Western Australian Current Acts

VALUATION OF LAND ACT 1978 - SECT 4

4 .         Terms used

        (1)         In this Act unless the context requires otherwise —

        agent includes every person who, in Western Australia, for or on behalf of any other person (hereinafter called the principal) —

            (a)         has the control or disposal of any real or personal property owned by the principal, or the control, receipt, or disposal of any rents or proceeds derived from any such property; or

            (b)         directly or indirectly, whether by negotiation, or otherwise howsoever, sells or disposes of any such property, or offers any such property for sale or disposition, or solicits or procures the sale or disposition thereof;

        assessed value of land means such percentage of the capital value of the land as may from time to time be prescribed either —

            (a)         in respect of land generally; or

            (b)         in respect of a class of lands which includes the land;

        Authority means the Western Australian Land Information Authority established by the Land Information Authority Act 2006 section 5;

        capital value of land means the capital amount which an estate of fee simple in the land might reasonably be expected to realize upon sale — provided that where the capital value of land cannot reasonably be determined on such basis, the capital value of such land shall be the sum of, first, the unimproved value of the land, and, secondly, the estimated replacement cost of improvements to the land after making such allowance for obsolescence, physical depreciation, and such other factors as are appropriate in the circumstances;

        date of valuation means the date fixed by the Valuer-General under section 19 in relation to a general valuation;

        general valuation means a general valuation made or deemed to be made under section 22;

        gross rental value of land means the gross annual rental that the land might reasonably be expected to realize if let on a tenancy from year to year upon condition that the landlord were liable for all rates, taxes and other charges thereon and the insurance and other outgoings necessary to maintain the value of the land, provided that —

            (a)         where the gross rental value of land cannot reasonably be determined on such basis, the gross rental value shall be the assessed value; and

            (b)         the gross rental value of any land not used for residential purposes only shall, where the value of the improvements on the land is less than one-third of what would have been the value of the land if it were vacant land, in any event, be not less than what would be the assessed value of the land if it were vacant land; and

            (c)         the gross rental value of any land separately valued shall, in any event, be not less than $20; and

            (d)         calculation of the gross rental value of any land shall include any payment normally or usually made for or in relation to a tenancy of the kind in question but shall not include any allowance, by discounting or otherwise, for advance payment or late payment of rent that may apply;

        improvements in relation to land means the value of all works actually effected to land, whether above or below the surface, and includes fixtures, but does not include —

            (a)         machinery, whether fixed to the land or not; or

            (b)         any below ground works used in the extraction of minerals or petroleum;

        interim valuation means a valuation made under section 23;

        land means lands, tenements and hereditaments, and any improvements to land, and includes any interest in land;

        merged improvements means any works in the nature of draining, filling, excavation, grading or levelling of the land, retaining walls or other structures or works for that purpose, the removal of rocks, stone or soil, and the clearing of timber, scrub or other vegetation;

        metropolitan region means all lands within the following local government districts — Fremantle, Gosnells, Joondalup, Melville, Nedlands, Perth, South Perth, Stirling, Subiaco, Bassendean, Cambridge, Canning, Claremont, Cockburn, Cottesloe, East Fremantle, Kwinana, Mosman Park, Victoria Park, Vincent, Armadale-Kelmscott, Bayswater, Belmont, Kalamunda, Mundaring, Peppermint Grove, Rockingham, Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Swan and Wanneroo;

        rateable land means land in respect of which any rate or tax is assessed under any of the rating and taxing Acts or is, in the opinion of the Valuer-General, reasonably likely to be assessed under any of those Acts prior to such land being valued in a general valuation;

        rating and taxing Acts means an Act or Acts under which any rate or tax is assessed in respect of land;

        rating or taxing authority means any person entitled under any Act to assess any rate or tax in respect of land;

        site value of land means the capital amount that an estate of fee simple in the land might reasonably be expected to realize upon sale assuming that any improvements to the land, other than merged improvements, had not been made and, in the case of land that is reserved for a public purpose, assuming that the land may continue to be used for any purpose for which it is being used or could be used at the date of valuation;

        townsite means —

            (a)         all land within the metropolitan region; and

            (b)         all land within a district that is a city or town outside the metropolitan region; and

            (c)         any land that is currently a townsite within the meaning of the Land Administration Act 1997 or any Act repealed thereby; and

            (d)         any land, including privately owned subdivided land, in an area that has been, or is to be regarded as having been, constituted a townsite, and given a name, under section 10 of the Land Act 1933 ¹ ;

        trustee in addition to every person appointed or constituted trustee by act of parties, or by order or declaration of a court or by operation of law, includes —

            (a)         an executor or administrator, guardian, committee of management, receiver or liquidator; and

            (b)         every person having or taking upon himself the administration or control of land effected by any express or implied trust, or acting in any fiduciary capacity, or having the possession, control, or management of the land of a person under any legal disability;

        unimproved value means —

            (a)         in relation to any land situate within a townsite, except land referred to in paragraph (b)(ii), the site value;

