Recent Articles

No-ones’ using that Easement anymore – how do you Extinguish it?

Generally speaking, an easement is a right of access held by someone who is not the owner of a land to access the land for specific purposes. Common examples of easement are right of carriageway and easement to drain water, which allow someone (usually owners of neighbouring lands) to pass through, or drain water in, specific parts of your land.

Important Changes to Be Aware of Following Commencement of the Community Legislation

The NSW Government has proclaimed the commencement date for the Community Land Management Act 2021 (CLMA) and Community Land Development Act 2021, as well as their associated regulations – all set to commence on 1 December 2021.

Ahead of the commencement date stakeholders should be aware of some of the more significant changes coming in. A non-exhaustive list of the more notable changes for each of these groups, and generally, are set out below:

Community Land Management Act 2021 and Regulations – Time to Review your Management Statement?

The long awaited update to the Community Schemes legislation is expected to commence on 1 December 2021 this year. The changes are significant and apply to almost all aspects of the community legislation.

This article is directed towards some of the more significant changes relevant to Community Association’s Management Statements and by-laws:

Partitioning – When Tenancy in Common is Not Working

It is not uncommon for co-owners to have disputes over property. When these disputes occur, a co-owner may apply to the Supreme Court for the property to be held on the statutory trust for sale or partition. Part 4, Division 6 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (the “Act”) outlines the relevant provisions for this application. The Court usually makes this order unless special circumstances exist. This article focuses on the statutory trust for sale.

Rock Anchor Easement or Deed?

This will depend on the circumstances.

On 1 July 2020, the Design and Building Practitioners - Particulars for Regulated Designs Order 2021 (Regulated Designs Order) came into effect. Under section 5(3) of the Design and Building Practitioner Act 2020 (NSW) (DBPA), the Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, specify particulars that are additional to those prescribed by the regulations for regulated designs or regulated designs belonging to a particular class.

When “off the plan” goes “off the rails”

Buying a strata apartment "off the plan", i.e. based on drawings and specifications, before it has been built, can go wrong, but there are potentially things you can do to protect your position.