Inner West

Conveyancing in Leichhardt.

The WestConnex M4-M8 Link mainline tunnels run beneath Norton Street and Pioneers Memorial Park, and Transport for NSW compulsorily acquired subsurface lots under Leichhardt land by Government Gazette notices published on 6 November 2020.

Tunnelling crews were excavating the mainline tunnels below Pioneers Memorial Park and Norton Street in August 2021, and the link between Haberfield and St Peters opened to traffic in January 2023. Two notices in the 6 November 2020 Gazette, headed Leichhardt, Lilyfield and Rozelle, and Leichhardt, Newtown and St Peters, were signed by Transport for NSW's Manager, Compulsory Acquisition Subsurface. Their schedules list the land taken as lots in newly numbered deposited plans, often two lots per parcel. So the title for some Leichhardt land may now describe the surface as a lot in a newer deposited plan, with the land below in another.

Prepared reviews your contract for sale and the documents prescribed to be attached to it against what Leichhardt actually raises. Whether the title search and plan show a surface lot in one of the deposited plans registered for the tunnel acquisitions. Whether a planned basement, pool or underpinning would reach toward land Transport for NSW now owns. Which conservation area the house sits in: Whaleyborough Estate, Wetherill Estate, Excelsior Subdivision or another. Whether the section 10.7 certificate mentions the Parramatta Road rezoning, and which flood catchment the street drains to. You get answers you can act on before the cooling off period runs out.

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Leichhardt at a glance

Postcode
2040
Council
Inner West Council
Water utility
Sydney Water (confirm by address)
Most common dwelling
Separate house

Authorities for Leichhardt

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 Leichhardt

Leichhardt runs north from Parramatta Road, with Annandale to the east, Haberfield to the west and Petersham, Lewisham and Stanmore across Parramatta Road to the south. Norton Street is the spine. Leichhardt Town Hall, built in 1888 in the Italianate style, holds the corner of Norton and Marion Streets. The former Leichhardt Post Office at 109 Norton Street was designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet, built in 1888 and opened on 9 December 1889. Both are local heritage listings rather than State Heritage Register items; the post office was listed under the former Leichhardt Local Environmental Plan 2013, gazetted on 23 December 2013. Further south, the Italian Forum at 23 Norton Street holds Leichhardt Library on its Piazza Level.

At the north end of Norton Street, Pioneers Memorial Park was the Balmain Cemetery, with over 10,000 burials across 24 denominations, before it was renamed in 1941. The WestConnex mainline tunnels pass beneath it. On the western edge, the L1 Dulwich Hill light rail line follows the former Rozelle freight rail corridor, with stops at Leichhardt North and Hawthorne; the extension opened on 27 March 2014. Hawthorne Canal, cut from Long Cove Creek from 1890, carries water north to Iron Cove. In the 2021 Census, 10.3 percent of Leichhardt residents gave Italian ancestry.

What the market here means for your contract

The 2021 Census counted 15,158 people in Leichhardt (suburb code SAL12306) and 6,821 private dwellings, 5,959 of them occupied. The housing is close to an even three-way split: 36.5 percent of occupied private dwellings are separate houses, 33.6 percent are semi-detached, terrace or townhouses, and 29.0 percent are flats or apartments. Renters are the largest tenure group at 40.4 percent. A further 34.1 percent of homes are owned with a mortgage and 23.8 percent are owned outright.

The practical effect is that a Leichhardt contract can be any of three different jobs. A house or terrace may sit on a surface lot whose deeper land was acquired for the tunnels, so the folio, the deposited plan and any easements need reading together. A unit means a section 184 strata certificate and the strata records, and the 6 November 2020 Gazette schedules list strata common property among the land acquired below ground. With four in ten homes rented, many sales come with a tenant in place, so the lease and the vacant possession terms matter.

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.

Send it now, free

Local detail

What we check in Leichhardt

Tunnel subsurface lots on the title

Transport for NSW takes land for road tunnels under the Roads Act 1993, using the compulsory process in the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991. The Gazette notices of 6 November 2020 list the Leichhardt land taken as lots in newly numbered deposited plans, which points to parcels being divided into surface and below ground lots. The house you buy may therefore be described as a lot in one of those newer deposited plans, not the old one. Transport for NSW says compensation is not payable in the large majority of subsurface acquisitions, and the usual six month negotiation period does not apply. We read the title search and the plan attached to the contract, match the lot description, and tell you what was taken below your land.

