If you are a rural landholder within the Liverpool Plains Council area and do not currently have a dwelling constructed on your land but you are intending to construct a dwelling in the future, please be aware that existing holding provisions under the Local Environmental Plan expire on 9 December 2016 .
The permissibility to build a house on land is set out in the Liverpool Plains Local Environmental Plan 2011 (“LEP”). Generally speaking, for land that is zoned RUI Primary Production, R5 Large Lot Residential, E3 Environmental Management and E4 Environmental Living, the LEP specifies that a house can only be built if:
- The land is a minimum size;
- The land is a lot from an approved subdivision of Council; or
- The land comprises an existing holding.
The existing holding provisions under the LEP relate to the historic ownership of land at a certain date. There is some level of complexity surrounding whether a particular parcel of land constitutes an existing holding in part because the information required to make this assessment may be held in a number of places which requires detailed investigation and in some instances there may be insufficient information available to make a determination that a particular parcel of land constitutes an existing holding.
Information as to whether property constitutes an existing holding is available from Council by lodging an application and payment of a prescribed fee. If it is determined that property constitutes an existing holding, landholders who wish to preserve their dwelling entitlement to build a house are encouraged to submit a development application to seek consent for a ‘building envelope’ prior to 9 December 2016. This will afford landholders an additional five (5) year period in which to build. Failure to act before the December 2016 deadline could result in the loss of a dwelling entitlement if the property does not otherwise meet the minimum lot size set by the LEP or is not an approved subdivision of council.
If you are a rural landholder within the Liverpool Plains Council area please be aware that the window of opportunity to construct a house via existing holding provisions is closing. If you have questions or concerns about your rural property please contact the experienced team at Everingham Solomons where Helping You is Our Business.
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