Cooling-off and contracts in the ACT

A buyer of residential property in the ACT has five working days to cool off after the contract is made. There is none at auction, and a buyer can give it up. The contract form matters more here than in most states. Every block of residential land in Canberra is held on a crown lease, usually for 99 years, and what changes hands is the lease. The Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 makes the seller attach the lease, the title and the building documents to the contract.

The cooling-off period

The cooling-off period begins when the contract is made and ends at 5 pm on the fifth working day after the day it began. The Act says working days, which agency pages call business days. A buyer who wants out gives the seller a rescission notice inside that window. The contract is then rescinded and the buyer forfeits 0.25% of the purchase price to the seller. No separate off-the-plan cooling-off rule turned up in this research; the ACT's 2021 laws on rescission-clause misuse were not opened.

When there is no cooling-off

There is no cooling-off period if the buyer is a corporation, the property is sold by tender, or the property is sold by auction. Nor is there one for a contract made on the day the property was auctioned and passed in. That applies where the buyer was in the bidders record, directly or through someone bidding for them.

A private treaty buyer can also give the period up. Section 12(5) of the Act lets it be shortened and section 13 lets it be waived, in each case by a certificate under section 17. The approved form is a lawyer's certificate that explains the nature and effect of the waiver to the buyer.

What the seller must give you

Section 9 of the Act lists the documents a seller attaches to a residential contract. For the land:

• a copy of the crown lease;
• a current certified extract from the land titles register, showing every interest affecting the property;
• a copy of the deposited plan;
• a copy of any encumbrance on the register, such as a restrictive covenant or an easement;
• the lease conveyancing inquiry documents.

For each residence:

• the building conveyancing inquiry documents;
• an energy efficiency rating statement, where the Act requires one;
• a building and compliance inspection report, from an inspection no earlier than three months before the property was first advertised, offered for sale or listed with an agent.

A unit also comes with the units plan or a sketch plan. In a registered units plan, a section 119 certificate from the owners corporation covers its executive committee and finances.

The rating also appears in every sale advertisement. The seller's inspection is dated to the start of the campaign: a starting point, not the last word. The Act's remedy for a missing or wrong document was not captured by this research; the conveyancer is the person to ask.

A residential lease is usually for 99 years, and can be sold once the building it requires is complete, unless the lease restricts it. How renewal and variation work was not confirmed; the directorate's crown leases page is the place to open.

The contract, the deposit and settlement

The customary deposit on a private-treaty resale is still to be confirmed in Access Canberra's Reality Check guide. The one official figure found applies to government land only. The Suburban Land Agency takes a full 5% deposit at the block purchasing appointment. A holding notice then reserves the block for up to 14 calendar days.

The typical settlement period was not confirmed either. The ACT Revenue Office's worked example for the Home Buyer Concession Scheme has exchange on 12 August 2025 and settlement two weeks later. That is an illustration, not a rule. The Land Titles (Electronic Conveyancing) Act 2020 is on the register and ACT Land Titles publishes a buyer verification declaration. How electronic settlement runs in practice was not opened for this page.

Before you sign

1. Give the whole contract, with every attached document, to a conveyancer or solicitor before signing anything.
2. Read the crown lease, including what it requires to be built, and check the deposited plan.
3. Read the title extract for every interest, and each encumbrance, covenant or easement it lists.
4. Check the date of the building and compliance inspection against the date the property was first advertised.
5. Find the energy efficiency rating statement and compare its star rating with the advertisement.
6. For a unit, read the section 119 certificate for the owners corporation's finances and executive committee.
7. Have the finance condition and any further inspection written into the contract.
8. Diarise 5 pm on the fifth working day; giving the seller a section 17 certificate waives or shortens the period, so do not sign one without meaning to.