I'm in a situation where I'm consdiering buying a property with an easement along the side See diagram to make it clear - the property I'm considering to buy is C and has an easement marked in red The owner bought C last year, then created this easement (presumably because he owns the propert(ies) along street B and wants to do a development soon), now selling C and asking for more than what he paid for - sneaky guy! Wondering if I buy C, then later if I somehow buy B and/or D (or sell to owner of B or D) to do a highrise development spanning across B to D, will this easement cause big problems? Does this type of easement prevent me from building over it? Or just continue to allow the pipe to stay?
If you can afford to purchase B&C or B-D? I'm sure that you would be able to engineer a solution ie diversion or incorporation into the drainage system for your development.
Sorry no idea what those letters mean - could you please elaborate? And even if I can get something like that, it wouldn't get rid of the legal object that is the easement itself right? How do I get rid of that? easements are forever...
What Scott means is that if you can afford to buy more developments, you can alter the drainage such that it can be by passed. My view, you will always face an issue selling it. What if some builder buys a and b and plots in front of it. A small builder will always be a bit hesitant to buy such a lot. Those who are aware of the process and can see the value will comparatively offer lower. Are you getting a bit cheap? Till now in my small amount of experience here, i have not seen a drainage along the sides. Usually, it is always at the rear end (along the width). Seems like you could never use that area. Logically, it should not be added to the cost at all. Regards
Ahh thanks it didn't occur to me Scott was referring to the letters on the diagram! But I still don't fully understand - ashish could you elaborate more on your example - if a builder buys A B and lots in front, what would happen? And if money wasn't a concern for me later down the track, what would I buy and what would I do to be able to build to negate the effect of the easement? e.g if I bought A to D, would I be able to build one big building across it all? edit: I guess my question is simply - does the easement stop me from building over it? or do I just need to continue to allow the existence of that pipe / allow reasonable maintenance access?
If it's an easement for drainage, incorporate it into your design and divert it, resupport it etc to cause minimal effects on your site.
@scientist have you read the terms of the easement ? i assume that lot C is burdened and the Lot (or Lots) behind benefit, right ? Lot C has the drainage easement "1 metre wide" and parrallel to the side boundary. if you develop this lot on its own and depending on the LEP most minimum side setbacks are 900mm so i don't see any issue there. But If you also intend to purchase Lots B&D to develop for high-rise units, the drainage line could be redirected to suit your design. The existing easement can be 'Extinguished' (or a Variation). And a new easement is created to provide for the drainage of the lots upstream. see; rgdirections.lpi.nsw.gov.au/deposited_plans/easements_restrictions/variation_easements
Thank you bmc Yes it's an easement for drainage - that single page in the original post attachment is all I found on the sales contract - I guess safe to assume standard conditions and terms that come with a vanilla 'easement for drainage' (but of course I'll do due diligence if I decide to go further with purchase) So given the above, is it safe to assume it's likely the easement doesn't prevent building on top of it? else it would be a massive burden on the property Are the actions of variation / extinguising an easement dependent on the agreement of the owner of the properties that benefit from the easement? See my concern is, what if the owner is an a-hole and wants 200k for a variation? Or am I worrying too much about this factor?
@scientist see part 3 NSW Legislation if your buidling is built over the top of the easement it would obviously impede maintenance or repair of the infrastructure. Council would not approve of the DA (deferred commencement) until the drainage is addressed. that is, redirect and evidence of easement registration on the title. your lots are burdened so there is no compenstation. all cost to redirect, tranfers, registration would be on you.
I do drainage for a living and in my experience the only thing I've seen built over easements is garages/carports and deckings. Different councils have different rules but I'd suggest there is no way you could build any sort of high rise over it. If you were to purchase block D in the future it may not be a problem as that easement would just be used as a walkway/backyard for ground level units, however I would never plan on purchasing block B as the easement would then be directly through your property. You may be able to change the easement, I'm not familiar with doing this but I suppose it could be possible but remember that whatever drainage is running through there is gravity fed, therefore if you increase the distance of your easement (for example across the back of c then out the front) the pipe will also need more depth which might not work in with existing council drains. Has the other developer put anything through the easement yet? If not there's a strong chance he's going to be digging through the edge of your property when he needs to and there's nothing you can do about it.
