There have been recent legislative changes to the documents that must be attached to a contract for the sale of residential property.

One of the new documents is an internal drainage diagram. 

Port Macquarie Hastings Council are unable to cope with the timely provision (for which they are paid $34) of these documents – they are holding up exchanges of contracts all over the place. 

For example, I am still waiting on diagrams ordered on 8 September – that’s now 27 days ago.

All pleas to the council are met with “it will be provided in 14 days” notwithstanding that it is now a month since I ordered them.

So, please, any wrath you feel like directing to your solicitor or conveyancer for not being able to get a contract together for a quick exchange might be better directed to the Council, if this is the problem. 

I am told the documents are stored in Newcastle. How any of this is acceptable in 2017 when there is a cloud up in the sky, and when it is hugely likely the Council were advised of the new requirements.

The take home lesson is to  realise it is going to take more than a month for your solicitor or conveyancer to prepare a contract for sale with documents that are required if it is going to take the Council this long (how long is a piece of string, because we are still waiting) to provide these certificates.

Joan Pierpoint,

Solicitor, Port Macquarie