Key developments
- Off the plan contracts for residential properties – Discussion Paper
- Review of the Retail Leases Act 1994
- Statutory Review of the Coal Mine Subsidence Compensation Act 2017 Discussion Paper
- Regulating Buy Now, Pay Later
- Proposed amendments to the Housing SEPP
- 2023-24 Pre-Budget Submission
- Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Information Disclosure, National Interest and Other Measures) Bill 2022
- Remake of the Criminal Procedure Regulation 2017
Off the plan contracts for residential properties – Discussion Paper
The Property Law Committee contributed to a submission to the Office of the Registrar General on potential changes to the regulatory regime for off the plan contracts. We noted the significant reforms implemented in 2015 and 2019, and supported only limited changes to the regime, focusing on enhancing the mandatory disclosure statement.
In respect of the specific potential reforms proposed in the Discussion Paper, we opposed requiring developers to own land intended to be subdivided for residential use before exchanging contracts for an off the plan sale, as this would be unduly restrictive in our view. We also opposed imposing a time stipulation for the vendor to become the owner or obtain development approval or expanding the concept of ‘sunset event’ to include a date specified for the vendor to become the owner or obtain development approval.
We opposed expanding the disclosure statement to include information about likely expenses and contributions that a lot owner will be required to make after settlement, but we suggested the inclusion of additional information about the conditional nature of the contract, including a warning to prospective purchasers.
