Canberra home purchases: Crown leases, seller reports and cooling-off

In this article

Written by

Kooky

Builder of Shaka, the payment router that pays every agent their commission on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →

Buying a home in the Australian Capital Territory looks familiar from a distance. There is a listing, an inspection, an offer, a contract, a deposit and a settlement day. Up close, the territory has rules of its own. The land under the house is not freehold. The seller has to obtain building and pest reports before the home goes on the market, and they become part of the contract. And a buyer who signs at private treaty, rather than at auction, has a short cooling-off window with a price attached to walking away.

Each of these shapes what a buyer looks at, when the money moves and what can still change after the contract is signed. This guide follows a private-treaty purchase from start to finish. It covers the Crown lease and its purpose clause, the documents the seller must have ready under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, the conditions every contract carries, the energy efficiency rating, the cooling-off period and its 0.25 per cent forfeit, the steps to settlement, conveyance duty and the Home Buyer Concession Scheme as the ACT Revenue Office publishes them today, and the rates and land tax that follow a home that is rented out.

ACT Planning on Crown leases; Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, republication R32 of 1 November 2025.

A home on a Crown lease

Land tenure in the territory is leasehold. A buyer in Canberra does not acquire freehold title to the block: what changes hands is a Crown lease granted by the Territory, together with the house built on it. ACT Planning explains that holding a Crown lease means the lessee effectively owns the land, and that a residential lease is usually granted for a term of 99 years.

The lessee has the right to use and enjoy the land for the term of the lease, can generally sell it once the development the original lease required is complete, and is responsible for maintaining and repairing the buildings and the land. Leases are lodged with the Registrar General, and the buyer becomes the registered proprietor of the lease at the end of the transaction.

The term can also be renewed. According to ACT Planning, a lessee can apply to the Territory Planning Authority for a further Crown lease at any time during the term. Where the land is not needed by the Territory or the Commonwealth, a further lease can be granted, and there is no payment for it other than an administrative fee.

Two further points from the same guidance are worth knowing before signing. The Territory can alter a lease if it acquires all or part of the land for public purposes, and a lease may contain a withdrawal clause that allows the Territory to withdraw land from it. A newly granted block also carries a development covenant: ACT Planning gives the standard as completing the building within 24 months from the start date of the lease.

The purpose clause and lease variations

Every Crown lease says what the land may be used for. ACT Planning states the rule plainly: leased land and buildings can only be used for a purpose the lease authorises. That wording, known as the purpose clause, is why the lease itself is one of the documents attached to every contract.

Changing the terms of a lease is a lease variation, and it needs the approval of the Territory Planning Authority, sought through a development application. The examples ACT Planning gives include the uses and clauses in the purpose clause, easements, common boundaries and the number of dwellings allowed.

A variation can carry a lease variation charge. ACT Planning describes two kinds. Standard variations under section 331 of the Planning Act carry codified amounts set in the Planning (Lease Variation Charges) Determination 2026. From 1 July 2026, specifying the number of dwellings on a lease that does not already do so, in order to permit unit titling, costs A$49,000 per dwelling under Schedule 1. Non-standard variations under section 332, such as adding or deleting a use or a clause, or changing an easement, are charged at 75 per cent of the rise in the land's value, measured by an accredited valuer, with improvements left out of the calculation.

Some variations carry no charge. ACT Planning's list of exemptions includes authorising the use of land for a secondary residence and altering a common boundary between adjoining leases where the authorised use of each lease stays the same and none is a rural lease. What a house could become therefore depends on its lease: adding a dwelling or changing the use goes through this process, and possibly this charge, separately from the purchase itself.

Which sales the Act covers

The buyer's protections described in this guide come from Part 2 of the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003. The Act applies to contracts for the sale of residential property, and section 8 defines that term: vacant land on which one or more residences may be built under the lease, land with one or two residences built or under construction, and units.

Several kinds of property fall outside the definition. Land or units over 3 hectares are excluded, as is land whose purpose clause allows a non-residential or non-rural-residential use beyond an incidental one. Retirement villages and most retirement village interests are excluded, and so are developers' holding leases.

