The Real Estate Institution of Queensland and the Queensland Law Society will be releasing new editions of the Contract for Houses and Residential Land (17th ed.) and Contract for Residential Lots in Community Title Scheme (13th Ed.) on Thursday, 22 January 2022. 

The new Contract editions will include a number of changes that will reflect new case law and new and updated legislation.

Significant changes that will impact the process of Conveyance are referred to below. Further information can be found here - can the below be hyperlinked Queensland Law Society Proctor website (can that be hyperlinked)

https://www.qlsproctor.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/QLS-summary-of-changes-new-REIQ-residential-contracts-due-20-Jan-2022.pdf

CONTRACT DATE DEFINITION

In the event that all parties have signed the Contract but the Contract date has not been inserted, the Contract Date will be the date on which the last Party signs the Contract. 

DEPOSIT BY DIRECT DEBIT - GRACE PERIOD - NEW CLAUSE 2.2(3)-(5)

If the buyer elects to pay the Deposit by Direct Debit, the payment of Deposit will be considered as received from the Date the transaction has been made. The Buyer must provide evidence of the Transaction for this to occur. In the Event that the Deposit Holder has not received the Deposit by the due date, the Seller may give notice to the Buyer that the payment has not been received and the new Due Date for the payment of Deposit will be 5pm 2 Business days after the Seller has provided this notice,

RIGHT TO EXTEND SETTLEMENT DATE - NEW CLAUSE 6.2

In response to a large number of Contract terminations due to the inability of the Buyer's Financier obtaining small Settlement Extensions, REIQ have updated their provisions to allow for either party to extend the Settlement Date for up to 5 days from the Scheduled Settlement. The Settlement Extension Notice must be provided prior to 4pm on the Scheduled Settlement Date and must be given in accordance with the Contract. Either party is entitled to more than one extension after the Scheduled Settlement Date, but it must not exceed the 5 business days.

COMPLIANT SMOKE ALARMS - CLAUSE 7.8 

As of 1 January 2022, all dwellings being leased, re-leased or sold must have hardwired 24-volt photoelectric or 10-year lithium battery powered smoke alarms installed in every bedroom, hallway or areas which connect bedrooms to the rest of the dwelling. These smoke alarms must be inter-connected with each other.

REIQ have updated their provisions to include that the Seller must install smoke alarms as per the new regulation. In the event that the Seller fails to comply with this, the Buyer is entitled to 0.15% of the purchase price. The buyer must claim this in writing prior to the Settlement Date and it will be their only remedy for the Sellers non-compliance. 

SERVICES UNRELATED TO THE LAND - CLAUSE 7.5

A new right in favour of the Buyer to terminated the Contract has been included in the Contract for any Services that pass through the land which do not service the land and are not protected by any Encumbrance disclosed to the Buyer in the Contract.