21st August 2014
| Under the hammer: The Kent Street house is expected to fetch $1.3m. |
The first state-owned property at Millers Point is going to auction at a secret location on Thursday evening, and skittish authorities have imposed unusually strict rules on those invited to attend.
The house at 119 Kent Street is the first of 293 public housing properties to be sold off at Millers Point and The Rocks.
The last public housing tenant paid $77.20 a week in rent. The property now has a price guide of more than $1.3 million.
| Under the hammer: The Kent Street house is expected to fetch $1.3m |
| Millers Point: a community under the hammer |
In a bid to duck media attention and protests over the controversial public housing sell-off, only vetted buyers who are ''in a position to purchase the property on the night'' will be permitted entry.
Under instructions from the government, McGrath Estate Agents have not publicly disclosed the address where the auction will be held.
Conditions of entry to the auction, drawn up by Government Property NSW and obtained by Fairfax Media, ban any form of video, audio or photography. Media outlets will be denied entry.
The conditions, which must be signed by bidders, include a warning that ''individuals that cause disturbance on the night or during the auction process will be asked to leave or may be removed''.
An initial price guide of more than $1 million was given for the rundown four-bedroom heritage-listed home, but it has since been revised upwards. The property has been vacant since February 2011.
Almost 600 public housing tenants will be evicted for the sales program, which has been described by critics as ''social cleansing''.
Labor candidate for the state seat of Sydney Edwina Lloyd accused the government of ''ridiculous secrecy surrounding the covert auction''.
''The sale process has turned into a comical and chaotic display of the Liberal government’s complete arrogance and disregard for public opinion,'' she said.
As previously reported, the government has also gagged real estate agents from talking to the media, and property inspections are strictly by appointment. Bidders for some homes have reportedly been told they will be given two hours' notice of the auction, due to fears of protests.
Fair Trading Minister Matthew Mason-Cox last week rejected suggestions the sales lacked transparency, telling Parliament he had ''complete confidence'' in the auction process.
Millers Point community leader Barney Gardner said residents were calling for a boycott of real estate agents involved in the sales, accusing them of ''profiteering out of people’s misery''.
To make their views known to potential buyers, Millers Point residents are planning a protest at McGraths Estate Agents’ head office at Edgecliff on Thursday evening, where they believe the auction will take place.
''[Buyers] will contribute to the destruction of a close-knit community, and would also be removing many elderly and vulnerable people from their local support networks,'' Mr Gardner said.
A Government Property NSW spokesman said it was ''normal'' for agents to vet prospective buyers ''in any auction of this type''.
Potential buyers were required to pre-register for the auction ''given the high level of interest'', he said.
Dawn Caruana, a Kent Street public housing tenant, said she would ''fight to the end'' to stay at Millers Point.
''There is a community here and I don’t think it should be broken,'' she said.
Condition of Entry
1. As the auction will be held on private property, McGrath reserves its rights.
2. Admittance to the auction is for bona fide buyers who are in a position to purchase the property on the night.
3. Due to restricted space, only pre-registrations will be accepted and only two people per group are permitted.
4. No press or media or other real estate agents will be permitted entry.
5. No video, audio or still photography will be permitted.
6. Individuals that cause disturbance on the night or during the auction process will be asked to leave or may be removed.
7. You will be asked to sign the above conditions of entry on the night.
Resourced: http://www.smh.com.au/domain/real-estate-news/secret-auction-of-millers-point-house-20140820-1066ai.html
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