Section 6 leaves out some transactions as well. Part 2 does not apply where the buyer is a related person of the seller, or to a contract made by exercising an option where the option sits in a will or a sublease or the exercise period is longer than 60 days. Off-the-plan contracts have rules of their own in Part 2A of the Act and are not the subject of this guide.

The documents the seller must have ready

The central idea of the ACT system is that the information arrives before the offer. Section 10 makes it an offence for a seller of residential property not to have the required documents available for inspection by prospective buyers at all reasonable times. Section 9 lists what those documents are: a copy of the proposed contract, with the price, the buyer's details and similar particulars left blank, and a set of attachments.

The two inspection reports have rules of their own. Both must generally be dated within 3 months before the property is first marketed, and section 9 requires them to be prepared by someone with no connection to the seller, the seller's agent or the seller's lawyer, whether through family, membership of the same firm or a share in the business's profits. The preparer must also hold any professional indemnity insurance the regulations require. For a unit, the unit title sale certificate must likewise be dated within 3 months before first marketing.

There are exceptions. The building conveyancing inquiry documents and the building and compliance inspection report are not required for a class A unit, for a residence never previously occupied or sold, or for a residence still to be built before completion. The pest report is not required for a class A unit. And any document is excused if the seller cannot obtain it after taking all reasonable steps.

The reports are not free to the buyer in the end. Under section 18, the seller can recover from the buyer at completion the cost of the first building and compliance inspection report and the first pest inspection report, though not extra service charges such as a fee for faster delivery. In return, section 19 gives the buyer a remedy: if a report or statement is false or misleading, or was prepared without reasonable skill and care, and the buyer suffers loss because of it, the person who prepared it must compensate the buyer.

What every contract must say

Section 11 sets a floor under every residential contract in the territory. If a contract leaves out one of the required conditions, the Act treats it as included anyway.

The first conditions concern the title. Unless something has been disclosed, the property is sold free of encumbrances other than those on the land titles register, and with vacant possession on completion. If the buyer learns of a breach before completion, the buyer may rescind or complete and claim damages. The buyer, for their part, may not make requisitions on title.

The second set concerns the buildings. Unless disclosed, there are no unapproved structures on the land. A buyer who finds an undisclosed one before completion may ask the seller to have it approved, and if that does not happen before completion, may rescind or complete and claim damages.

The seller also gives warranties. At the date of the contract, the seller warrants that they will be able to complete and knows of no unsatisfied judgments, orders or writs, or current or threatened claims that could lead to one. At completion, the seller warrants that they will be, or be able to become, the registered proprietor of the lease, with no unsatisfied judgments, orders or writs. Some of these warranties need not be given in a sale by a mortgagee, a trustee or official receiver in bankruptcy, or under a court order.

Errors in the description of the property are dealt with too. The buyer may ask for an error to be corrected before completion. A material error that is not corrected allows the buyer to rescind or to complete and claim damages; a minor one allows completion with damages only. Finally, the required documents form part of the contract itself, which is what gives the reports and inquiry results their legal weight.

The energy efficiency rating

Energy efficiency ratings are part of every ACT home sale, and the Act deals with them in two places. Section 22 makes it an offence to publish an advertisement for the sale of residential premises that does not state the energy efficiency rating of the habitable part, and a separate offence to publish a rating that is false or misleading in a material way.

Section 23 then follows the rating into the contract. Before the contract is made, the seller must give the buyer a copy of the energy efficiency rating statement, or a new statement if building work since the last one has affected the rating. The buyer certifies in writing that the statement was received. A seller who fails to comply must pay the buyer 0.5 per cent of the purchase price. When the statement and the buyer's certificate form part of the contract, compliance is shown.

Section 20 limits these rules to premises that may lawfully be used for residential purposes, and leaves out caravans, hotels and motels, most retirement village interests and premises approved or ordered for demolition.

Cooling-off: five working days and a price

A private-treaty contract in the ACT comes with a cooling-off period. Section 12 sets its length: it starts when the contract is made and ends at 5 pm on the fifth working day after that day. During that time, section 14 allows the buyer to rescind by written notice signed by the buyer or the buyer's lawyer, given before completion.

