The Contract for Sale of Land in NSW: What the Vendor Must Include and What the Buyer Should Check

If you are selling, the agent has said the campaign starts the moment “the contract is ready”, then gone quiet about what that means. The photographer is booked, a Saturday is pencilled in, and the one document that lets any of it happen is still with your conveyancer.

If you are buying, you have been emailed a PDF the length of a novel with a title that sounds like a court case. Its formal name is the contract for the sale and purchase of land; everyone else says contract of sale, and the agent would love an answer by Friday. This guide covers both sides: what it is, what must be in it, and what each side should do. NSW only; the other states and territories run their own systems. Victoria uses a separate Section 32 vendor statement and Queensland a Form 2 seller disclosure statement, each given before the buyer signs rather than before advertising.

What is a contract for sale of land in NSW, and who prepares it?

The seller’s conveyancer or solicitor prepares it. It is the first job in conveyancing for sellers. Not the photographer, not the stylist, not the drone guy. The conveyancer.

In NSW the document is built on the standard form published by the Law Society of NSW and the Real Estate Institute of NSW, currently the 2026 edition. The seller’s special conditions are added and the prescribed documents are attached at the back.

A contract for the sale of land has to be in writing and signed before a court will enforce it. A handshake at the open home is worth exactly what you paid for it.

It exists before the first open home because the law says so, not because the agent is fussy. In NSW you cannot advertise a residential property for sale until the proposed contract and its prescribed documents are ready. That is section 66R of the Conveyancing Act 1919, and offering a property without them is an offence.

Auctions are not a loophole: advertising one counts as offering the property for sale, and the draft contract has to be available for inspection at the agent’s office.

What has to be attached to the contract?

The attachments are called the prescribed documents, and in NSW they are the seller’s disclosure. The proposed contract and its prescribed documents have to be ready before the property is advertised. That includes the section 10.7 planning certificate, the title search and plan, registered dealings creating easements and covenants, sewerage diagrams, strata documents if the property is in a scheme, and swimming pool documents if there is a pool. It is the property’s paperwork in full, and nobody gets to leave out the boring bits.

The section 10.7 certificate is the council’s statement of the zoning, planning controls and hazards that apply to the land, correct as at the date it is issued. It will not tell you whether the neighbour’s teenager plays drums.

The sewer diagram (Sydney Water calls it a sewer service diagram) shows the private wastewater pipes on the property and where they join the main. A sewer under the exact spot you had in mind for the extension is worth knowing about early.

A swimming pool compliance certificate in NSW is the usual attachment, but not the only one. A certificate of non-compliance is also valid; it just hands the buyer the job of fixing the barrier after settlement. The NSW Government’s guide to the steps to selling a property in NSW lists the same set of documents.

The certificates show what the authorities have on file, not everything a previous owner did to the property. That gap is what title insurance is for.

What happens if a prescribed document is missing?

Rescinding is the legal word for walking away with your money. The contract is treated as if it was never made, and the seller refunds the deposit and any other money paid under it. The notice has to be served on the seller in writing, in the way the contract or the Act allows; a text to the agent does not count.

The 14 days run from the day the contract is made, and the right ends once the contract completes. The clause is in the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2022.

For a seller, that is the real cost of a sloppy contract: a buyer’s exit with a full refund, weeks after the champagne.

The seller also gives warranties. Unless the contract discloses otherwise, the seller is treated as promising that the land is not affected by certain government proposals, does not contain part of a public sewer, and is correctly described in the planning certificate. If a warranty is wrong, the buyer may be able to rescind before completion.

What else is in the contract?

The front pages carry the particulars: the parties, the land, the price, the deposit (10 per cent of the price unless the contract says otherwise) and the date for completion. They also list the inclusions and exclusions, and whether the property is sold with vacant possession or subject to a tenancy. This is the page everyone reads. The trouble lives further back.

