Victorian vendors to disclose threat of bushfire to residential land

The Victorian Parliament amended the Sale of Land Act in the first week of June to give effect to a recommendation of the Royal Commission into the Black Saturday bushfires that vendors be required to advise if the land they are selling is in a bushfire-prone area. 

The date from which this advice will be required is yet to be decided. 

When it is required, the advice will appear in the vendor’s section 32 statement. 

This information is currently publically available, and owners can conduct a search to ascertain the bushfire status of their land. The Victorian government has made this service available through the Department of Planning and Community Development. 

By visiting the government’s website, you can confirm your land’s bushfire status by entering the address of your property and selecting a free bushfire-prone area property report. The report will advise if the land is in a designated bushfire-prone area. The areas judged bushfire prone were determined by the Minister for Planning. 

If the area is bushfire-prone, the report will advise as such and detail the special construction requirements that apply. 

While the requirement may add to the conveyancing costs of a sale, as your solicitor or conveyancer will need to locate the report and include it in the vendor’s section 32 statement, it does ensure buyers are informed and are prepared should they purchase a property in a bushfire-prone area.