Inner West

Conveyancing in Annandale.

Johnston Street is 100 feet wide by design: it was widened from 66 feet along the ridge when John Young's company laid out George Johnston's old estate in the late 1870s. That planned grid is now the Annandale Heritage Conservation Area, which planning panel reports number C1 in the Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022.

Council's statement of significance records that Young bought the rest of the estate in October 1877 and in 1878 formed the Sydney Freehold Land and Building Investment Company to subdivide and sell about 280 acres. Ferdinand Reuss junior won the company's prize for the street design: 66 foot cross streets such as Collins, Booth, Piper and Rose, 66 foot frontages and a policy of no back lanes. Resubdivision in the 1880s and 1890s then squeezed terraces and semis in beside the villas, which is why large Italianate houses and narrow workers' cottages share the same blocks. The same statement asks owners to keep pre-1939 buildings, weatherboard houses, sandstone kerbs and iron palisade fences, and to avoid second or third storey additions that change the original house form.

Prepared reviews your contract for sale and the documents prescribed to be attached to it against what Annandale actually raises. Whether the section 10.7 certificate shows the Annandale conservation area, the Parramatta Road conservation area or an individual heritage listing. Which side of Johnston Street the lot is on, and so which creek's flood catchment it drains to. Whether the land is within 800 metres walk of the Booth Street town centre named in the low and mid rise housing policy. For units, what the section 184 strata certificate shows about funds and planned work. You get answers you can act on before the cooling off period runs out.

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Annandale at a glance

Postcode
2038
Council
Inner West Council
Water utility
Sydney Water (confirm by address)
Most common dwelling
Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse

Authorities for Annandale

Check it yourself

Links to government and third-party sites. We do not control what they publish, and the section 10.7 certificate and the documents attached to the contract for the specific property remain the source of truth.

About Annandale

Annandale runs north from Parramatta Road to Rozelle Bay along a single ridge, with Johnstons Creek on the Glebe side and Whites Creek on the Leichhardt and Lilyfield side. Johnston Street follows the top of that ridge, and Council's flood page uses it as the dividing line: land west of Johnston Street drains to Whites Creek, land east of it to Johnstons Creek. The local shops sit on Booth Street, where the post office at 115-117 opened in 1896, and at the Parramatta Road end of Johnston Street. The Rozelle Bay light rail stop is on The Crescent at the northern tip, and the Whites Creek wetland on Smith Street, opened in 2002, filters stormwater before it reaches Rozelle Bay.

Among the State Heritage Register listings in the suburb, Hunter Baillie Memorial Presbyterian Church on Johnston Street at Collins Street, designed by Cyril and Arthur Blacket and opened in 1889, is SHR 00011, gazetted 2 April 1999; its spire rises about 55 metres. Goodman's Buildings, the two storey row of twelve shops with residences at 2-12 Johnston Street on the Parramatta Road corner, built in stages from 1893 to 1912, is SHR 00672, gazetted the same day. In Hogan Park off Taylor Street, the 1897 Johnston's Creek Sewer Aqueduct (SHR 01325) is one of the first major reinforced concrete structures in Australia, and Sewage Pumping Station 3 on Booth Street, built 1902 to 1904 (SHR 01343), sits beside the Johnstons Creek channel; both were gazetted 18 November 1999. The Gothic Revival house The Abbey at 272 Johnston Street, built 1881 to 1882 by John Young, is a local listing; its State Heritage Inventory entry recommends State listing but it is not on the register.

What the market here means for your contract

At the 2021 Census, Annandale (ABS suburb code SAL10062) had 9,487 people and 4,439 private dwellings, 3,794 of them occupied. Of occupied private dwellings, 47.2% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses or townhouses, 28.8% were flats or apartments and 22.8% were separate houses. 41.8% were rented, 30.7% were owned with a mortgage and 25.7% were owned outright.

The practical effect is that most Annandale contracts are for an attached house on a nineteenth century lot, and close to three in ten are for a strata unit. For a terrace or semi, the work is in the section 10.7 certificate (heritage, flood, contamination and any proposed instruments), the title and any section 88B instrument, and the shared walls and roof with next door. For a unit, the section 184 strata certificate and the owners corporation records matter as much as the contract. With more than four in ten homes rented, many sales come with a tenant in place, so the lease has to line up with the completion and vacant possession terms in the contract.

