Inner Sydney

Conveyancing in Sydney CBD.

At the 2021 Census, 7,047 of the 7,107 occupied homes in the Sydney CBD were flats or apartments, and not one was a semi-detached house, terrace or townhouse. 

Those homes share the city centre with offices, shops and hotels, and some share a tower with them. When a building is split into separately owned parts, a strata management statement or a building management statement sets out how the shared parts and their costs are divided, and the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2022 lists it among the documents that must be attached to the contract. On a CBD contract that statement is read alongside the strata by-laws, not after them.

Prepared reviews your contract for sale and the documents prescribed to be attached to it against what Sydney CBD actually raises. Whether the tower has a strata management statement or a building management statement, and how it splits shared costs. Whether a heritage building carries heritage floor space covenants on its title. What the central Sydney controls allow on the sites around you. What a State Heritage Register listing such as the Tank Stream means for the land. You get answers you can act on before the cooling off period runs out.

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Sydney CBD at a glance

Postcode
2000
Council
City of Sydney
Water utility
Sydney Water (confirm by address)
Most common dwelling
Flat or apartment

Authorities for Sydney CBD

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 Sydney CBD

The City of Sydney's Central Sydney planning area runs from Central station to Circular Quay, bounded on the east by The Domain and Hyde Park and on the west by Observatory Hill, King Street Wharf and Sussex Street. George Street is its spine. The light rail runs along it from Circular Quay to Central, with the L2 Randwick Line opening on 14 December 2019 and the L3 Kingsford Line on 3 April 2020. Sydney Metro City opened on 19 August 2024 with new stations at Martin Place and at Gadigal, which sits deep below Pitt, Park and Bathurst Streets and was named in 2023 to acknowledge the Gadigal people. Above Gadigal, the 39 storey Indi tower opened in November 2024 with 234 build to rent apartments.

The General Post Office at 1 Martin Place, designed by Colonial Architect James Barnet and built from 1866 to 1874, is on the State Heritage Register as item 00763, gazetted 2 April 1999. The City says its heritage floor space scheme, which rewards owners for conserving heritage buildings in central Sydney, has supported more than 90 buildings since 1971.

What the market here means for your contract

At the 2021 Census, the suburb of Sydney had 16,667 residents and 10,335 private dwellings, with 2,517 dwellings unoccupied on Census night against 7,107 occupied. Flats or apartments made up 99.2% of occupied private dwellings, separate houses accounted for 9 homes, and there were no semi-detached, row or terrace houses or townhouses. Of occupied private dwellings, 72.0% were rented, 10.9% owned with a mortgage and 13.3% owned outright. Two bedroom dwellings were the largest group at 45.3%, one bedroom dwellings 35.7% and studios 6.4%, and 37.4% of households were people living alone.

The practical effect is that a Sydney CBD conveyancing file is a strata file, and in a shared tower more than one layer of one. The section 184 certificate, the by-laws, the capital works fund and the owners corporation records still matter. In a tower that also holds shops, offices, a hotel or a car park, so does the strata management statement or building management statement, because that is where shared costs and the building management committee are dealt with. With 72.0% of homes rented, a lot may come with a tenant in place, so we also check what the contract says about any existing tenancy.

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 Sydney CBD

Strata management statements in shared towers

Where a building holds a strata scheme alongside other separately owned parts, such as a hotel, shops or a car park, Part 6 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 requires a strata management statement for the building. Under section 105 a registered statement has effect as an agreement under seal, binding the owners corporation, each owner, and lessees and mortgagees in possession. The NSW Government's November 2021 statutory review describes the statement as the key to these buildings: it sets up a building management committee, must provide for the fair allocation of shared costs, and must include a review of that allocation at least every five years. Where a registered building management statement under the Conveyancing Act 1919 already governs the building, section 108 can treat it as the strata management statement. Schedule 1 to the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2022 lists a strata management statement and any amendment of it, and a registered building management statement, among the documents to be attached to the contract. We read how costs are split, when the split was last reviewed, and what the strata records show about building management committee decisions.

