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Square A2 · Title · NSW and Victoria, each from its own pages

Subdividing land before you sell

In NSW, subdividing land generally needs development consent from the local council, unless it can be done as exempt or complying development, followed by a certificate before the subdivision works start and another once they finish, which authorises registration with NSW Land Registry Services. In Victoria, subdividing generally needs a planning permit (some subdivisions are exempt, under clause 62.04, the Subdivision Act user guide says), and the plan of subdivision then goes to the council to be certified, before a statement of compliance and registration.

General information, not legal or planning advice. Subdivision rules are each state’s own; this sheet covers only NSW and Victoria, from the NSW Planning Portal and the Victorian Government’s planning site, and your council and those pages are the place to check. The tax side is the ATO’s, on its own pages.

A small map grid of six squares, three across and two down, each with its own contour lines; square A2, this sheet, is shaded and outlined in green.

Two states, two sequences

Each column keeps the order its own state’s page gives. They are not the same steps under different names, so they are not lined up row by row.

New South Wales

Consent, then two certificates

The NSW Planning Portal describes subdividing as dividing an existing parcel of land into two or more smaller lots.

  1. Development consentGenerally from the local council, except where the subdivision may be permitted as exempt or complying development.
  2. Subdivision Works CertificateObtained before any subdivision works begin. Those works include civil works such as sewerage, roads and earthworks, and the certificate works like a construction certificate: it certifies that the work will be done to the specified plans and meet the regulations.
  3. Subdivision CertificateObtained once the subdivision works are finished. It certifies that the subdivision was completed in line with the conditions of consent, and it authorises the subdivision’s registration with NSW Land Registry Services. Depending on the development, it can be issued by the council, the Crown or a prescribed person, or a registered certifier.

The Portal’s Support Hub carries the application process for each certificate.

Victoria

Permit, certification, compliance, registration

The Subdivision Act user guide of November 2012, published on the Victorian Government’s planning site, says anyone wanting a plan registered generally has to:

  1. Get a planning permitRequired by the Planning and Environment Act 1987, except for a subdivision exempt from needing a permit.
  2. Prepare the planDrawn up to meet the Subdivision Act and its regulations.
  3. Submit the plan to the councilFor certification.
  4. Engineering plans and worksHave any required engineering plans approved, and complete any works.
  5. Statement of complianceObtained from the council.
  6. Lodge for registrationThe certified plan goes to the registry (Land Victoria, as the 2012 guide names it) with the statement of compliance and any prescribed information.

The same guide says a certified plan has a life of five years from its first certification and lapses if it is not registered in that time. The planning site’s current subdivision page says the SPEAR online system supports compiling, lodging, managing, referring and tracking subdivision approvals, and that clause 56 of the Victoria Planning Provisions, which applies in every planning scheme, sets the requirements for residential subdivision.

An old wire fence on weathered timber posts running along a grassy paddock, with flat farmland, scattered trees and a line of distant ranges under a blue sky with white clouds.
An old fence line along the edge of a paddock. Photo by KathyB-Photos on Pixabay

What a Victorian plan can do

The Victorian guide says the Subdivision Act and its regulations govern more than splitting lots. Its list of dealings that need an approved, registered plan is:

  • subdividing land, including buildings and airspace;
  • consolidating land;
  • creating, varying or removing an easement or a restriction;
  • creating common property, and some dealings with it.

Under the Act, the guide notes, “land” includes buildings and airspace. The planning site’s current subdivision page states the permit requirement without mentioning the clause 62.04 exemptions the 2012 guide describes.

What subdividing changes for tax

The ATO’s subdividing page links the two taxes that follow a subdivision. For GST, subdividing land that could be used to build new homes raises two questions: whether you are carrying on an enterprise (even a one-off sale may mean a GST obligation, depending on turnover) and whether GST at settlement applies to the sale. For capital gains, each new block is a separate asset.

The other squares of this map

Sell Your Land, the front page · Back to the whole map