Erosion: Where the beach paradise can be lost
Climate events have become a key consideration for property buyers – arguably none more so than on the coastal fringes where beach erosions is clearly visible.
AUSTRALIA’S coastline is undoubtedly a beautiful place to live, but the threat of coastal erosion poses a growing risk to thousands of seaside property owners.
NSW is one of the most impacted states, with high-profile and high-value areas such as Sydney’s northern beaches and the state’s far north coast among the most at-risk areas.
With coastal erosion a key challenge for property owners in these – and other – areas nationwide, conveyancers and allied property sector professionals must be keenly aware of how to manage the issue in order to discharge client obligations effectively.
Mieke Elzer, a property and commercial lawyer at Attwood Marshall Lawyers, a national law firm
with offices in Kingscliff on the NSW far north coast, counts erosion as one of several “climate related events” that can threaten properties now, and into the future.
“This is becoming a key consideration for property buyers, we’ve had an increasing number of unprecedented weather events over recent years,” Elzer says of climate risks.
On what professionals can do to grapple with increasing risk, Elzer points to climate intelligence that gives “the purchaser an idea as to what they’re looking at and whether they need to do further due diligence”.
Alarmingly, she says results can sometimes show climate risks 30-years from now that are “quite extreme” and “a lot more extreme than is represented in the planning certificate”.
If a risk is identified, the lawyer says steps must be taken. One key is to contact the purchaser’s insurer to see if the property is insurable against the risk and assess premiums.
It’s for reasons such as this that she says climate change can be a “major issue” if not discussed before a purchaser enters into a contract.
Other tips, according to Elzer, are to carry out pre-purchase searches to ascertain risk, check council websites for risk mapping, do due diligence on the ground, and get a builder in to consider structural improvements
She also notes that the right solution depends on the particular risk tolerance of a client.
“It’s going to be highly dependent on the client’s situation, Elzer says, adding that “a client who’s retired and they’re just looking for a place to spend the next 20 years” will likely have a different outlook than a purchaser buying “as part of their secure property portfolio”.
“Key is actually finding out what the client’s circumstances are and how comfortable they are with risk and what liquid assets they have to do things like structural improvements”.
Byron Shire Council did not respond to Council did not respond to Australian Conveyancer request for comment. Northern Beaches Council referred Australian Conveyancer to guidance on its role in the state’s coastal management framework, which says the council is “working with residents to manage their risks and obligations as coastal landowners”.
