Across Box Hill, Gables, Marsden Park and Norwest, thousands of people are committing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a home that does not exist yet. Here is what the contract actually gives you — and what it does not.
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Buying off the plan means signing a contract to buy a home that has not been built, or has not been finished, or sometimes has not even been approved. You are buying a drawing, a specification and a promise.
In the Hills District that is now an ordinary way to buy. The growth corridor through Box Hill, Gables, Marsden Park and Rouse Hill, and the apartment developments around Norwest and Castle Hill, are largely sold this way. Buyers exchange contracts today and take the keys eighteen months, two years, sometimes three years later.
The law recognises that this is a different kind of purchase from buying an established home, and it gives off the plan buyers a set of protections that do not apply to an ordinary sale. Most people never hear about them until something goes wrong.
By the end of this you will know what the developer had to tell you before you signed, how long you have to change your mind, what happens if the build runs years late, whether you can put off the stamp duty, and where you stand if the finished home is not what was promised.
One piece of vocabulary first, because it runs through everything below. To rescind a contract is to cancel it and unwind it, as though it had never been signed. The developer is referred to in your contract as the vendor, and you are the purchaser.
Before you sign an off the plan contract, the developer must attach a disclosure statement in the approved form, including a draft plan prepared by a registered surveyor. If the developer later becomes aware that the statement was, or has become, wrong in a way that actually matters, they must send you a notice of changes at least 21 days before settlement. You may then have a right to cancel — but only in limited circumstances.
The obligation comes from section 66ZM of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW). The disclosure statement must be attached to the contract before you sign it, and it must include the draft plan plus other documents set out in the regulations.
This is not a formality. The draft plan tells you where the boundaries sit, how big your lot actually is, where the car space is, and what is common property — the shared areas owned by all the owners together, such as lobbies, driveways and the roof — rather than yours. In an apartment, or a freestanding house on its own title in a new estate, those details drive what you are getting for your money.
Plans change during construction. The law deals with that through section 66ZN: if the vendor becomes aware that the disclosure statement was inaccurate, or has become inaccurate, in a material particular, the vendor must serve a notice of changes on you at least 21 days before completion.
A right to cancel can follow, but it is not automatic. To get out, you generally have to show two things: that you would never have signed had you known about the change, and that the change actually leaves you worse off. That is a real threshold, and whether you meet it depends heavily on the specific change and the specific contract.
Ten business days — double the five business days that applies to an ordinary residential sale in NSW. The longer window exists precisely because you are buying something you cannot walk through and inspect. If you use it, you forfeit 0.25 per cent of the purchase price. It does not apply if you buy at auction.
Two things to keep in mind. If you use the cooling off right you forfeit 0.25 per cent of the purchase price, which on a $900,000 purchase is $2,250. And cooling off does not apply at all if you buy at auction, or if a section 66W certificate is given. That certificate is not something you sign yourself — it must be signed by a solicitor or barrister (and not one acting for the vendor), certifying that they explained the contract and the effect of giving up your cooling off rights. Developers frequently ask for one. You are not obliged to provide it.
Your deposit is usually 10 per cent, and where it sits matters as much as how much it is. The larger risk, though, is the one rarely raised at the sales office: an off the plan contract is typically unconditional, with no finance clause. A pre-approval today does not bind your lender in two years, and the bank values the property near settlement, not now.
On the deposit, establish two things before you sign. How much — a smaller deposit is sometimes negotiable, and many developers accept a deposit bond, which is a guarantee from an insurer standing in place of cash until settlement. And where it sits — a deposit held in a trust account is a very different proposition from a contract that authorises its release to the developer to help fund construction. If the contract is properly cancelled, the deposit is generally refundable, but the mechanics depend on the contract, and money already released is harder to chase.
On finance, the gap between signing and settling is where off the plan buyers are most often hurt. If the valuation at completion comes in under the price you agreed years earlier, you have to make up the difference in cash. If you cannot complete, you are in breach — and your deposit, along with the developer's losses on a resale, is at risk. This is worth a conversation with your broker before you sign, not eighteen months into the build.
A sunset clause lets the contract be cancelled if the building is not finished — strictly, if the sunset event has not happened — by a set date. The developer cannot simply walk away. They must give you at least 28 days written notice, and can then only cancel if you consent in writing, or the Supreme Court permits it. This is the protection most off the plan buyers do not know they have.
Almost every off the plan contract has a sunset clause: a provision saying the contract can be cancelled if the sunset event has not happened by a set sunset date. The sunset event is usually one of two things — registration of the plan (the day the land titles register formally creates your property as a separate title), or the issue of the occupation certificate (the certificate saying the building is legally fit to be lived in).
The fear is well known. A development runs two years late, the market rises 30 per cent in the meantime, and the developer walks away from your contract so the property can be resold at today's price. That is exactly what section 66ZS of the Conveyancing Act 1919 was written to stop.
When the Court weighs whether rescission is just and equitable, the section directs it to consider the terms of the contract, whether the vendor has acted unreasonably or in bad faith, why the sunset event did not occur in time, when it is likely to occur, whether the lot has increased in value, and the effect of rescission on each purchaser.
That list rewards buyers who keep records. If your project is running late and you are asked to consent to rescission, or you receive a 28-day notice, the practical answer is almost always the same: do not sign anything, and get advice before the 28 days runs out. Consenting is a choice, not an obligation.
Often, yes — if you are buying to live in, Revenue NSW may let you defer transfer duty (stamp duty) for up to 12 months. But it is not automatic, every buyer has to meet citizenship and residency criteria, and it is lost entirely if any buyer is a foreign person or the purchase is in a company or trust. There is also a trap in how house and land packages are documented.
