A Section 70A notification is a notice under the Transfer of Land Act 1893 that is placed on a land’s Certificate of Title alerting landowners (and prospective landowners) of circumstances that might impact the enjoyment of that land.
A Section 165 notification is a notice under the Planning and Development Act 2005 that is placed on a land’s Certificate of Title alerting landowners (and prospective landowners) of circumstances that might seriously impact the enjoyment of that land.
A restrictive covenant is a deed restricting the use of land. It is generally something that arises within the sphere of agreements between private landowners to limit certain activities from taking place. The most common example is estate developers using restrictive covenants with new land purchasers, to only undertake development in a manner which accords with developer imposed guidelines. The City is never party to such developer agreements.
The City may use a restrictive covenant where it relates to a proper planning purpose. For example, a density bonus for single bedroom dwellings often allows additional lots to be created from subdivision of an example land parcel. It is necessary in those circumstances to restrict development on those lots to a single bedroom dwelling only, otherwise the density bonus that enabled the additional lots to be created from subdivision would have been incorrectly granted.
A caveat is a form of statutory injunction that is lodged to protect the caveator’s interest. Caveats will seek to restrict any further interest being registered on a land title until the caveator’s interests have been appropriately addressed.
An easement is a type of interest that has been registered over land which gives a person or a company ‘rights of use’ over a designated portion of the land for a specific purpose.
Examples of reasons for an easement include:
- Rights of carriageway
- Rights to erect a party wall
- Rights to take water from wells or bores
- Rights to install and operate drains and drainage works
- Rights to install, maintain and operate oil/gas pipelines
- Rights to install, maintain and operate electric power lines, telephone and other cables and supporting pylons.
The City may use what’s termed an easement in gross, if it is important to secure access for the public at large to the area of land affected by an easement. This is often used across common driveways in town centres where lots are individually owned.
A legal agreement is an agreement between two or more parties that is legally binding. A legal agreement will often be supported by a caveat and effectively explains the agreement between the parties and what each party will or won’t do.
An example of a legal agreement may relate to an agreement between the City and a landowner for a payment to be made to the City within a certain timeframe. The requirement for the preparation of a legal agreement can form a condition of planning approval.