HOMEOWNERS at a flood damaged unit block in Brassall are this week celebrating after the Queensland Government on Monday announced it would offer a voluntary home buy back for the majority of the homeowners.
The residents of the Mi Hi Grove Complex at 31 Haig Street had been left in limbo for a year, unable to sell their homes, because Queensland body corporate legislation required the consent of 100 percent of owners to collectively sell and terminate their strata scheme.
Only 34 of the 42 homeowners at the Mi Hi Grove units had expressed a wish to sell up after last year’s February floods inundated all the homes in two metres of water.
For Mi Hi Grove resident Odette Summers, the news comes as a bittersweet victory after a year in which she said her mental health and family relationships had fallen to new lows.
“I had to dump my grandmother’s 114-year-old piano which has caused heartache for my mother who has found it difficult to come to terms with its loss,” Ms Summers said.
“It has been the toughest year of my life; many times last year there was no help available and that is hard to forget.
“The announcement of the state buyback reduced me to tears; it is wonderful, but I feel very fragile right now.”
Unit owner Alannah Lewis-Stafford, 30, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, was plucked from her home by her mother, Glynis Lewis, before the floodwaters rose.
Ms Lewis-Stafford’s unit had no contents insurance, and she has received no financial assistance. She has lived with her mother since the flood.
“The buyback offer couldn’t come soon enough,” Ms Lewis-Stafford said.
“I have had nightmares and flashbacks since the floods but hopefully we can move on now.”
The Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) is the responsible for the Resilient Homes Fund Voluntary Home Buy-Back Program.
Council involvement will begin once valuations have been undertaken and property owners agree to a purchase offer from the State Government.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the announcement from Deputy Premier Steven Miles was an example of people power at its best, with the “council and owners working closely together to push for this outcome”.
“This is the first time all levels of government are coming together post-flood to find a solution to how we deal with community titles for Mi Hi Grove, as well as for future disasters.”
Mi-Hi Grove flooded in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and last year.
Last week, Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman and Mr Miles announced draft legislation would be introduced this winter to alter body corporate legislation in line with other states, allowing for the termination of community titles schemes with the support of 75 percent of lot owners.
