On 11 October 2021, all certificates of title were cancelled and all dealings are now being lodged electronically over an electronic property dealing lodgment network such as PEXA.
PEXA is an electronic conveyancing platform, which at present, is the most widely used electronic lodgment network in NSW. It has recently listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
What this means for land owners:
- No more certificates of title after settlement or after paying off mortgages.
- The public cannot lodge dealings on land without assistance from a property lawyer or conveyancer.
- People wishing to lodge a dealing over land must have their identity verified by the PEXA subscriber and must establish their right to deal with their land.
- Verification of identity involves an in person meeting with the PEXA Subscriber and inspection of identification documents.
- Establishing the right to deal with land involves providing evidence of ownership (e.g. current rates notice, land tax assessment etc).
Short-term letting – Updated Code of Conduct
The Code of Conduct for the short-term rental accommodation industry was updated on 28 May 2021. Landlords providing short term rental accommodation must comply with the Code of Conduct or face penalties
of up 1,000 penalty units for corporate owners or up to 200 penalty units for individuals (one penalty unit is equal to $110).
The key elements of the Code of Conduct are:
- Anyone wishing to lease their property for short term rental accommodation must now be registered with NSW Fair Trading.
- Booking platforms (e.g. Air BnB) and letting agents advertising short term rental accommodation must ensure that the premises and the landlord are registered on the premises register.
- Landlords must meet numerous obligations (e.g. Compliance with planning laws; public liability insurance, be contactable at all hours and inform the owners corporation of the short term rental activity).
- Landlords must register themselves and the premises on the premises register.
- Short term tenants must comply with any by-laws and must not disturb neighbors.
- Landlords and tenants can all be registered on the exclusion register for breaches of the Code of Conduct.
- If a landlord or tenant is listed on the exclusion register, they won’t be able to enter into short term rental accommodation agreements.
The grace period granted in respect of the fire safety requirements will also end on 1 March 2022. From this day onwards all holiday homes will also need a proper fire safety plan.
Updated Environmental and Planning Regulations
From 1 March 2022, the 2021 regulation will replace the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000.
The key changes are:
- The 2021 regulation will streamline the calculation of assessment periods and clarify the circumstances that cause the periods to pause (called the “Stop the Clock” provisions).
- In respect of State Significant Development, the Planning Secretary now places a deadline on when the “Stop the Clock” period ends. This will allow applicants to commence an appeal to a deemed refusal earlier.
- Where an applicant amends the Development Application prior to determination, this will reset the deemed refusal clock and give the consent authority and additional 25 day period to request further information from the applicant and to stop the clock.
- Development Applications lodged on the NSW Planning Portal will be recognised immediately and the two day pause between lodgement of the Development Application and the commencement of the assessment period will no longer apply.
- The 2000 regulations will continue to apply to Development Applications lodged prior to 1 March 2022.
Building Defects
The Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 commenced in full on 1 July 2021.
These laws regulate designers of important parts of a building’s design (e.g. load bearing walls and foundations). These new regulations provide that:
- Building designers must be registered and be insured;
- Developers cannot apply for an occupation certificate until the principal certifier has received compliance declarations from each building designer involved in the design of the building;
- Building designers are required to provide declarations that their building design is compliant with the Building Code of Australia and with any other applicable codes;
- Persons carrying out construction work have a non-delegable duty of care to avoid economic loss caused by defects relating to or arising from construction work. This duty of care is owed to the land owner (or Owners Corporation);
Land owners will be able to claim against the builder under this legislation.
Foreign Surcharge Duty – Family/Discretionary Trusts
Whilst is well known that foreign property purchasers and land owners are subject to higher taxes on the purchase and holding of property in New South Wales, Australian discretionary family trusts can also be subject to the Foreign Surcharge tax stamp duty if the trust deed creating the trust does not specifically exclude Foreigners as defined by Section 104J of the Duties Act 1997 (NSW).
If you are considering buying property through your family or discretionary trust you should contact our property team to make sure that your family/discretionary trust has been correctly set up so as to avoid this possible pitfall when buying property.
Property Law Reminders/Leasing
- Businesses operating in premises owned by a related company should have a lease in place between the business entity and the related company landlord for compliance purposes.
- Owners of buildings, except class 1a (freestanding residential homes) and class 10a buildings (e.g. sheds and car ports), must have an accredited practitioner inspect the building to obtain an Annual Fires Safety Statement annually.
If you would like to discuss this article, please do not hesitate to contact our Property Team on 9635 7966 or email info@matthewsfolbigg.com.au.
