About land valuations in Queensland

The way we calculate land depends on how the land is zoned under a state or local government planning scheme. For all non-rural urban land, including rural-residential land, we determine the site value of the land.

If your valuation notice shows a new site valuation, the land was valued as non-rural land.

How is site value determined?

Urban land is valued like most other land in Queensland, using a mass valuation approach where a representative property is individually valued to determine how much land values for similar properties have changed.

The State Valuation Service’s valuers monitor the property market, recording and analysing urban sales in local government areas to determine the current site value of land. A valuer may contact a vendor or purchaser to determine if a sale is genuine, or to gain a better understanding of the circumstances of a sale. The preference is to use vacant land to determine site value, where available.

Improved land sales may also be used to determine site value for urban properties – this is one where the property has a house, fences and other structures. In these cases, the value of the improvements (if any) is excluded in the analysis of the sale.

What improvements does the site value include?

Site value reflects what the land would be expected to sell for in its current condition. It includes any work undertaken, or materials used, to improve the physical nature of the land to prepare it for development such as:

• clearing vegetation on the land
• picking up and removing stones
• improving soil fertility or structure
• works to manage or remedy contamination (if the land was contaminated land as defined under the Environmental Protection Act 1994)
• restoring, rehabilitating or improving the land’s surface by filling, grading or levelling, but not by irrigation or conservation works
• reclaiming land by draining or filling, including retaining walls and other works for the reclamation
• underground drainage
• any other works done to the land that are necessary to improve or prepare it for development.

What improvements are excluded from the site value?

The following works do not constitute site improvements:

• structural improvements on the land such as houses, buildings, sheds, fencing, dams and landscaping
• minor works such as providing soil for gardens, retaining walls for landscaping purposes and pruning or removal of trees for beautification purposes
• excavations for pools, spas or fish ponds, underground car parks and the footings/foundations of a structure
• internal roads and driveways
• irrigation or conservation works
• services such as water and sewerage pipes and associated excavations.

Deduction for site improvements

You may be eligible for a deduction for site improvements if you carried out and paid for site improvements in the past 12 years.

Valuing units and duplexes

Units and duplexes in community title schemes are not valued separately. A single valuation for the land is issued to the body corporate—they should share the valuation notice with unit and duplex owners for their information. A valuation amount is apportioned for each unit or duplex owner for local council rates and land tax purposes (if applicable).