What must be included in the section 32?

The information that needs to be disclosed in the section 32 includes:

• financial details of the property such as the total amount of outgoings and liabilities that comes with the property ownership
• details of whether the property is owner-built and relevant insurance details
• details on the planning schemes and zonings that applies to the property
• details on whether the property is affected by designated bushfire zones
• details on the title and relevant restrictions on land use

Surprisingly not all owners of land would know all the information about the property, depending on how they have been using the property. For example, if you have only ever purchased the property to live in and have not made any renovations or additions to the property, you may not have looked into the planning regulations in your area. Yet this is the type of information that you have to disclose to your buyers. However, the good thing is that you do not actually have to know this information because your conveyancing lawyer can find out for you by ordering the required searches to put into the statement.

You will have to let your conveyancing lawyer know if you have done anything to the property that may not appear on the public records though. E.g.: if you have renovated the kitchen recently, no one is going to know unless you tell your conveyancer. They can then ask you a series of prompting questions to help determine whether it is a disclosable event or not.

It is also important to ensure that you sign and date the section 32 statement before giving to your real estate agent to pass onto the buyers. Otherwise, the contract will become voidable at the option of the buyer, which means that they can walk away from the contract.