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Every property in Queensland has a land valuation. This value is used for land tax and local council rate calculations.

This is also referred to as:
  • Unimproved capital valuation (UCV)
  • Site valuation
This land valuation should represent the theoretical market value of the piece of land, excluding any improvements like buildings or landscaping. This is to establish a baseline valuation of all of the land in Queensland for taxation purposes.

The land valuation process is administered in Queensland by the Queensland Valuer-General and is not a body corporate specific process. It applies to all properties in Queensland including residential houses, commercial and industrial land, and farms. The focus of this article is how the land valuation process applies to body corporate properties.

How does a land valuation work for a body corporate property?

In a body corporate in Queensland, each lot owner owns a share of the scheme land. The scheme land is the piece of land on which the body corporate development was originally built, and it includes all of the lots and the common property.

The land valuation process for a body corporate looks at the whole of the scheme land, and assigns a valuation to that entire piece of land. The portion of that valuation assigned to each lot is then determined based on the interest schedule lot entitlement for each lot.
Example: A body corporate with 47 townhouses has a land valuation of $15 million for the whole site, including the lots and common property.

Each lot has 1 interest schedule lot entitlement, so receives 1/47th of the valuation = $319,148.94 per lot.

If the land valuation increases 10% from $15 million to $16.5 million, the individual lot owner’s share of the valuation also increases by 10% to $351,063.83.
What does that mean when valuations increase? Any percentage change to the whole-site valuation will change the valuation of each individual lot by the same percentage.

Calculating your share of the valuation, using interest schedule lot entitlements

Each lot within a body corporate has a certain number of interest schedule lot entitlements. This is like the number of shares that each lot owner has in the body corporate scheme land, and it informs the Government about each owner’s percentage of ownership of the land, and of the valuation amount.

The number of interest schedule lot entitlements for your lot is located in the community management statement, available to lot owners free of charge through BCsystems owner portal.

Who receives the land valuation for a body corporate?

When the body corporate scheme land receives a new valuation, only one valuation notice is issued to the body corporate directly. The body corporate must then distribute a copy of that land valuation notice to every lot owner included in that body corporate.

BCsystems has a process to receive, record and distribute each land valuation to every lot owner to meet that legal requirement.

Objections to land valuation

There is a process for a land-owner to object to their land valuation. That process is administered by the Queensland Valuer-General.

For body corporate properties, the person entitled to lodge an objection is the body corporate. To lodge an objection to a body corporate valuation, requires a majority decision of the body corporate committee.

If you disagree with your body corporate’s land valuation, these are the steps to lodge a request to make an objection:

  1. Review the grounds for objection, on the Queensland Government website (the objection must be specific and requires evidence)
  2. Write your objection submission, and send that to your body corporate committee by submitting a committee motion
  3. Contact the Queensland Government land valuation enquiries line on 1300 664 217 for further information or advice.
Objections to the 2024 land valuation close on 27 May 2024.
If your body corporate makes a majority decision to object to the valuation on behalf of all owners, the body corporate committee may require the assistance of a professional valuer to prepare evidence and lodge the objection on behalf of the body corporate.

Further resources for owners

The Queensland Government has a dedicated website for information about the annual land valuation process:

2024 land valuations | Environment, land and water | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au)

What other valuation types are there?

Maintenance valuation

A maintenance valuation is a different type of land valuation. In Queensland the Valuer-General decides which areas of Queensland are due for a new valuation, and that process occurs once per annum. The new valuations apply from 1 July of each year.

If your piece of land is created, increased or decreased in size during the year, that triggers a maintenance valuation. A maintenance valuation informs you about the valuation of the land for the part of the year.
Example:  if a piece of land with a $600,000 valuation was subdivided into two smaller pieces of land, a maintenance valuation would be issued for each new piece of land, for example $300,000 each.

Valuation for insurance replacement cost

A valuation for insurance replacement cost is a specific body corporate valuation. It is not related to the land valuation. This valuation type is to assess the cost to rebuild the physical building if it were destroyed in an insurance event (e.g. a fire). The cost of re-building the building is not related to the market value of the land it sits on – instead it will depend on the type of construction, age, level of finish and size of the building.

Sale price valuation, or bank valuation

When buying, selling or refinancing a home loan, your bank may ask for a valuation of your body corporate lot. This is a market valuation of your lot, and is to estimate what your lot would be worth if you sold it on the real estate market. This is unrelated to a land valuation.

Sinking fund forecast

Whilst not technically a valuation, this report assigns a cost to upcoming capital maintenance so that the body corporate can set accurate future budgets. Read our detailed article on sinking funds.

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