Before you sign

In New South Wales you get 5 business days to cool off on an established home, 10 for off the plan, and none at all at auction. If you agree to waive the cooling off period and provide a 66W Certificate then no cooling off applies as well.

That is the whole window. If the property is going to auction, the review has to happen before you raise your hand, and it costs you nothing to have it done. There is no reason to be the person who finds out afterwards.

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Local detail

What we check in Annandale

Annandale conservation area controls on the house

Inner West Local Planning Panel reports describe Annandale sites as within the Annandale Heritage Conservation Area (C1) listed in Schedule 5 of the Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022, and the section 10.7 certificate for the address will show whether clause 5.10 heritage conservation applies. Council's statement of significance asks owners to keep pre-1939 buildings, weatherboard houses and original face brick, and to avoid amalgamating lots or adding second or third storeys that change the original form. Annandale is still assessed under the Leichhardt Development Control Plan 2013, which splits the suburb into distinctive neighbourhoods such as Johnston Street, Booth Street and Annandale Street; a consolidated Inner West DCP 2026 was exhibited from 13 May to 28 June 2026 and was not shown as adopted when we checked. We read the certificate, look for unapproved work on the street face, and tell you what the controls mean for the extension you have in mind.

Individual and State heritage listings

Some Annandale houses are heritage items in their own right as well as sitting in the conservation area, and several local listings include interiors: the panel report for 46 Johnston Street, for example, deals with the house Wallscourt including interiors. State Heritage Register listings in the suburb include Hunter Baillie church (SHR 00011), Goodman's Buildings (SHR 00672), the Johnston's Creek Sewer Aqueduct (SHR 01325) and Sewage Pumping Station 3 (SHR 01343). A listing that extends to interiors can bring internal work into the approval process, and State listing adds a layer beyond Council. We check Schedule 5 and the State Heritage Register for the exact lot and tell you what the listing covers.

Which creek the lot drains to

Council maps Annandale into two catchments split at Johnston Street: Whites Creek to the west and Johnstons Creek to the east, both reaching Rozelle Bay through Sydney Water trunk channels. The suburb is in the study area of the Leichhardt Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan (final, November 2017), and it is named in both catchments in the Whites Creek and Johnstons Creek Flood Risk Management Study and Plan (final, 9 August 2024), whose eleven hotspots are all outside Annandale. That does not clear every lot, and lots on the lower slopes toward either creek deserve a closer look. We check the 10.7 certificate for flood related development controls and, where the land is low, get a Council flood certificate showing the 1% AEP level and depth.

Booth Street town centre housing reforms

The Department of Planning's low and mid rise housing policy lists "Annandale town centre (Booth Street)" as one of its nominated town centres. Stage 2 of the policy started on 28 February 2025 and applies to residential zones within 800 metres walking distance of nominated centres, encouraging dual occupancies, terraces, townhouses and apartments of three to six storeys. On 17 February 2026 Council resolved that Stage 2 of its Our Fairer Future plan would cover these remaining areas, including Booth Street; that is a resolution, not an LEP amendment, and nothing from it is in force. How the policy sits with the C1 controls depends on the lot. We check the 10.7 certificate and tell you what the policy could allow on your land and on the land next door.

Parramatta Road frontage and the former dive site

Parts of the Parramatta Road frontage are in the separate C35 Parramatta Road conservation area, which asks owners to keep pre-1939 facades and original shopfronts. On 12 December 2025 the former WestConnex dive site at 160-186 Parramatta Road and 79-95 Pyrmont Bridge Road was rezoned from E4 General Industrial to MU1 Mixed Use under the Inner West LEP 2022, for up to 580 homes. The State led Parramatta Road corridor rezoning was expected to be exhibited in late 2026 and is not in force. We check the 10.7 certificate for contamination notes and proposed instruments, and ask the vendor about any site history near Parramatta Road.

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How it works in 3 steps

Step 1

Upload your contract

Upload your contract, add a few details and you’re done. No appointment to book, no credit card and no obligation.

