Update from the Office of the NSW Registrar General: Off the Plan contracts

Are you ready for the new off-the plan contract laws in NSW? The Office of the NSW Registrar General announced late last week that the commencement of new off the plan contract laws, is expected in December 2019.

Under the new laws, vendors will have to attach a Disclosure Statement to the contract that outlines key information, like sunset dates and other conditional events. The Disclosure Statement must include a draft plan, prepared by a registered surveyor.

The draft plan must show:

• the proposed lot number and area of the subject lot, and sufficient information to identify its location. For proposed strata lots, it is not necessary to show the location or area of any parking or storage area
• the site of any proposed easement or profit à prendre (right to take from the land owned by another person part of the natural produce grown on that land or part of the soil, earth or rock comprising the land) affecting the subject lot, and the site of any proposed restriction on the use of land or positive covenant affecting only part of the subject lot
• for lots in proposed strata schemes – the draft floor plan and draft location plan
• for lots in proposed community, precinct or neighbourhood schemes – the draft location diagram, draft detail plan and draft community, precinct or neighbourhood property plan.

As the property market looks to be picking up, now is the time to think about what you can do to prepare your business for the future.

Working smarter and using tools that will help your business, enables you to use your time more efficiently so you can take on more work. Navigating new legislative change can be a challenge but, using up to date technology can help you streamline the mundane tasks, so that you have more time to understand the changes.

PlanIT is an electronic solution that simplifies the complexities of handling multi-lot and off-the-plan developments. The PlanIT platforms allows our clients to create a master contract, which will then generate individual contracts for each lot within a subdivision. These individual contracts are easily edited from a master or lot level. When it is time for signing, contracts can be executed electronically as an e-contract from anywhere or simply printed in hard copy.

Since its introduction in March 2017, more than 80 law firms have adopted PlanIT and over 500 projects have been created containing over 25,000 lots. This strong demand has seen 250 real estate agents’ access PlanIT via the agent portal, with over 10,000 contracts exchanged electronically. 150 developers now have access to view project details and run daily reports.

Technology enables us to become more efficient and products like PlanIT help you navigate the technical aspects of your work, like managing off the plan developments. This allows your clients to have confidence in your skills and knowledge, meaning they may continue to use your services.