Coastal erosion and rising sea levels have significant implications for people considering buying property in coastal zones, as RMB Property and Planning Lawyer TANYA EMMETT explains:
More than 85 percent of Australians live along our stunning coastline, which is in a continual state of change due to both natural and manmade causes.
Rapidly changing shorelines due to factors such as coastal erosion have significant implications for coastal property owners and public authorities.
Coastal erosion caused by factors such as shifting shorelines, storm surge activity and rising sea levels has the potential to seriously decrease property values and affect property saleability due to rising property insurance premiums and public liability issues.
Further, state and local environmental planning instruments give power to consent authorities to place specific development controls on proposed development of properties in certain coastal zones. This has the potential to restrict what can be built on a property and restrict and/or impose property control mechanisms to ensure protection of a property and the adjoining shoreline.
However, buyers often seem to be unaware of these risks or are perhaps willing to overlook them for the lifestyle benefits offered by these seaside locations.
Given the increase in extreme weather events, there are matters that buyers should familiarise themselves with in order to make informed choices about where they live.
Purchasers of property in these affected areas need to be aware of the potential risk of living so close to the shoreline, including having to bear the cost of rectifying damage caused by coastal erosion, and of any impediments to plans to develop coastal lands.
Buyers need to conduct their own investigations and ask questions as to environmental factors rather than rely solely on the vendor or agent for this information. Agents and vendors should really be disclosing material matters affecting properties they are selling, but these may not extend to future risks associated with long-term erosion.
Planning certificates required to be included in contracts for sale in NSW contain relevant matters related to planning including information such as whether a property is affected by hazards such as flooding or coastal erosion. They should be read carefully in the pre-purchase stage to identify any potential risks.
Understanding coastal risk and its potential impact on properties should be important to every purchaser of properties in coastal zones and should be keenly examined as part of any pre-purchase due diligence process. If you have any questions or are concerned about your situation, your first step should be to contact our office to arrange a free consultation. You can contact us by by phone or our 'Ask a Question' tool on our website.