Property owners in Fortitude Valley today found out that they face strict new laws and a potential $20,000 fine if they do not clean up their run down businesses.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk unveiled the new laws this morning which gives Brisbane City Council the right to ask courts to order property owners to spruce up their derelict properties. The new laws will take 12 months to get state approval but it should see a surge of Landlords cleaning up their act in anticipation should the laws be passed.

The new law follows Labor’s candidate Ray Smith’s promise last year of “getting tough on property owners’ scheme when he launched the party’s “Revalue the Valley” policy.

Although some property owners in Fortitude Valley have vastly improved upon their properties in the last six months, Cr Quirk finally sucumbed to the pressure and created the law to provide the council with legal reinforcement if people dont play ball.

The plan will be put forward in next Tuesdays Council meeting, where the LNP administration will use their majority to push the by-law through.