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The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a number of difficulties in relation to the lodgement and registration of numerous real property documents with NSW Land Registry Services. This in turn has impacted, or has potential to impact, a large number of people, including anyone wishing to buy, sell, alter or vary any Property, to landlords and tenants and mortgagees and mortgagors. Like the majority of society, the NSW Land Registry Services is introducing a number of initiatives which aim to adapt to the COVID environment and make processes more remotely accessible, for industry professionals and individuals alike.

If you are a “foreign person” investing in Australia, be that real estate, businesses or other assets, you should be aware of the existing framework of approvals required from the Australian Government, and in particular the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), prior to the acquisition of these assets.

The NSW Government published on Friday 24 April 2020 the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2020 (Regulation). This is the formal adoption by the NSW Government to ratify and implement, with effect from 24 April 2020, the National Cabinet Mandatory Code of Conduct (Code of Conduct) issued by the Australian Government on 3 April 2020 to prescribe a set of good faith leasing principles to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

As mentioned in our previous article, on 22 April 2020, the NSW Attorney General has announced the temporary introduction of the Electronic Transactions Amendment (COVID-19 Witnessing of Documents) Regulation 2020 (NSW) (Regulation) which allows video conferencing technologies, such as Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime and Zoom to be used in witnessing of certain legal documents during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes will make it easier for the residents of NSW to stay home and reduce physical interactions, while still completing important transactions.

On 7 April 2020 the Federal Government announced the introduction of the Mandatory Code of Conduct (Code) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Code imposes a set of good faith leasing principles for negotiations between Landlords and Tenants which will apply to commercial tenancies (including retail, office and industrial leases), where the Tenant is an eligible business for the purposes of the Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper stimulus package.

DISCLAIMER: At this stage the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme continues to operate as normal. However, given the current disruption and uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, this scheme may be subject to change.

The world as we know it is changing as COVID 19 affects every aspect of our day to day lives. As the media coverage shows, it is affecting everyone globally and it is not clear on when things will get back to the way of life as we know it, if it all.

The NSW Department of Fair Trading has announced sweeping changes to the current NSW Residential Tenancy Laws commencing 23 March 2020. These changes aim to improve the renting experience of Tenants whilst also ensuring Landlords are still able to effectively manage their properties.

The purchase of a property is usually one of the biggest purchases that most Australians make in their lifetime and this is why contracts for the sale and purchase of property are governed by strict statutory requirements. In particular, sections 23C and 54A of the Conveyancing Act 1919 require contracts for the sale and purchase of property to be in writing, however the recent case of Phung v Phung [2019] NSWSC 117demonstrates how an oral contract for the sale of property can also be enforced in certain circumstances.

Since 1961, Australia has adopted the ‘strata system’ for governing the ownership of a 'share' of a building or structure. Strata schemes (also known as ‘strata title’) allow for individuals to purchase and own a portion of shared residency, including residential townhouses, units and villas, along with commercial offices, factories, warehouses and shops.