A local council has been slammed after they increased rates as high as 50 per cent for thousands of residents living on higher floors in apartment buildings.
Gold Coast City Council have raised the rates for owners of high-rise units over the last six months with residents living on level five and above affected.
Residents on the 40th floor or above have been hit the hardest with owners forced to pay 50 per cent more – or an extra $13.
Tenants on floors 21 to 40 were hit with a 40 per cent hike – or $10.50 – while those living on floors 11 to 20 have seen their rates rise by 30 per cent – an extra $8.10.
Apartment owners on floors five to 10 haven’t been spared with rates rising by 10 per cent – or $5.70.
Gold Coast Council issues a rate notice every year in January and July and each notice covers the rates for the next six months.
More than 12,000 high-rise apartments have been included in the revised rate categories.
The general manager of Queensland‘s Strata Community Association Laura Bos slammed the increase, labelling it a ‘view tax’.
Residents living on the top floors of high-rise apartments on the Gold Coast have had their council rates increased by up to a massive 50 per cent (stock image)
Ms Bos said the move would make the housing crisis worse as people struggle with the cost-of-living crisis.
‘It’s most definitely a view tax and particularly in context of how it’s being structured, in that the higher you go, the more you pay,’ she told the ABC.
Sue Donovan, who lives on the 18th floor of an apartment on the Gold Coast, said her rates had increased by around $100.
Ms Donovan described the price increase as a ‘wealth tax’, but said the move would help keep rates more affordable for people living in less expensive apartments.
‘I think it’s only fair that people who can afford it do pay a bit more to keep the rates lower for people who really are feeling great cost-of-living pressures,’ she said.
Councilor Glen Tozer defended the rate hike and said residents living on ground floors should not pay the same as those living at the top of high-rise units.
‘People living in more expensive apartments pay a little bit more than people living in a ground floor unit and frankly, I think it’s the right thing to do,’ he said.
A Gold Coast City Council spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the general rates for high-rise apartments changes depending on the unit’s size and location.
‘The City has adjusted its method used to calculate general rates for high-rise units that are a principal place of residence to ensure fairness and equity across all ratepayer categories,’ she said.
Residents, property groups and councilors are divided over the move as Aussies struggle to find affordable housing during a cost of living crisis (stock image of Surfers Paradise QLD)
‘This change ensures unit owners are charged fairly based on the effect that unit size and floor level has on a property’s value.’
Under the previous rates system, a person living on the first floor of a high rise would have paid the same as a resident living on the 40th floor.
General rates are charged based on the value of an owner’s land and their property’s rating category according the council’s website.
‘We also charge every property owner with other rates and standard charges that we set each year,’ the website states.
Daily Mail Australia contacted the Unit Owners Association of Queensland for comment.
