Property advice

It's vital that someone intending to buy or lease a property with a particular development in mind has an understanding of whether those intentions may be realised and what issues there may be.

In simple cases formal advice (beyond what a conveyancer may provide) might be unnecessary. In some cases, an architect or building designer may advise. In many cases, however, a professional town planner should be engaged. The NSW town planning is complicated and it takes years working with it to understand it and to know its ambiguities and pittfalls.

Advice provided includes:

  • Basic permissibility based on zoning and key environmental planning instrument provisions, as well as potential impacts of State policies

  • Site characteristics such as trees, topography, lot configuration, heritage, drainage, bushfire, flooding and environmental controls - and how those may affect a development proposal

  • Characteristics of commercial premises and whether there are any issues such as a lack of required disabled access or insufficient car parking or manoeuvring, for example

  • Matters on title and whether they're likely to have an effect

  • Impacts of key development control plan requirements

  • Merit-based issues that may arise and how likely they are to affect the proposal

  • Whether any intentions may potentially be realised as exempt or complying development

  • How to go about getting more definitive information on technical issues and how to sequence obtaining that advice

  • Political and procedural implications.

In most cases there will be some level of uncertainty. The key will be to minimise the level of uncertainty by identifying any deal-breakers and advising on the likelihood that the project is achievable. There may also be advice on fallback positions.

The client should make a decision about the level of advice that they require - the level of uncertainty that is acceptable. The client will also need to consider fallback positions or whether to structure a purchase or lease arrangements to deal with the uncertainty of the town planning outcome. Advice can be provided around how to integrate approval strategies around such arrangements.

Initial advice can be provided through a phone + email consultation. Varying levels of written advice can be provided beyond that.