Many developers approach us with different concepts for developing land.
A typical request that we receive from a developer is along these lines – “We have found a person who wants to contribute their land to a development. We will develop it for them and will organise a mortgage. We think we can get a permit for 8 apartments. They will keep one apartment (the penthouse) and we will also receive one apartment. We have agreed on a profit share split for the balance of the apartments. Please prepare a short document to cover us.”
These forms of agreement are complicated and require careful thought.
Some of the key issues that need to be considered include:
- What is the value of the land and the amount contributed for development expenses?
- How have these values been determined?
- What is the profit split?
- What if the desired permit is not obtained?
- What if the development expenses are more than anticipated (i.e. because of issues in obtaining the permit, construction cost blowouts, etc)?
- Who makes decisions?
- Can the developer lodge a caveat to protect its interest and/or a mortgage to secure the development expenditure?
- Who signs the mortgage for funding purposes (presumably the land owner) and is an indemnity provided from the developer?
- Is stamp duty payable because it is deemed that the developer is obtaining an “economic entitlement”?
- Will any off the plan contracts be entered into to save on stamp duty?
- Have all relevant tax issues been considered for both the owner and the developer?
- Should the developer be paid a fee as part of the development expenses?
- What happens if all the lots are not sold before the construction is completed or some of the lots cannot be sold at their desired price?
There are a range of ways that these agreements can be structured and it is important that the issues are thought through carefully from a structuring and tax perspective.
For further information and advice on Property Law matters Jonathan can be contacted on (03) 8600 9333 via email jtisher@tlfc.com.au.
