Stage 4 of 6
Sunset clauses and off-the-plan traps
Building or Buying a New Home
Stage 4 / 6 · Off-the-plan traps
Sunset clauses and off-the-plan traps
The clauses that let a developer rescind your contract and resell at a higher price. State law varies; the contract you sign matters more.
A sunset clause says: if construction isn’t complete by date X, either party may rescind. Developers used to abuse this; recent state laws have changed the rules.
NSW, VIC and QLD reforms
NSW (Conveyancing Act 2015 amendments) requires developer applications to the Supreme Court to rescind. VIC (Sale of Land Act amendments 2019) tightened similar developer-side rescission. QLD has comparable but more permissive rules.
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