The focus of Canberra's Mr Fluffy asbestos clean-up will begin to shift from next month as the first 10 remediated blocks of land go on sale at public auction.
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Auctions for five northside and five southside properties will take place on April 12 and 14, with advertising beginning from Saturday.
The cleared blocks in established suburbs are expected to attract competitive bidding, helping recoup part of the $1 billion federal government buyback loan.
The blocks – in Scullin, Fraser, Downer, Campbell, Macgregor, Pearce, Duffy, Waramanga and Chapman – will be sold after former owners passed on their first right to repurchase offered by the government.
The government guaranteed public auction reserve prices would not be below the resale price offered to former owners but taskforce boss Andrew Kefford wouldn't say how much higher the reserves would be.
Reserves will be set after two independent valuations of the cleared blocks. If the two valuations are more than 15 per cent apart, a third valuation will be sought to inform the reserve price.
"I think this is really the last stage of what has been a very long and complicated program," Mr Kefford said.
"The key bit of this is that it allows the physical and social rebuilding of the neighbourhoods to begin.
"We've completed the remediation, we've done the demolition safely, the land has been certified as ready to be built on, so now we're enabling physical rebuilding on which so much progress can hang."
He said the difference between buyback prices and public reserves would be influenced by a range of factors.
Of the 10 blocks, six have planning permission for dual occupancy development. There is no guarantee of future dual occupancy development on the blocks, as some would not be approved because of other conditions.
All the usual ACT planning processes would still be required, including consultation with neighbours.
The buyback is reliant in part on the government raising money from increased property values after remediation and demolition. It is estimated that after the sale of all Fluffy land, the net cost to the ACT government will be at least $400 million.
Ahead of a wider rolling sales program mirroring Fluffy demolitions around Canberra, the first auctions will guide future plans from the government's asbestos taskforce and Land Development Agency. The Independent Property Group will market blocks in the city's inner south, inner north and Belconnen, while Ray White will sell blocks in Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and Woden.
The government has sought sensitivity in marketing of the blocks, part of ongoing support of Fluffy homeowners by the taskforce. Consideration of when blocks will be sold will include the need not to flood the market or lower block values.
Land Development Agency deputy chief executive officer Ben Ponton said vacant land in established suburbs tended to be more valuable than homes that would be demolished.
"In inner suburbs for example, if somebody was going to go to an auction to purchase a property with a view to knock it down, they have the expense of the demolition and other unknowns," he said.
"In this particular circumstance, those people looking to purchase a new home in an established suburb are able to go to the auction knowing they have a clean parcel of land."
As of Friday, 836 homes have been surrendered through the buyback and 937 offers have been accepted.
More than $720 million has been made in offers and 96 homes have been demolished.
Mr Kefford wouldn't be drawn on the need for a board of inquiry into the Mr Fluffy crisis. He said any decision on a future inquiry was a political decision for the government.
Last week Chief Minister Andrew Barr all but abandoned a full inquiry, saying he had failed to win necessary support from the Commonwealth and NSW.