Heritage floor space covenants on title

Heritage floor space is a central Sydney scheme. Under clause 6.10 of Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012, the owner of a listed heritage building in the SP5 Metropolitan Centre zone can be awarded floor space after conservation works are completed under a conservation management plan approved by the City, and sell it to developers who must allocate it under clause 6.11. The City says an award needs a deed with the City and covenants registered on the building's title: a restrictive covenant that prevents increasing the building's gross floor area or height, and a positive covenant that requires ongoing conservation in line with the approved plan. If you are buying into a heritage building, we look for those covenants in the title documents attached to the contract and ask what the conservation management plan commits the owners to.

What central Sydney controls allow next door

Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 (Amendment No 64), published on 26 November 2021, rewrote the controls for central Sydney after what the City calls the first major review of its planning framework in 45 years. Among other changes it created tower cluster areas under clause 6.21E, where a site of more than 2,000 square metres can seek up to 50% additional floor space and height above the mapped limit, subject to a design competition and to sun access, overshadowing and view controls. Major developments above a cost threshold set under the City of Sydney Act 1988 are decided by the Central Sydney Planning Committee, whose reports are published. The section 10.7 certificate names the planning instruments that apply to your address, but not what is planned on the next block. We read the certificate and check the controls and recent applications for nearby sites before you rely on a view or on light.

The Tank Stream and State heritage listings

The Tank Stream, where water tanks were cut into the bedrock in 1790, is on the State Heritage Register as item 00636, gazetted 2 April 1999 and owned by Sydney Water. The listing covers the stream together with a curtilage of 3 metres from all its surfaces, and its surviving fabric runs beneath the city from King Street, between Pitt and George Streets, north to Circular Quay. Works to a State Heritage Register item that are not exempt under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977 need a section 60 approval, and the Heritage Council has delegated some of those decisions to the City of Sydney. We check the State Heritage Register, the planning certificate and the title documents for the address, so you know whether a listing affects the land before you sign.

City Area and Darling Harbour flood studies

A February 2016 City of Sydney report places the Sydney CBD within its City Area and Darling Harbour floodplain catchments. The City Area catchment covers about 199 hectares and drains into Sydney Harbour at a number of locations, and the Darling Harbour catchment covers about 307 hectares. The flood studies and floodplain risk management plans for both were adopted by the council in August 2016, and the 2016 work identified ponding areas, trapped low points, flood corridors and regions of high hazard across the two catchments. Flood related development controls are reported on the section 10.7 certificate under Schedule 2 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021. We read what the certificate says for the address and the City's catchment information, and check the strata records for any history of water entering basements or plant rooms.

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How it works in 3 steps

Step 1

Upload your contract

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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 Sydney CBD

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 Sydney

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 Sydney CBD that means reading the strata or building management statement behind a shared tower, the heritage floor space covenants on a conserved building, and the central Sydney controls on the sites around it, 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

Which council is the Sydney CBD in?

The Sydney CBD, the suburb officially named Sydney with postcode 2000, is in the City of Sydney local government area. Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012 and Sydney Development Control Plan 2012 apply, and central Sydney's controls were substantially rewritten by an amendment published on 26 November 2021. The City of Sydney or the Central Sydney Planning Committee is the consent authority, with the committee deciding major developments above a cost threshold set under the City of Sydney Act 1988. Which instruments apply to a particular address is shown on the section 10.7 certificate attached to the contract.

Is there a metro station in the Sydney CBD?

Yes, two opened on 19 August 2024 when Sydney Metro City began services: Martin Place and Gadigal. Gadigal, formerly known as Pitt Street Station, sits deep below Pitt, Park and Bathurst Streets at the southern end of the CBD. The CBD also has light rail along George Street between Circular Quay and Central, open since 14 December 2019.

Do I need to read a strata management statement when buying a CBD apartment?

If the building has one, yes, and it must be attached to the contract. A strata management statement is required under Part 6 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 where a strata scheme shares a building with other separately owned parts, such as a hotel, shops or a car park, and it binds the owners corporation and each owner as an agreement under seal. It sets out how shared facilities are managed and how their costs are allocated between the parts, so it can affect what you pay as well as what the strata levies show. Some buildings are governed instead by a registered building management statement under the Conveyancing Act 1919, which is also a document that must be attached.

Buying or selling in Sydney CBD?

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