Step 2

Same business day review

In before 2pm, back before you need it.

We’ll send you a free legal review to help you understand what matters, what to watch for and what to do next.

Step 3

Your call

Walk away, or have us run the matter through to PEXA settlement for $1,900 incl. GST fixed.

Either is fine with us.

How we help in Annandale

Contract for sale reviews

Before you sign anything, we review the contract for sale and explain the terms, special conditions and risks that could affect your purchase.

Prescribed documents and the 10.7 certificate

The documents attached to the contract carry the section 10.7 planning certificate, the title and plan, the sewerage diagram, easements and restrictions, and for strata the scheme documents and by-laws. We explain what they mean and flag anything that deserves a closer look.

Property conveyancing

Buying or selling, we manage the legal transfer of ownership, prepare the documents and coordinate every party through to settlement.

Settlement and statement of adjustments

We prepare and check settlement figures, including council rates, water rates, strata levies and other adjustments, so nothing is wrong on the day.

Electronic settlement

Land dealings in New South Wales must be lodged electronically, and certificates of title were cancelled in October 2021. We run the whole process securely and keep you informed at each step.

Strata due diligence

Buying an apartment or townhouse means buying into a strata scheme. We review the section 184 certificate, the records, financial statements, by-laws, the capital works fund, maintenance obligations and any known issues.

Easements, covenants and title restrictions

We explain everything affecting the title, including easements, restrictions on the use of land and positive covenants created by a section 88B instrument, caveats, mortgages and other registered interests that could limit what you do with the property.

Transfer duty and land tax clearance

We calculate your duty, prepare the documents and lodge everything with Revenue NSW, and we obtain the land tax clearance certificate so an unpaid charge on the land does not follow you.

See everything we handle across Inner West

Why Prepared

Anyone can offer a free review. What matters is what comes back, and who wrote it.

 

Speed

Same-day contract reviews. While others wait on a callback, you are at the next inspection ready to offer.

Expertise

Your contract is reviewed by experienced Australian property lawyers who understand the local property market. In Annandale that means reading the C1 conservation area controls against the house, checking for individual and State heritage listings, and working out which creek's flood catchment the lot drains to, not a generic checklist.

Fixed fee

One price for the conveyancing, published before you commit. No hourly billing, no surprises on the invoice, and no charge at all for the review that got you there.

What it costs

Nothing to have it read. One price if you go ahead.

Most conveyancers charge for a review, or ask you to request a quote before they will tell you anything at all. Here is the whole thing, so you can compare without making a phone call.

Free

Contract review

No obligation, as many properties as you need for your first 90 days, then $49 a review. Back in 4 business hours.

$1,900

Full conveyancing, buying

Incl. GST, fixed. Contract through to PEXA settlement, adjustments and duty lodgement.

$300

Selling, and it does not sell

Professional fees only, plus the cost of any searches already ordered. You are not billed for a settlement that never happened.

Government charges, searches and transfer duty are payable in addition and are set by the State, not by us. We tell you the total before you instruct.

Start with the free review

Common questions

Is Annandale in a heritage conservation area?

Most likely, yes. Council's statement for the Annandale Heritage Conservation Area (C1) describes the planned suburb on the ridge between Whites Creek and Johnstons Creek, running north to Rozelle Bay, and parts of the Parramatta Road frontage sit in the separate C35 Parramatta Road conservation area. The section 10.7 planning certificate for the address will show which, if any, applies.

Which council is Annandale in?

Annandale is in the Inner West Council area. Planning controls come from the Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022, published on 12 August 2022, and Council still lists the Leichhardt Development Control Plan 2013 as the DCP for Annandale while a consolidated Inner West DCP is finalised.

Does Annandale flood?

Parts can, mostly on the lower slopes toward the two creeks. Council splits the suburb at Johnston Street, with the west draining to Whites Creek and the east to Johnstons Creek, both reaching Rozelle Bay. The 2024 Whites Creek and Johnstons Creek study names no hotspot inside Annandale, but a Council flood certificate for the address gives the 1% AEP level and depth.

Buying or selling in Annandale?

Send us the contract. You will get it back reviewed, in plain English, with the issues that matter flagged.

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