Walking away has a cost. Under section 15, a buyer who rescinds during the cooling-off period forfeits 0.25 per cent of the purchase price. The amount is taken from the deposit first, and if the deposit is not enough, the seller can recover the difference as a debt. The rest of the deposit goes back to the buyer, and neither side owes the other any further damages, costs or expenses.

The period can be moved. A contract or a written agreement can extend it or shorten it. A shortening, like a full waiver under section 13, takes effect only after the buyer has had legal advice on its effect, a lawyer has signed a certificate under section 17, and the buyer has given the seller a copy. That certificate must come from a lawyer who does not act for the seller and is not in the same firm as the seller's lawyer, and it must state that the lawyer explained its nature and effect to the buyer.

From exchange to settlement

Once a buyer and seller agree on a price at private treaty, the documents already prepared by the seller become the contract. The buyer's details, the price and the date are filled in, the contract is signed and exchanged, and the deposit is paid on the terms the contract sets. The cooling-off clock starts at that moment.

The Act calls the end of the transaction completion; the trade usually calls it settlement. In its 2026-27 Budget update, the ACT Revenue Office notes that the fee for a certificate of rates, land tax and other charges has risen from A$143 to A$148.

The timing of duty is one of the territory's particular features. According to the ACT Revenue Office, the buyer, or the buyer's agent, has 14 days after the settlement date to lodge the transfer for registration, and late lodging may attract penalty tax. The buyer completes a Buyer Verification Declaration before lodging. Duty itself is payable 14 days after the title is registered at Access Canberra, by BPAY or electronic funds transfer; late payment attracts interest, and the Revenue Office does not offer payment plans.

Conveyance duty and the Home Buyer Concession Scheme

Conveyance duty, still widely called stamp duty, is payable when someone buys property in the ACT. The Revenue Office sets separate scales for non-commercial and commercial property, and within non-commercial property it distinguishes owner-occupiers from other buyers. The Revenue Office publishes the current rates and a calculator that gives an estimate, and the duty on any given purchase depends on the price and the buyer's circumstances.

The largest change of the year concerns the Home Buyer Concession Scheme. In its update on the 2026-27 ACT Budget, the Revenue Office says the property price cap and the income threshold were removed from the scheme from 1 July 2026, so that eligible buyers may receive a full duty concession. For an eligible buyer, the duty payable is nil, on a home or on vacant land.

The other conditions remain. Every buyer must be an individual; companies, trustees and partnerships cannot claim. No buyer, nor a buyer's domestic partner, may have owned or held a legal or equitable interest in any other property in the 5 years before the transaction date, which is usually the date contracts are exchanged. The Revenue Office lists limited exemptions, including some court orders, separation, family violence and certain executor or trustee situations. At least one buyer must start living in the home as their principal place of residence within 1 year of settlement, or of the certificate of occupancy for vacant land, and live there continuously for at least 1 year. Supporting documents must be kept for at least 5 years.

The same Budget update removed the price cap from the Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme, the Disability Duty Concession Scheme and the off-the-plan unit duty exemption. It also introduced a Newly Unit Titled Duty Exemption for owner-occupiers who buy a newly built unit-titled home that was not sold off the plan. Which of these applies to a particular purchase depends on the buyer and the property, and the Revenue Office sets out the conditions of each.

Rates, land tax and a rented home

General rates are charged on homes in the territory, and the ACT Revenue Office calculates both rates and land tax from a property's average unimproved value. Its 2026-27 Budget update says the average residential rates bill, levies included, will rise by no more than 5 per cent. The fixed charge for residential houses and units was reduced, the Health levy was discontinued, the Safer Families levy is A$70 and the Police, fire and emergency services levy is A$458 for residential properties.

Land tax is a separate charge, and it follows the use of the home rather than the buyer. According to the Revenue Office, land tax applies to residential properties in the ACT that are not a principal place of residence, with rented and vacant homes given as examples. A buyer who plans to rent the home out, or to leave it empty, takes on land tax as well as rates. The Budget update states that land tax fixed charges increase by 5 per cent each year. A foreign person who pays land tax must also pay a foreign ownership surcharge.

The Revenue Office runs a service for owners to tell it whether a property is liable for land tax or exempt, and the status of a home can change when its use does, from a residence to a rental or back again. The amount for any home follows from its own average unimproved value.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

About Kooky and Shaka →