The inclusions list is where the dishwasher, the blinds and the solar panels either stay or go. What counts as part of the house is the fixtures and chattels question; the short version is that if you want it to stay, it goes on the list. If the agent said the fridge stays, see what the agent promises and what the contract says.

The contract also carries the cooling-off notice the Act requires. Buy an established home by private treaty and you usually get five business days to change your mind; the detail and the exceptions are in our guide to the cooling-off period in NSW.

Buyers: what should you check before signing?

In Sydney the contract usually arrives before you have decided whether you want the property. Our advice is the same every time: make your offer through the agent first, and sign nothing. Once the offer is accepted, send the contract over, before you have named the dog you are going to get for the backyard. A contract review covers:

• Special conditions that may not work in your favour.
• Building and pest clauses that are vague or too narrow.
• Settlement terms that could cause delays or cost blowouts.
• Cooling-off rights, whether they apply and how they are worded.
• Easements or zoning restrictions that could affect future plans.
• The planning certificate and, for a unit, the strata records (see what a strata report tells you).

Bring a conveyancer in early, so they are ready to move the moment you get the yes, because the review has to happen while there is still something to negotiate; once contracts are exchanged the terms are fixed. There is no sense pouring emotional energy and time into the fine print of a place that might not be yours. That is why conveyancing for buyers starts before the offer and the reading starts after it. At auction the order is different: the contract binds when the hammer falls, so the review has to happen before you bid.

The review reads the attachments too. The dealings show what an easement is and whether one runs through your future pool, and the title documents show whether this is strata, Torrens or off the plan title.

The contract is one half of the homework; the property is the other. Our checklist of inspections before you exchange and the guide to a building and pest inspection cover that side. Once the signed copies are swapped you are at exchange of contracts, and the terms you did not read are the terms you agreed to.

Sellers: what should you get ready, and how long does it take?

Instruct your conveyancer before the agent books the photographer, because the contract has to exist before the listing does.

1. Instruct your conveyancer
2. Documents ordered
3. Contract drafted and checked
4. Agent lists

The documents come from the authorities in the table above, and how long it takes depends on how quickly they return them. Some come back the same day, a planning certificate can take several working days, and a pool inspection has to be booked. The council does not care that your campaign launches Thursday.

One more document, and it is the one sellers forget. Since 1 January 2025 a buyer must withhold 15 per cent of the price and send it to the ATO unless you give them an ATO clearance certificate. There is no price threshold any more. The certificate is free and can take weeks, so apply early; the ATO’s page on clearance certificates for Australian residents explains how.

The rest of getting listing-ready, from choosing an agent onwards, is in our guide to what to sort out before you list.

What does this mean for your sale or purchase?

The contract for sale is where a NSW property deal is decided. Sellers control what goes in it; buyers control whether they read it. Both jobs are easier in the right order:

1. Sellers: instruct your conveyancer before the photographer, not after.
2. Sellers: apply for the ATO clearance certificate the week you decide to sell.
3. Sellers: flag the pool, the tenant and the inclusions early so the list is right.
4. Buyers: make your offer, sign nothing, then send the contract for review the day it is accepted.
5. Buyers: read the special conditions and the attachments, not just the front page.

Sellers: get the contract moving before the campaign. Buyers: get the offer accepted, then get the contract in front of a conveyancer before you fall in love with the kitchen. Titlespace is a conveyancing law firm based in Sydney acting for buyers, sellers and transfers in NSW, VIC, QLD and the ACT. We prepare contracts for sellers and review them for buyers; for the local rules start with conveyancing in NSW.

Reviewed by Marc Ryckmans, Legal Practitioner Director, October 2026. Last updated October 2026. This article is general information about the contract for sale of land in NSW. It is not legal advice about your transaction.

The content of this blog post is intended as general information and should be considered broad guidance only. It does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice and should not be relied upon as such. Every property transaction is different, and we recommend seeking personalised advice from a qualified professional before making any investment or legal decisions.