CRAMLORD MILLIONAIRE

Property owner accused of turning single homes into small units

THE Gold Coast City Council is taking a landlord to court for allegedly flouting planning laws at 10 properties. Allan Godfrey Quinn is accused of turning blocks meant for single dwellings into small units with only basic facilities and charging each tenant rent of up to $240 a week.

A LANDLORD is being taken to court by the Gold Coast City Council for allegedly flouting planning laws over 10 properties in Elanora and Palm Beach.

According to allegations made in court documents, Allan Godfrey Quinn has been charging up to $240 a week rent for small units with only the most basic facilities.

The council claims Mr Quinn has built multiple units on 10 separate blocks, all of which are supposed to be house single dwellings.

It is alleged that on some blocks Mr Quinn is renting to three separate households and on others, he is renting to five or six.

Court documents lodged state council planning officers raided the properties on March 18 and allegedly found the breaches to the planning laws.

“(Mr Quinn) has carried out, or caused to be carried out, assessable development without a necessary development permit being in effect for the development in breach of section 163 of the Planning

Act,” the council court documents.

Records show Mr Quinn purchased a majority of the properties in the mid to late 1990s.

The council is urging the court to ensure Mr Quinn lodges a planning application for the buildings or returns the properties to single dwelling blocks six months from a court order being made.

The documents also show one tenant is receiving a rental grant payment to help with the $240 a week rent.

The payments from

alleges in the

state government were directed to Mr Quinn’s account.

Photos filed in the Southport District Court and taken during the council’s inspection of the units show small cramped rooms.

Some units had bedrooms or living rooms situated in garages and small bathrooms.

From the outside the buildings in question all appear to house small units with minimal facilities.

They are all of the same concrete box design with a number having the same dark blue and grey paint scheme. NEIGHBOUR

At one block on Angelica Street, the units had pulldown roller doors as their front doors. At another property, metal ramps had been built at the back.

While the units are small Mr Quinn’s own Elanora home is an imposing figure on Nineteenth Avenue, significantly larger than a number of neighbouring properties.

Mr Quinn is often seen travelling between the properties in Elanora in a truck when he collects the rent personally.

One neighbour, who declined to be named, said it was a relief to hear the council were cracking down on the properties. “The units are also so small inside the tenants all spend a majority of their time outdoors in the common areas,” she said.

Residents at the properties were also reluctant to talk with many referring the Bulletin back to Mr Quinn.

One did say he moved into his property seven years ago.

Rayleen Goodall has been living in one of the units on Seabrook Street for about a year.

She told the Bulletin she was completely unaware there was any problem until the council raided the property in March.

She said she found the property through online classifieds website Gumtree.

“It’s so hard to even find a place to rent to start off with.”

The Bulletin understands

THE UNITS ARE SO SMALL ... THE TENANTS ALL SPEND A MAJORITY OF THEIR TIME OUTDOORS IN THE COMMON AREAS