ACT Territory Plan zones and the Crown lease

The Australian Capital Territory has one planning instrument for the whole Territory, the Territory Plan 2023, made under the Planning Act 2023. There are no councils, and there is no planning certificate. The land is also held under a Crown lease, which limits use as well.

The zones

The residential zones are RZ1 Suburban, RZ2 Suburban Core, RZ3 Urban Residential, RZ4 Medium Density and RZ5 High Density. On an RZ1 block over 800 square metres the Territory Plan allows a second dwelling of up to 120 square metres where its criteria are met. Land the National Capital Plan designates, shown in the Territory Plan as DES, is decided by the National Capital Authority, and the Territory Plan has no effect there to the extent it is inconsistent with the National Capital Plan.

Overlays

Overlays sit on the same map as the zones. Our report reads the nine kinds of public land reserve, Public Land, Future Urban Areas, the Kingston Foreshore precincts and the National Land overlays. The map covers the whole Territory, so land in none of them is a finding, not a gap.

The Crown lease

Land in the ACT is held under a Crown lease rather than freehold, and a residential lease is usually for 99 years. The zone says what may be built. What a block may be used for is also limited by the purpose clause of its lease, and the lease is the legal record. The lease, its purpose clause and its term are on the title, not in the open data a report can read. A current certified extract from the land titles register and a copy of the Crown lease come from the ACT Land Titles Office through Access Canberra.

What the seller must give

The Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 requires the seller to attach documents to the contract. In summary, section 9 lists the Crown lease, a certified land titles extract, the deposited plan, encumbrances and the lease conveyancing inquiry documents, and for each residence the building conveyancing inquiry documents, an energy efficiency rating statement, a building and compliance inspection report and, if the residence is occupied, a pest report. There are also asbestos documents, and for a unit the units plan and the unit title sale certificate. Section 23 requires the energy efficiency rating statement to be given to the buyer before the contract, and the seller is liable for 0.5 per cent of the price if it is not. The inquiry documents are ordered through Access Canberra, whose fees change each year.

The Act also sets a cooling-off period, which ends at 5 pm on the fifth working day, except in cases the Act lists, such as a waiver.

Bushfire

The Emergency Services Agency's Bushfire Prone Area map shows hazard categories 1, 2 and 3 and a buffer of up to 100 metres around bushfire prone vegetation. The ACT Government provides it for information only. The building rules can also treat land as bushfire-prone where this map does not show it, so outside the map is not a finding that the building rules do not apply.

Flood

The ACT's flood layer is a riverine model of a flood with a 1 per cent chance of being reached or exceeded in any year. It covers only the catchments of the flood studies the ACT has modelled. It gives no depth, and nothing about overland flow, burst pipes or overflowing lakes and dams. Outside the model, flooding is not established, which is not the same as the land not flooding. See how to check flood risk before buying.

Heritage

The ACT Heritage Register is kept under the Heritage Act 2004. Its map is published as indicative only, and ACT Heritage asks for the suburb, block and section at heritage@act.gov.au for an up-to-date answer. Aboriginal places and objects are protected whether or not the map shows them.

What our report shows, and does not

For an ACT address the report gives the zone, the overlay, the heritage register, bushfire and flood, for the block. A unit's findings are those of the block its units plan stands on. If the report cannot find the block, the address is refused before payment. It does not read the lease purpose clause, the term or the conditions, and it tells the buyer to get the certified extract and the lease. It does not read or issue the inquiry documents, the energy efficiency rating statement, or any inspection or pest report, and it carries no land value. There is no council to ask in the ACT; the answer comes from the ACT Government. The ACT is mapped by district, not by council, on the ACT hazard map, with a page for each on the ACT district pages. For the general case of a missing map see what “unmapped” means, and for heritage in other states heritage item, conservation area or overlay.

Reports from $9.90 including GST, paid once. The price belongs to the jurisdiction the address is in. The check is free: it tells you the exact total for your address, and which registers cover it, before you pay anything.