            (b)         in relation to any land not included in any area referred to in paragraph (a), where any such land is —

                  (i)         land —

                        (I)         held under a lease granted under the Land Administration Act 1997 , or any Act repealed thereby, for grazing purposes; or

        (II)         held under a lease, licence or permit under the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 ; or

        (III)         other than a mining tenement, held pursuant to an agreement made with the Crown in the right of the State and scheduled to an Act approving the agreement,

                the value thereof is an amount equal to 20 times the annual rental reserved by the lease or agreement or the value of the land in fee simple, whichever is the lesser sum;

                  (ii)         land in respect of which —

                        (I)         a mining tenement is held pursuant to an agreement made with the Crown in the right of the State and scheduled to an Act approving the agreement —

                        (A)         5 times the annual rent per hectare for the first 1 000 h or part thereof;

                        (B)         2.5 times the annual rent per hectare for the next 9 000 h or part thereof;

                        (C)         0.25 times the annual rent per hectare for each hectare in excess of 10 000 h,

                where the annual rent referred to is the annual rent that would be used to calculate unimproved value under item (II) or (III) if the mining tenement were held under the Mining Act 1978 ; or

        (II)         an exploration licence is held under the Mining Act 1978 —

                        (A)         2.5 times the annual rent payable for the licence under that Act if it is the first year of the term of the licence; or

                        (B)         2.5 times the annual rent that would be payable for the licence under that Act if it were the first year of the term of the licence;

                or

        (III)         any other licence or a lease is held under the Mining Act 1978 — 5 times the annual rent payable for the licence or lease under that Act; or

        (IV)         a licence or lease is held under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967 — 2.5 times the annual fee payable for the licence or lease under that Act; or

        (VA)         a permit or drilling reservation is held under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources Act 1967 — the annual fee payable for the permit or drilling reservation under that Act; or

                        (V)         any mineral estate or interest in land is registered under the Transfer of Land Act 1893 — 5 times the rent that would be payable if the land were held as a mining lease under the Mining Act 1978 ;

        [(iii)         deleted]

                  (iv)         land comprised in the annual cutting section allotted by the Department (as defined in section 3 of the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 ) in respect of areas of State forests, timber reserves or other Crown land and held under a sawmilling permit or licence from the Crown for cutting or removing timber — the value thereof is an amount equal to $3.75 for every hectare of land or part thereof;

                  (v)         land held or used under any other lease, licence or concession from the Crown with the right to take any profit from the land — the value thereof is an amount equal to $2.50 for every hectare of land or part thereof;

                  (vi)         other land of the Crown which is temporarily occupied for private purposes without title or authority — the value thereof is an amount equal to 20 times the ground rent which might reasonably be demanded for the land, or the value of the land in fee simple, whichever is the lesser sum;

                  (vii)         land to which any of subparagraphs (i) to (vi) do not apply —

                        (I)         the capital amount that an estate in fee simple in the land not including improvements might reasonably be expected to realize upon sale; or

        (II)         where the unimproved value cannot reasonably be determined on the basis in item (I) — the percentage of the capital amount that an estate in fee simple in the land might reasonably be expected to realize upon sale assuming that the land has been developed, without buildings, to the standard generally prevailing in the part of the State in which the land is situated and taking into account any restriction on the land imposed under any written law, such percentage being that prescribed for land in that part of the State;

        vacant land means land on which there are no improvements other than merged improvements;

        valuation district means a valuation district constituted or reconstituted under section 17;

        valuation roll means a valuation roll established under section 26;

        value in relation to land means the assessed value, the capital value, the gross rental value, the site value, the unimproved value and a value determined or assessed under section 39(1) of the land or any one or more of those values; to value means to determine or assess those values or any one or more of them; and determination of value or valuation means a determination or assessment of those values or any one or more of them.

        (2)         Where, before or after the coming into operation of this Act, in any Act or in any agreement that is made with the Crown in right of the State and scheduled to any Act approving the agreement, reference is made to the annual value of land, such reference shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be a reference to the gross rental value of that land.

        [Section 4 amended: No. 16 of 1981 s. 3; No. 10 of 1984 s. 2; No. 25 of 1984 s. 9; No. 73 of 1986 s. 3; No. 20 of 1987 s. 3; No. 8 of 1992 s. 3; No. 17 of 1993 s. 5; No. 38 of 1993 s. 34; No. 69 of 1994 s. 17; No. 14 of 1996 s. 4; No. 81 of 1996 s. 153(1); No. 31 of 1997 s. 135(1) and (2); No. 57 of 1997 s. 125(1) and (2); No. 10 of 1998 s. 71(1); No. 24 of 2000 s. 44; No. 55 of 2004 s. 1262; No. 28 of 2006 s. 373; No. 60 of 2006 s. 167; No. 35 of 2007 s. 107(2); No. 33 of 2009 s. 4; No. 19 of 2010 s. 51; No. 14 of 2015 s. 4.]