” added Mr Armitage.
“The Council has the sole authority to determine the EDC, and you have no real choice but to accept their decision. It means councils are raking in thousands of dollars more in fees and other charges they are not entitled to.
“Issues like this are not only adding to the cost of housing but also causing projects to be delayed by weeks as outlined in HIA's Getting Keys in Doors report.
“We have councils across the state using first home buyers and families building a home as an ATM. Council’s shouldn’t need to be told that is simply not fair, they should be better than this,” concluded Mr Armitage.
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