The Property Law Act 2023 (Qld) (Act) and the Property Law Regulation 2023 (Qld) commence today, 1 August 2025 and introduce the most significant changes to property law in Queensland in over 50 years. A new seller disclosure regime is being introduced along with changes to the laws governing leasing, deeds, easements and many other areas.
Seller Disclosure
The seller disclosure regime applies to the sale of all land (commercial, rural and residential) unless one of the very limited exemptions applies. A copy of the approved Seller Disclosure Statement can be found here.
The Disclosure Statement must:
- be in the approved form;
- include the detailed information prescribed by the regulations;
- be completed with the information that is true at the time the statement is given to the buyer; and
- be signed by the seller (or their agent).
The seller must also provide to the buyer, particular documents required by the Regulation (called prescribed certificates) that are applicable to the property.
The Disclosure Statement and each prescribed certificate must be provided to the buyer before the buyer signs the Contract. Although it is not a requirement of the Act, we recommend that the seller request that the buyer sign and return a copy of the Disclosure Statement to clearly evidence that they received it.
The buyer may terminate the Contract at any time before settlement, if the seller either fails to give the buyer a Disclosure Statement or a prescribed certificate before the Contract is signed by the buyer or, having given a Disclosure Statement and the prescribed certificates before the buyer signed the Contract, all of the following apply:
- the Disclosure Statement or a prescribed certificate is inaccurate or incomplete at the time it is given to the buyer; and
- at the time the Contract is signed by the buyer, the buyer is not aware of the true state of affairs; and
- if the buyer had been aware of the true state of affairs, the buyer would not have signed the Contract.
We caution sellers that it will take time to prepare the Disclosure Statement, so we recommend that sellers prepare their Disclosure Statement before listing their property, so it is ready to go as soon as a buyer is identified.
If you intend to sell your property in the near future, or if you have any questions, please contact our Property + Business Transactions Team.
Leases
The Act makes some important changes to lease provisions, including:
- introducing a new Notice to Remedy Breach, which must be used when issuing such a notice to a tenant;
- where a lease allows a tenant to seek the landlord’s consent for a variety of matters (such as to assign the lease, sublease premises, change the permitted use under the lease or make alterations to the premises), the Act obliges the landlord to act reasonably and provide a decision within one month of a request being received; and
- if a lease is assigned more than once, the original tenant and guarantor are released from future liability under the lease once the lease is assigned beyond their direct assignee.
If you have any questions about these changes, please contact our Property + Business Transactions Team.
For further information, contact Amanda Tolson or Carly Brailak.
The assistance of Michelle Broome, Lawyer, in researching this article is gratefully acknowledged.
Buying or selling property? New requirements commence 1 August