Sell My Land

What a buyer of land checks before signing · A guide published by Dotto

Six pegs, one lot Victoria and Queensland

Selling land: what the buyer checks before signing

A buyer of land is buying ground, not rooms, so the questions run to the edges: where the boundaries are, who else has rights over the block, what the fence costs, what may be cleared, which overlays touch it, and what the seller must disclose. Sell My Land sets out those six questions as six survey pegs around one lot, each answered from the official sources of the state it covers.

Sell My Land is a guide to what a buyer of land looks at before signing, written and published by Dotto.

The lot this guide is pegged around. Drawn for this guide, with bearings and distances worked from the drawing itself; it is not a survey of any real land.

The six pegs

  1. Peg ABoundaries and identification surveysWhere does the block really end, and who may say so?Queensland and Victoria
  2. Peg BEasements and road accessWhat rights do others hold over the land, and can it be reached by road?Victoria
  3. Peg CDividing fencesWho pays for the fence on the line, and what may be cleared beside it?Victoria and Queensland
  4. Peg DNative vegetation on the blockWhat may be cleared, and what is already recorded against the land?Queensland and Victoria
  5. Peg EBushfire and flood overlaysWhich overlays touch the block, and what do they ask of a new house?Victoria
  6. Peg FThe section 32 statement for vacant landWhat must a Victorian seller of land hand over before the buyer signs?Victoria

Field notes: one line from each peg

One rule from each sheet, to show the ground it covers. Each sheet has the rest, and its sources.

One rule from each of the six sheets
PegObservation
AIn Queensland, property boundaries are defined by the survey marks at the corners, usually white pegs, not by GPS points or coordinates.
BA Victorian section 32 statement must describe every easement, covenant or similar restriction affecting the land, whether registered or unregistered.
CVictorian law sets no height or material for a dividing fence: neighbours contribute equally to a sufficient one.
DIn Queensland, a property map of assessable vegetation applies to the land, so a change of owner does not affect it.
ECFA’s exemptions to clear around a house without a permit apply to homes built or approved before 10 September 2009, and to replacement houses and dependent persons units damaged by bushfire between 1 January and 31 March 2009; CFA notes some further cases in the Bushfire Management Overlay.
FA seller of vacant residential land in Victoria, or the seller’s agent, must make the due diligence checklist available from the moment the land is put on the market.

How to read this guide

This guide covers two states, Victoria and Queensland. Each sheet says at the top which state’s rules it describes and names the official body that can explain them, and every sheet lists its sources at its foot. It is general information, not legal, planning or financial advice: in Victoria a legal practitioner, or a licensed conveyancer, can advise on a particular sale.