Off The Plan Properties & Sunset Clauses

A group of purchasers entered into Contracts to purchase vacant land ‘off the plan’. The vendor sought to cancel the Contracts two years after the sale and so we were engaged to take group action against the vendor. The sunset period of two years had lapsed and as the vendor had not commenced construction and registered the plan of subdivision within the sunset period, the vendor relied on a clause which permitted him to cancel the contract on the basis that he was unable to obtain finance for the development on terms acceptable to himself.

We received instructions from our clients to offer additional consideration despite significant delays with construction. We negotiated with the vendor’s solicitor to amend the purchase price on the current Contracts so that our clients would continue to benefit from the State Revenue Office stamp duty concessions available at the time of signing the contract. We also amended special conditions in favour of our clients so that it prohibited the vendor cancelling the Contract once again. The settlements were successfully completed within 12 months.