Rural Property

Rural Conveyancing

QLD and NSW

The Fox and Thomas Conveyancing Team provide efficient and precise advice on rural property and water entitlement transactions within the whole of Queensland and New SouthWales.

We understand the complexities of a rural property transaction and strive to provide a no-fuss, efficient property transfer process.

How to get ready

Whether you are buying or selling, we recommend you have critical conversations with your solicitor, financier, accountant and any other advisors you may have to discuss any potential requirements prior to committing to a contract. Consideration should be given to what is included or not included in a contract.

Examples of items to be specifically addressed in a contract include:

• plant, equipment and vehicles
• water entitlements
• vegetation restrictions or approvals
• contamination issues
• employees and employee entitlements
• any agreements that may be in place such as agistments, leases, water usage, cluster fencing, timber cutting, mining or mining exploration, service contracts, technology or radio agreements, management or consultancy agreements and supply contract for items like seed or fuel.

Early and precise planning proves for a smooth transaction.

Leasing

Rural leasing

Rural leasing is a key component of Fox and Thomas’s property practice. We assist rural clients throughout Queensland and New South Wales with:

• leases of agricultural land
• share farming agreements
• agistment agreements
• leases of water allocations in QLD and water access licences in NSW
• temporary trades of water
• leases of state land, including road licences and enclosure permits

We understand the specific terms that need to addressed in the lease or agreement, such as:

• are there extras to be included in the lease in addition to the lease of land, such as lease of water entitlements or machinery?
• which party will be responsible for repairs and maintaining infrastructure on the land such as pumps and irrigation pivots?
• which party is responsible for soil health, fertiliser applications, and weed management maintenance?
• are there any restrictions on the use of the land, such as stocking rate, type of livestock, chemical use and crop exclusions?
• what is the agreement on ownership of capital improvements at the end of the lease or share farming, if any is undertaken, such as construction of silos by the lessee?

Due Diligence

Due Diligence is the process of conducting investigations into the property you are purchasing. There are a range of significant issues that may affect a property and may impose restrictions or obligations on you as owner of the property. It is important that you are satisfied with your due diligence enquiries prior to the contract becoming unconditional.

There is no limit to the level of due diligence you may wish to conduct. This can be very overwhelming and can leave a purchaser feeling lost on where to start. We recommend you consider what is important to you about the property, why you are purchasing this particular property and how you want to use the property now and into the future. These few questions can assist your solicitor in determining what level of due diligence is right for you. The cost of conducting appropriate due diligence now may save you significant costs in the future.

It is also a good idea to discuss your potential purchase with your insurer before you commit to a contract. Certain areas within Queensland and New South Wales may be considered high risk for insurers and therefore may have higher insurance premiums than what you have budgeted for.

When selling a property, you should place yourself in a purchaser’s shoes and ask yourself “what would I want to know about this property?” We recommend you give thought to this question and gather any information you may have in relation to the property so that you have as much information as possible available to assist your purchaser with their due diligence enquiries. Assisting a purchaser with their due diligence enquiries will ultimately assist in your contract becoming unconditional.

Purchasing entity advice

We provide advice on how to best structure your property purchase, depending on your individual and business circumstances. What structure you choose to purchase property in can have wide reaching effects on areas such as tax, estate and succession planning, and asset protection, so it is important that the most appropriate entity is selected.

Foreign buyers

Fox and Thomas are experienced in assisting foreign buyers acquire property throughout Queensland and NSW, having acted for buyers from Europe, North America and the United Kingdom. Foreign buyers who wish to purchase residential property or agricultural land are subject to a number of rules.

Foreign buyers purchasing residential property (of any value) or agricultural land (above $15 million) must obtain approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) before acquiring the property. We can assist you in the FIRB approval process and ensure that the necessary special conditions are included in the contract for sale.

There are additional stamp duty implications for foreign buyers of residential property which we can advise you on. In NSW, foreign buyers of residential property are charged an additional surcharge duty of 8% and in Queensland, foreign buyers of residential property are charged an additional transfer duty of 7% known as Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (AFAD).

Foreign buyers of agricultural land and water entitlements are also required to register their interest/s on the Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land and the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water Entitlements. We can assist with this registration process.