How to lodge a subdivision at the LTO?

Hi,
I'm after some advice for registering my 2 lot strata subdivision (my first)at the Lands & Titles Office.
I have nearly met all of my Council's requirements for the subdivision certificate, including site plans, connection of services, section 88b etc, but I'm apprehensive about how it all comes together at LTO/LPI.

In particular, will I need a solicitor / conveyancer to represent me in Sydney to register the plans and other documents? (I have a mortgage on the land and one of the things the bank asks for to hand over the title is " Contact details of the Solicitor/Agent or loan account holder that will be attending to the application registration of the title at the LTO"). If I do need a solicitor, does that mean I need to get all the original documents to them to take with them,? (or maybe give to a local conveyancer to arrange it?). I could go to sydney myself but am worried something won't be right and I'll have to keep going back!

cheers,
Seb.

 

Conveyancer does it

 

Yep just give it to the conveyancer and they will take care of it, simple.
Well submitting is simple, sitting on your hands and waiting is not.

 

Does the LTO take a long time processing such things Albanga?
I thought waiting for council was bad enough! I've been waiting a month for approval the connect a 2nd water meter - even though the DA for subdivision was approved in December...

 

Hey @Seb C
If you put an @ symbol before a users name they will get an alert that you have mentioned them. That way you can be sure to get a quick response

To answer your question then allow 2 months for the LTO. It could be less and I have heard of it taking much longer. Mine took about 8-10 weeks once it was in my conveyancer hand.

The subdivison permit was approved but would of had a heap of requirements so you cannot lodge with titles office until they have been satasfied and council signs off on these.
Your now at the mercy of the utility companies, CWW were pretty good for me, the big delay was caused by Jemena who firstly has to install the pit and then decided the existing dwellings power line was to low and had me run it underground. That was fun!! As part of that they also made me put in a new switchboard which needs to be signed of by an inspector all at your cost.
From memory around $2,500.

 

Thanks @albanga (I'm learning!)
That's a good heads-up. I'm slugging through the conditions as we speak, waiting for tradies, and trying to find a way through the electricity side of things. I know people that have been held up for 6 months trying to get approval from the elec company for a new connection...(your's did sound fun!) but my sparky thinks he knows a way through it, fingers crossed. Then I've got to get one of those legal Section 88b instruments for the easements, but I'm going to look for a conveyancer that can hopefully do both that and the lodging at LTO part. Thanks for your help.

 

No worries mate.
What is the deal with the electrical? What are they asking from you?

Can't offer any advice on the 88b as I have not come across that.

Sounds like your getting there though! Great work.

 

Hi @albanga
At this point the electrical is looking okay, although to save trouble with the electrical company I have compromised by putting the electrical boxes to both lots on a tiny piece of common land next to the driveway of the 2nd lot. Then there will be an easement running across their driveway to run the wire back down to my existing house. I've attached a mud map. The electrician said that if I tried to have a completely separate electrical connection into each lot through the road reserve, the Elec Suppliers would likely charge $20k or so, and it would be a long process. I think that's what happened to that guy I know who's still held up with it. The advice he gave me was to apply for a new connection "NMI" saying it was running to a granny flat, and then once you have that number it is much easier for the electrician to create the connection, and THEN you do the subdivision. Seems to be working so far...

Hopefully getting the new water connection soon, the approval came through after 5 weeks at council.

 

@Seb C,

Surveyors can lodge plans electronically now (Eplan). No need to hand plans over the counter. Talk to your surveyor about it. This is our profession. He will likely charge a small fee for this. I believe it is the most efficient way to lodge plans. I have been doing it this way for years.

I assume you have all the documents signed; (subject to meeting all of your DA consent of course)

· Strata Plan - Surveyors certificate panel (Surveyor)
· Strata Compliance certificate panel (Strata Certifier or Council)
· Administration Sheet (signature forms) (as above)
· Owners and any Mortgagee’s also need to sign the Admin Sheets
· Same goes for the Sec88 Instrument. (all interested parties – Owners – Bank – and the benefiting or burdened parties to the easements or restrictions)
· Developer By-Laws
· Unit entitlement schedule

Did you also need a Survey Plan of Redefinition as part of the development? If so this will also need to be lodged prior to registration of your Strata. Council do not need to sign a Redefinition Plan but they may want a copy for their records. This is only a survey regulation for Strata developments if the base DP is too old.

As for your property titles. These will need to be produced to LPI. Contact your bank to inform them that when they are signing your plans to forward the titles to LPI. (they should anticipate this however things still get overlooked at times) get this underway asap.

If all is in order, The new plans will be registered and new titles may be issued within 4-6 weeks depending on the complexity of the survey plans and the LPI workloads.
(But remember you are dealing with government departments)

Please note this is a general overview as I haven’t seen your DA. But it gives you an idea of how it runs.

 

Thanks very much @bmc , this is a comprehensive response to my original thread question.

My surveyor (recommended to me as the best in the area), told me straight up that he doesn't use Eplan... I had read about it on the LPI webpage and thought it sounded like a good option. Apparently the LPI will reject hard copy plans if they are folded, creased and so on, so that's a real shame.

He did know about the need for a redefinition survey, as yes, the existing DP is too old.

I'm still a way off getting all the papers signed, but thanks for the good list for me to check off. My plan is to first give the council everything they need for a subdivision certificate, then go to the bank for their signatures to hand over the title (and pass on the signed plans as you mentioned), and then to the LPI, via a conveyancer.

bmc, I'd be interested in your thoughts on another question I have posted regarding comments my surveyor has made about easements. I've got a meeting with him on Monday to look at the draft plans and I want to know my stuff in case he leads me in the wrong direction... In short the question is about whether to use easements or common land for services that run from one lot under another. Hopefully you can find it from my profile, otherwise let me know and I'll send it to you (if you're willing)

Thanks again,
Seb.

 

One other question please @bmc , with the Eplan system, can you send all of your docs to the LPI through this or just the surveyor just send the strata plan? And then the other docs (eg section 88b, bi laws) go separately, even if at a later date? -S.

 

there are a few ways you can set up the strata configuration and without seeing all you design plans and DA conditions i'm just shooting in the dark.

but just going from your sketch i'm assuming your design is based on a "no common property scheme" or minimal common property. that is all structures within their lot, form part of their respective lot. they do not form common structural cubic space.

As for your services the strata scheme act provides implied rights over these services together with access. the services are considered common property (regardless of where they run ie: underground, through walls, roof space etc). there is no need to create a formal easement over these services. which is a typical method. however on the other hand if you wish to be solely responsible for the cost and maintenance of say, your sewer line, water pipe and concrete driveway, an easement can be created to benefit your parcel, burdening the other. the conditions and terms can be outlined in the sec88b. and/or an additional special by-law can be created to clarify liability or maintenance conditions. to create and easement over the service the surveyor will need to trace it.which is a task in itself once covered. it also looks like you will need an easement or right of way for access.

i'm sure your surveyor will advise you on the most practical way to complete the development.
and yes we can lodge the plans, documents, sec88b etc. via Eplan. the original "signed" forms are scanned and lodged via Eplan. it all goes in together. The Title must be produced to LPI, which i assume your bank has.
the surveyor has to be licensed and registered with Eplan to do this.

 

Thanks very much @bmc , that's greatinfo. I find the whole strata scheme thing very confusing, and yes I was trying to have minimal common land to make the blocks more torrens-like, but it will be necessary to have some common where the services run and electrical box and so on. I'll have to find a decent solicitor who doesn't try to overcomplicate the sec88b & bi laws! And I'll try to persuade my surveyor to start using Eplan... Cheers.