General information, not legal advice. Consumer Affairs Victoria is the official place to check, and the Sale of Land Act 1962 is the law itself; a lawyer or licensed conveyancer usually prepares the statement and can say how it applies to a particular sale. All are listed at the foot of this page.
The rule and its timing
Section 32(1)
The vendor must hand the purchaser a statement, signed by the vendor, before the purchaser signs the contract
. It contains the matters, and attaches the documents, that the Division specifies. Under section 32(2) it may be signed electronically.
Consumer Affairs Victoria says the statement is usually prepared by the seller’s legal practitioner or conveyancer, and that as a legal document it must be factually accurate and complete.
What the statement holds for a block of land
The Division runs from section 32A to section 32P. These are the items that bear on vacant land, each in its own section.
| Section | What the statement must give | Further on this guide |
|---|---|---|
| 32A | Particulars of any mortgage not to be discharged before the buyer takes possession, any statutory charge with the amount owing, and the rates, taxes and similar outgoings, or a statement that they do not exceed a stated amount | Not covered here |
| 32C(a) | Every easement, covenant or similar restriction, registered or unregistered, and any existing failure to comply with one | Peg B, easements |
| 32C(b) | A statement if the land is in a designated bushfire prone area | Peg E, overlays |
| 32C(c) | A statement if there is no access to the property by road | Peg B, access |
| 32C(d) | The planning scheme, the responsible authority, the zoning and the name of any planning overlay | Peg E, overlays |
| 32D(a), (c) | Notices, orders, declarations, reports, recommendations or approved proposals of a public authority directly and currently affecting the land that the vendor might reasonably be expected to know of, and any notice of intention to acquire under section 6 of the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 | Below, under the remedy |
| 32G | Whether the land is to be transferred, or have works done on it, under a work-in-kind agreement, or carries a growth areas infrastructure contribution, with the certificates that apply where there is a recording of that contribution | Not covered here |
| 32H | Which of electricity, gas, water, sewerage and telephone services are not connected | Below |
| 32I | For Torrens land, the Register Search Statement and the diagram location document; for land in a subdivision whose plan is not yet registered, the plan as certified by the council, or the latest version if it is not yet certified | Peg A, boundaries |
Two items apply only where there is a home on the land: the details of statutory building insurance under section 32B(b), and building permits from the past 7 years under section 32E each apply if there is a residence on the land
.
Services not connected
Section 32H asks only for the services that are missing, from a closed list of five: electricity supply, gas supply, water supply, sewerage and telephone services. Consumer Affairs Victoria’s checklist explains why it matters to a buyer: a service that is not connected may not be available at all, or may carry a fee to connect, and in rural areas some services are not available.
The due diligence checklist
A separate Division of the Act deals with a checklist for buyers, and it applies to vacant land in its own words.
Section 33
vacant residential land means any vacant land on which the building of a residence is permitted.
Under section 33A the checklist is there to help buyers of vacant residential land, or of land with a home on it, work out what information they may want about the land. Section 33B then sets the duty:
- From the moment the land is put on the market, a due diligence checklist must be available to any prospective buyer, in the form the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria approves.
- Where the seller has engaged a licensed estate agent, the duty sits with the agent instead of the seller.
- The checklist counts as available when copies are displayed or offered at any inspection of the land, and when every website the seller or agent keeps for the sale gives access to a copy, directly or by a link.
Consumer Affairs Victoria publishes the approved checklist on its own website, as section 33C requires, and its page tells sellers and agents to link to that page, or carry a copy, on any website they keep for the sale.
If the statement is wrong or missing
Section 32K gives the buyer a right to rescind the contract where the vendor supplies false information in the statement or its attachments, leaves out required information, or fails to give a signed statement before the buyer signs. The right lasts until the buyer accepts title and becomes entitled to possession or to the rents and profits. It is not absolute: the buyer cannot rescind if a court is satisfied both that the vendor acted honestly and reasonably and ought fairly to be excused, and that the buyer is in substantially as good a position as if the Division had been complied with.
Two more provisions close the gaps. Under section 32M, a buyer may also rescind if a notice of intention to acquire the land is served before they accept title. And under section 32N, any term of the contract that excludes, modifies or restricts the Division is void.
What the buyer of a block may look at next
Consumer Affairs Victoria’s advice to buyers of vacant land goes past the paperwork. It suggests a soil test before building, and warns that rock to excavate, a filled dam or a site on a flood plain adds cost to footings and foundations. Its due diligence checklist also covers the planning scheme, whose zones and overlays may decide whether a vacant block can be built on at all.