Normally transfer duty is payable within three months of signing the contract. If you buy off the plan to live in, Revenue NSW may let you defer paying duty for up to 12 months. With the deferral, duty falls due at the earliest of 15 months after signing, settlement, or the assignment of any part of the contract.
The conditions are strict:
The deferral applies where the contract covers land and a residence to be built before completion. Revenue NSW gives a direct example: a buyer who signs for a block of vacant land, intending to build later, is not eligible — even with a separate building contract. To qualify, the land contract itself must state that a home will be built on the land before settlement.
In the Hills growth corridor, where house and land is often marketed as a single package but documented as two contracts, this distinction decides whether you pay duty now or in a year. It is worth checking before you sign, not after.
The deferral is also not automatic — your solicitor or conveyancer has to claim it as part of the duty assessment, with a declaration and certified identity documents for each purchaser. And if your plans change and you no longer intend to live there, you must tell Revenue NSW immediately; interest runs from the original due date, and penalty tax can apply.
The other half of buying off the plan is what happens when you get the keys and find the workmanship is not what the brochure suggested. What protects you depends on whether you bought a house or an apartment.
Residential building work above a threshold value generally requires the builder to hold home building compensation cover — an insurance safety net that can respond if the builder dies, disappears or becomes insolvent. Check that the certificate is among your contract documents and that it names the builder actually doing the work, which is not always the entity selling you the home. Separately, the Home Building Act 1989 implies a set of statutory warranties into residential building contracts, and those warranties run with the property rather than staying with the first owner. We cover both in more detail in our guides to building defects in NSW and what happens if your builder goes broke.
For new strata buildings where home building compensation cover is not required — in practice, residential apartment buildings above three storeys — the developer must give a strata building bond of 2 per cent of the total contract price to the Secretary before an application is made for an occupation certificate. The bond can be drawn on to rectify defects identified through the scheme's inspection process, which runs across roughly the first two years after completion, with the bond process typically finishing within about three. If no defects are found, it goes back to the developer. (A developer may instead be exempted from the bond by obtaining decennial liability insurance.)
Two per cent of the build price does not go far on a serious defect across a whole building, and an increase to 3 per cent has been on the books for some time. That increase has now been deferred again, to 1 July 2028. We wrote separately about that deferral and the other building protections pushed back in June 2026.
Beyond the bond, statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989 and the statutory duty of care under the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 may be available depending on the building and the work. Strict time limits apply, and they start running from dates that are not always obvious. If you suspect a defect, the worst thing to do is wait and hope the developer fixes it.
Before qualifying as a solicitor I worked as an engineer on NSW infrastructure projects. That background shapes how I read these contracts — not just the legal machinery, but the buildability of what is being promised. These are the points worth putting in front of whoever reviews your contract.
If a contract has just landed in your inbox and the agent is telling you the release is nearly gone, you are in the same position as most off the plan buyers. It is still worth a call. The contract is rarely negotiable, but understanding what you are accepting changes the decision — and if you have already signed, the cooling off period may still be running.
Michael Campbell Law acts for buyers across Baulkham Hills, Norwest, Castle Hill, Box Hill, Rouse Hill and the wider Hills District on property and conveyancing matters, including off the plan contract reviews, sunset clause disputes, and construction and building problems once the keys are handed over. Fixed fees are offered where applicable, and you will always receive a written costs agreement before any work begins.
Related reading: The 2026 Contract for Sale: what buyers and sellers need to know · Building defects in NSW: your rights and the new 10-year cover · What happens if your builder goes broke? · Why your conveyancer suddenly needs your ID
This article is general information only and is current as at August 2026. It is not legal advice, and the law in this area changes. Whether any of the protections described apply to your contract depends on its specific terms and your circumstances. For advice about your situation, contact Michael Campbell Law.
A sunset clause lets the contract be rescinded if the sunset event (usually registration of the plan or issue of the occupation certificate) has not happened by the sunset date. Under section 66ZS of the Conveyancing Act 1919, a vendor cannot simply cancel. The vendor must give each purchaser at least 28 days written notice explaining why, and can then only rescind if every purchaser consents in writing, the Supreme Court makes an order permitting it, or the regulations otherwise allow it. The Court will only make that order if it is just and equitable in all the circumstances.
The cooling off period for an off the plan residential contract in NSW is 10 business days, which is longer than the 5 business days that applies to an ordinary residential sale. If you use the cooling off right you forfeit 0.25 per cent of the purchase price. Cooling off does not apply if the property is bought at auction.
Section 66ZM of the Conveyancing Act 1919 requires the vendor to attach a disclosure statement in the approved form to an off the plan contract before you sign it, including a draft plan prepared by a registered surveyor and other prescribed documents. If the vendor later becomes aware the statement was or has become inaccurate in a material particular, section 66ZN requires the vendor to serve a notice of changes at least 21 days before completion. A purchaser may have a right to rescind, but generally only if they can show they would not have entered the contract had they known and that they are materially prejudiced.
You may be able to defer transfer duty for up to 12 months if you are buying off the plan to live in. Every purchaser must be an Australian citizen or meet the residency criteria, at least one purchaser must move in within 12 months of completion and live there for a continuous 12 months, and the deferral is not available if any purchaser is a foreign person or the property is bought by a trust or company. It is not automatic, and it does not apply to vacant land unless the contract requires a home to be built before settlement.
For new strata buildings where home building compensation cover is not required, in practice residential apartment buildings above three storeys, the developer must give a strata building bond of 2 per cent of the contract price to the Secretary before an application is made for an occupation certificate. It can be used to rectify defects found in the scheme inspections, which run across roughly the first two years after completion. Separately, statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989 and the duty of care under the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 may apply. Strict time limits apply to defect claims.
A free 15-minute phone call is the quickest way to find out whether we can help — whether you are reviewing a contract, or a sunset notice has just arrived.
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