Draft Report - Review of Valuer General prices to local government 2025 - April 2025

IPART has released its draft report for its review of prices for Valuer General’s services to councils from 1 July 2025.

Overview of draft decisions

IPART has assessed the efficient cost of providing land valuation services to be 16% lower than proposed by the Valuer General. The draft decision would result in price reductions for all councils compared to the Valuer General’s proposed prices.

We have made draft decisions to: 

• establish a determination period of 4 years
• allocate 30.2% of the Valuer General’s efficient costs to local councils 
• set a revenue requirement that reflects the Valuer General’s efficient costs of $286.6 million 
• adopt a postage stamp (flat fee) pricing methodology with a price of $7.86 per valuation rather than retaining the existing 4 distinct zone prices
• increase the price by Consumer Price Index (CPI) each year. 

We have considered feedback from stakeholders

In making our decisions, we have considered feedback from stakeholders. We have identified the following key themes from submissions we received: 

• The proposed cost increases lack efficiency and value for money.
• There are potential financial impacts for councils and ratepayers if the Valuer General’s proposed prices are implemented.
• The proposed cost allocation is inequitable for councils, and all users of valuation services should be charged more equitably.
• Councils should bear a smaller share of the cost of objections, if at all.

We are inviting feedback to our Draft Report

IPART is inviting feedback on our draft maximum prices. You can provide feedback on the Draft Report, Efficient Cost Report, and Draft Determination by making a submission by 4 May here.