A View On Property

Anyone buying or selling property in Queensland needs to be aware of the provisions of the Neighbourhood Disputes (Dividing Fences and Trees) Act. The affect of this Act is that anyone who owns a property is entitled to retain the view that exists at the time that they buy it. If that view subsequently becomes obstructed by a tree, on another property (which is more than 2.5 meters tall), then this Act of the Queensland Parliament enables the property owner whose view has been lost to take action to have the trees pruned or if necessary removed, in order to preserve their view.

A recent decision of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal has confirmed that this possibility exists, even for properties that were purchased many years ago, and long before this statute was passed. The recent case decided by the Tribunal dealt with one property purchased in the 1980’s and a neighbouring property upon which the trees had grown that was purchased in 2001.

A vital point to understand is that a Buyer is only entitled to the view that exists at the time that they buy the property. We can see this leading potential Buyers of property requiring the Sellers to enforce their rights to a view, to improve the outlook, before a prospective buyer signs the Contract.