Nevett Ford’s Melbourne Property Law team has decades of industry-based experience across the full lifecycle of property investments, transactions and projects including:
- initial pre-purchase advice and due diligence
- property acquisitions and sales
- joint ventures and developments (including large and small scale subdivisions and construction projects)
- disputes
- owners corporation
- leasing
We have a longstanding network of repeat clients (both local and foreign) and regularly assist clients to negotiate with various banks and financiers. We are also well versed in the processes and procedures required by the various regulatory bodies that govern property in Victoria (local councils, Titles Office, State Revenue Office and the Victorian Building Authority) and across Australia (Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Australian Tax Office (ATO)).
OUR CLIENTS
Our work involves representing a range of buyers, vendors and investor types, from families or single investors on a simple property transaction or residential subdivision, to groups or consortiums of investors entering into sophisticated greenfield development projects and complex joint venture structures.
We have also worked with large and small developers and our team has direct experience working with developers in-house – we know the importance of ensuring our advice is not only legally sound, but also practical and commercially efficient.
Our team also includes professional translators who can provide written and oral advice in Mandarin, and a dedicated China Conveyancing service to assist Chinese clients buying and selling Australian property.
PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS
Stress free property transactions often require more than lodging and signing paperwork on time.
Using experienced advisors will ensure the transaction is not only smooth, but also strategic – where costs such as taxes and duty are minimised, last minute negotiations are managed with confidence and any regulatory issues are reduced or avoided altogether.
As a close-knit team, our Conveyancers are supported by our experienced lawyers, and so contract disputes or interpretation issues can be resolved quickly and correctly.
Our Property Lawyers and Conveyancing team are highly skilled and experienced in handling a wide range of residential, commercial and mixed-use property transactions – from complex site acquisitions and sales, with significant regulatory hurdles, through to simple residential property transactions and conveyancing.
We can advise at any stage of a property transaction, including:
- Pre- Purchase: including site due diligence investigations and pre-transaction advice (including Section 32 reviews and off-the-plan sale contracts).
- Pre-Sale: pre-contract preparation including identifying and, where possible, tidying up any legal defects, arrangements or agreements affecting your property to maximise its sale potential.
- Acquisitions/Sales: negotiations and contract advice and drafting for residential, land, commercial and industrial purchases.
- Contract Interpretation and Disputes: assisting to resolve disputes and contractual ambiguities such as adverse possession or other title defects and builder-developer contract disputes.
- Property Development Structuring and Financing: venture structuring, including joint venture agreements, development agreements, options and strategic acquisition and disposal structures. We can also advise on funding and securities matters, as well as advice on Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Goods and Services Tax (GST) and duty implications. See Property Development below.
- Planning and Construction: including zoning and town planning advice, negotiations and contests with councils or other interested parties, and construction contracts (domestic and commercial building contracts including Design & Construct (D&C) and Construct-only).
- Leasing and Property Management Contracts: including retail and commercial leasing, (including shopping centre tenancies).
- Owners Corporation Matters: such as preparing and advising on rules and by-laws, advice on rights and obligations as well as procedural matters and communal living disputes.
Our Conveyancing team also have multi-jurisdictional experience (property conveyancing in VIC, NSW and QLD), and dual language capabilities in Mandarin.
IN-HOUSE PROPERTY CONVEYANCING
Nevett Ford’s Conveyancing team also provides property conveyancing services to our clients (both local and foreign origin).
Our experienced Property conveyancers work alongside our Property lawyers to assist vendors and buyers with all property conveyancing, from once-off residential conveyancing, to more complex matters involving commercial properties and high-volume conveyancing that comes with larger scale development projects.
We are a member of the Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) network, an online system that streamlines the process of property lodgement and settlement. This means we complete your property transactions efficiently, securely and with increased certainty around settlement.
We also have extensive experience supporting foreign-origin clients in transactions involving Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval – see our China Conveyancing overview for more details.
PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT
Successful property development projects are well planned and have clear, legally sound agreements and structures in place to support every stage of the project.
Having an experienced legal partner on your development team means you can be sure of all of the above, and that you have an adviser who is well versed in your project to help navigate any issues should they arise – or avoid them altogether.
Our Property Law team’s experience is bolstered by in-house experience in development management, ensuring we have a strategic and commercial approach that is also practical from an investor/developer viewpoint.
We have acted for a range of developers and investors on projects including advising on:
- low to medium density developments,
– residential subdivisions (and consolidations)
– mixed use & commercial developments - mixed occupancy developments
- greenfield projects
- brownfields
- disputes
PROPERTY DISPUTE
When disputes arise it is important you feel supported and know your rights, so that you can resolve any conflict with confidence as early as possible – with or without formal legal representation.
We’re here to assist with any property related dispute or problems. We will act quickly to protect your interests, but also strategically so you can avoid costly drawn out back and forth between parties, often seen when conflict is poorly managed.
We often assist with advice on rights, interests and resolution pathways in property-related disputes in the following situations
- disagreements on contractual rights and obligations and contract interpretation
- owners corporation matters including defects, maintenance, meetings and resolutions
- water damage (ingress or egress) including matters that fall under the Water Act.
- planning disputes, including Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) appeals and objections.
- submissions and regulatory appeals – including State Revenue Office (SRO) appeals.
WHO YOU’LL WORK WITH
Stuart Wilson
Director
Peter Lumb
Associate Director
Andrew Lumb
Special Counsel
John Rados
Senior Lawyer
Nathan Xu
Senior Lawyer
Stephanie Chafer
Lawyer
Jean Xu
Conveyancer
Lily Cheng
Conveyancer
Hilda Felices
Paralegal
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