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As the NSW Land Registry Services (LRS) continues its on-going digital transformation of all property transactions, electronic leases or e-leasing can now be submitted through the property exchange platform PEXA. This means representatives of landlords and tenants now have the ability to prepare, sign and register most leases (some exceptions apply) electronically in NSW, over whole or part of a property. This addition will likely reduce the time it takes to register leases in NSW as well as promote the move towards the electronic signing of leases.

If you are a tenant leasing a retail space, particularly in a major retail complex, chances are your lease contains what is referred to as a ‘demolition’ clause. Clauses of these nature allow a landlord to terminate a retail lease in order to undertake demolition or substantial refurbishments/renovations to the retail premises. These clauses may contain provisions for the tenant to be moved to an alternate space, however they may simply bring the tenancy to an end upon the expiration of a requisite period of notice.

Did you know it is possible for you to become the owner of a property which is not yours? Although difficult to prove, ‘squatters rights’ (based on the principles of adverse possession which apply to old system land) allow someone to legally take ownership of land under Torrens Title if they can prove that they should be registered as the owner of the land.

Last week senior members of our Property Department attended a PEXA“Train the Trainer” seminar. PEXA (Property Exchange Australia) is the new electronic conveyancing platform linked to the NSW Land Registry Services system. It was an insightful two days of training.

A Notary is an officer of the law who is appointed for life by the Supreme Court and is given statutory powers to draw up, authenticate and execute documents for both national and international purposes. It is important to note that not all solicitors are public notaries but all public notaries are solicitors.

You save the money for the deposit, you have looked at the plans and decided this is the right purchase for you, you eagerly await the building of your new property and being handed the keys. However, the reality of this is that off-the-plan purchases do not always run as smoothly as Purchasers would hope.

As of the 1 January 2018, developers entering into a contract with a builder for work on a residential (including mixed use) strata scheme of 4 storeys or more, must lodge a building bond equal to 2% of the contract value of the work. The 2% bond is calculated on the final contract price for all applicable building contracts on completion of construction and must be lodged before an occupation certificate is issued, not at the start of the construction. Where there is no written contract for the building work, or the parties to the building contract are connected persons, the contract price is determined by a quantity surveyor who must not be connected to the developer or the builder.

The recent decision in the case of DGF Property Holdings Pty Ltd v D Federico; DGF Property Holdings Pty Ltd v Butros [2018] NSWSC 344 provides clarity and guidance as to when a court will consider it “just and equitable” to make an order allowing the vendor to rescind an off-the-plan contract with a sunset clause in accordance with section 66ZL of the Conveyancing Act 1919. It is clear from the facts of the case that the court will consider the impact on both the purchaser and vendor when making an order.

Finding an aboriginal artefact on your land has significant consequences for a landowner, particularly if you are looking to develop or build on the land. Aboriginal objects are the property of the Crown, not of the landowner of the property on which they are found. Furthermore, the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1975 (NSW) imposes offences on individuals who ‘harm’ (which is defined to include moving) these objects.

On 13 February 2018, the NSW Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 1) Bill 2018 (Bill) that proposes to change the way GST is paid for particular real property transactions. The Bill will not become law until it has received Royal Assent.The proposed amendments were introduced to address non-compliance by vendors who avoid payment of GST through a process known as ‘phoenixing,’ whereby the vendor would dissolve their business prior to lodgment of their next BAS statement.As part of the settlement process, purchasers will be required to remit the GST applicable to the sale directly to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), as opposed to the current framework whereby the vendor is responsible for remitting the GST.