Digging down above the tunnels

Basements, pools, piling and rock anchors all go into the ground that matters here. On the same tunnel at St Peters, Transport for NSW told a developer in a letter of 13 February 2023 that no excavation, piles or rock reinforcement are permitted within the substratum it owns, and that a basement needs an engineering appraisal of tunnel impacts. It also noted that the tunnel design assumed a set maximum surface load. If you plan to extend or excavate, that affects what you can build. We look for any Transport for NSW conditions in past approvals for the property, and we tell you to get advice before you commit to building plans.

Which Leichhardt conservation area applies

Much of central Leichhardt sits in heritage conservation areas carried over from the former Leichhardt Local Environmental Plan 2013 into the Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022. Council's documents number them C55 Albert Street, C56 Leichhardt Street and Stanley Street, C57 Excelsior Subdivision, C59 Wetherill Estate and C60 Whaleyborough Estate, with C58 Scarvell Estate near Catherine Street. Council notes these numbers come from the former councils' plans and may not yet match the current Inner West LEP. Whether a property is in one, or is a heritage item itself, is applied by map, and clause 5.10 of the LEP and the development control plan then govern change. We check the section 10.7 certificate for the heritage notation and flag what it means for alterations, demolition and the street front.

Parramatta Road rezoning still in progress

Council's planning proposal PP-2022-1921 covers parts of the Leichhardt, Taverners Hill and Kings Bay precincts of the Parramatta Road Corridor. It received a Gateway determination on 20 October 2022, was exhibited from 6 November to 17 December 2023, and went to the Department for finalisation on 25 June 2024; the Planning Portal still lists it as post-exhibition. Separately, the State announced a State led rezoning of the Inner West section of Parramatta Road on 14 September 2025, aiming for up to 8,000 homes, which the Department expects to exhibit in late 2026. Neither is in force. We check the section 10.7 certificate for any proposed instrument it names and tell you what has changed and what has not.

Two flood catchments split by Norton Street

Council's flood page puts Leichhardt west of Norton Street in the Hawthorne Canal catchment and Leichhardt east of Norton Street in the Whites Creek catchment. Hawthorne Canal drains through pits, pipes and overland flow paths into Iron Cove, and its flood study was finalised by WMAwater in 2015. Council says it has completed flood risk management studies and plans for all areas within the former Leichhardt council area. A council flood certificate gives the 1% AEP and PMF flood levels, depth and hazard near a property. We check the section 10.7 certificate for flood notations and, where the street sits on a flow path, recommend you order the flood certificate before exchange.

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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 Leichhardt

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 Leichhardt that means reading the title and plan for tunnel subsurface lots, testing any plan to dig down against Transport for NSW's substratum, and confirming which conservation area applies, 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 there a WestConnex tunnel under Leichhardt?

Yes. The M4-M8 Link mainline tunnels pass beneath parts of Leichhardt, including below Pioneers Memorial Park and Norton Street, and opened to traffic in January 2023. Transport for NSW acquired subsurface lots under Leichhardt land by Gazette notices published on 6 November 2020. Whether a particular address is affected shows in its title search and deposited plan.

Is Leichhardt in a heritage conservation area?

Large parts of it are. Council lists conservation areas including Whaleyborough Estate, Wetherill Estate, Excelsior Subdivision, Albert Street, and Leichhardt Street and Stanley Street, all in central Leichhardt. These are applied by map under the Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022, so the section 10.7 certificate for the address will show whether a property is inside one.

Does Leichhardt flood?

Parts of it can. Streets west of Norton Street drain to Hawthorne Canal and Iron Cove, and streets east of Norton Street drain to Whites Creek. A council flood certificate gives the 1% AEP and PMF flood levels, depth and hazard near a property, and the section 10.7 certificate for the address will show any flood notation.

Buying or selling in Leichhardt?

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

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