Frustrating wait for sub-division in Mitcham

[rdbhalla]

Dear All,

I purchased a house in Mitcham in December, 2009 which stands in the middle of a ~700 Sq. Meters land. Its a corner block and the house is road facing. There is ample empty space on the left and right of this house.

It was sold to me as a Unit, as the builder would construct 2 new units in the empty spaces. Each unit will get its own title and there won't be any body corporate. My allocation of land was 280 Sq. Meters.

At the time of sale, I was told that council will approve the subdivision within couple of months, but I have now been waiting for more than a year. I do not have direct contact with the builder (seller), and my agent (Ray White, Blackburn) is not very communicative. My lawyer hasn't been able to help much as no status is communicated to us ever. As far as I understand, by law, the builder is not obliged to communicate any status.

I am just wondering what is the best way to ascertain the status of progress, and if possible expedite it? I end up renewing my pre-approval every 6 months, but then it expires again. Its very frustrating as I don't know whether it will happen next week, or next month, or next year.

Any pointers will be really appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Tony3008]

My sympathies. I'm buying a townhouse in Melton: the original owner/builder didn't get the individual subdivisions registered because he intended to keep the whole development as his pension fund; sadly he died and the family are selling.

I first looked at this house just over a year ago, made an offer within days, one condition relating to settlement within x days of the title registration, and have just been told this week that things can now proceed. So not quite as long as you, but close. Very frustrating for the agent too, as he's waiting on the commissions for around $2m of sales on this one site.

 

[Belu]

have you called council to see what the issue is?

 

[rdbhalla]

have you called council to see what the issue is?

I tried to call council. I was told that as I am not the owner of the property yet, they cannot disclose the status to me.

 

[Wunderbar]

And people wonder why land prices/house prices go up. All because these lazy, bureaucratic idiots are running the planning process