You need a Land Title but you’re not sure where to start, what you’re ordering, how much it’ll be – the questions could go on! Whether you’ve been asked to get a copy of Title by a building surveyor or architect or you might be looking at a new house or selling a house. Or there might be some other reason you’ve found your way to PSI and you’re wondering is this the right place? Well, hopefully we can answer some of those questions today.
Titles are our most popular product. Why is it most popular you ask? Well, here at PSI we’ve always said that ‘Title is King!’ You can’t do much with any property in Victoria if you don’t have a copy of Title. Whether you’re buying, selling, building, re-financing - at some point a Title is involved.
In Victoria we use the Torrens Title System
In Victoria, the Torrens Title System is used and it’s based on three key principles:
1. The Land Titles Register shows the current ownership and any interests (i.e. mortgages) on that land.
2. The Land Titles Register contains all information about a piece of land, meaning no long documents, like deeds, are needed to prove ownership.
3. The Government guarantees and provides compensation to a person that suffers loss of land or interest.
The Torrens Title System has been adopted throughout Australia as it provides certainty to the ownership of land and is less complex than other systems. Once your name is registered on the Title you become owner, and it excludes all previous owners. To change a registered owner, a ‘dealing’ needs to be lodged (a form with supporting documents).
On every land title in Victoria there’s a reference number called Volume and Folio. This is unique to the property and is the most effective way to search the Land Register.
1. The Land Titles Register shows the current ownership and any interests (i.e. mortgages) on that land.
2. The Land Titles Register contains all information about a piece of land, meaning no long documents, like deeds, are needed to prove ownership.
3. The Government guarantees and provides compensation to a person that suffers loss of land or interest.
The Torrens Title System has been adopted throughout Australia as it provides certainty to the ownership of land and is less complex than other systems. Once your name is registered on the Title you become owner, and it excludes all previous owners. To change a registered owner, a ‘dealing’ needs to be lodged (a form with supporting documents).
On every land title in Victoria there’s a reference number called Volume and Folio. This is unique to the property and is the most effective way to search the Land Register.
The information included in a Title Package
We’ve tried to make it as straight forward as possible to order a Title and get all the information that you may need. When you order a Land Title from PSI, we send you a package. This includes the Title search, any instruments, plan of subdivision and applicable Building Envelopes.
Most of our customers are building new homes, so they need all of this information. In the coming months we’ll be separating the different pieces of information and offering more land products. This means you’ll be able to choose exactly what you’re after. In the title package you’ll get:
Most of our customers are building new homes, so they need all of this information. In the coming months we’ll be separating the different pieces of information and offering more land products. This means you’ll be able to choose exactly what you’re after. In the title package you’ll get:
Title Search can also be referred to as the Register Search Statement. The search will show the current proprietors, the land description (lot and plan number), any encumbrances, caveats, notices or mortgages and a diagram location (where to find the plan).
Plan of subdivision is where the diagram can be viewed. On the Title search there will be a Plan of Subdivision number (generally in the top right, starting with PS or LP). On the Plan you’ll see all the lots of land in the subdivision and your lot will be on there too. Using your Lot number, you can locate your property.
Once you see your lot, you can check if there’s any easements running through the lot. This is important for future planning because depending on where an easement is might limit what you can do with that land.
Instruments may be mentioned on your Title, and that is referencing any other documents associated to the Title. For example, caveats and covenants.
• A covenant can be a restriction on the land, for example the types of building materials that are allowed to be used.
• A caveat shows if there are any other legal interests held in the property. This is important for prospective buyers to know if any third parties have rights to the property.
What happens when you order a Land Title
When you search for a Land Title from PSI, you’ll be able to see straight away if the Title is available yet or not.
For new parcels of land it can take some time for a title to get registered. The developer goes through all of their preparation stages, it then goes to local council for approval (Statement of Compliance), and then to Land Use Victoria. Once all checks are satisfied the newly created lots will get registered. The Land Title is usually available or available shortly after it’s been registered with Land Use Victoria. It can take up to a week from registration to actually become available and for the document to “image”.
The great thing about the PSI website, is you can see straight away if your Land Title is ready or not. If you search your address and no results are found, that means your lot isn’t registered yet (or in a rare case the database might be down).
• If it’s not registered and it’s a one-off purchase, you can send us through the address details so we can contact you.
• If it is registered, that’s great! It’ll show you the location on the map and you can follow the steps to purchase.
If you’re property is existing or appeared when you search, there should be no issue locating the property and ordering a title. Land Title packages are usually processed in under 30 minutes usually for existing properties and get delivered straight to your email.
When you’re ordering many Land Titles for unregistered properties, make sure you contact us to setup an account. That way, you can lodge the addresses and we’ll just keep checking for title constantly. The moment it’s available we’ll automatically fetch it for you.
The best parts:
• We don’t bill you until the job is complete so there’s no stress or payment required early on.
• You can view the subdivision status of the title, and get alerts as it gets closer to being issued.
For new parcels of land it can take some time for a title to get registered. The developer goes through all of their preparation stages, it then goes to local council for approval (Statement of Compliance), and then to Land Use Victoria. Once all checks are satisfied the newly created lots will get registered. The Land Title is usually available or available shortly after it’s been registered with Land Use Victoria. It can take up to a week from registration to actually become available and for the document to “image”.
The great thing about the PSI website, is you can see straight away if your Land Title is ready or not. If you search your address and no results are found, that means your lot isn’t registered yet (or in a rare case the database might be down).
• If it’s not registered and it’s a one-off purchase, you can send us through the address details so we can contact you.
• If it is registered, that’s great! It’ll show you the location on the map and you can follow the steps to purchase.
If you’re property is existing or appeared when you search, there should be no issue locating the property and ordering a title. Land Title packages are usually processed in under 30 minutes usually for existing properties and get delivered straight to your email.
When you’re ordering many Land Titles for unregistered properties, make sure you contact us to setup an account. That way, you can lodge the addresses and we’ll just keep checking for title constantly. The moment it’s available we’ll automatically fetch it for you.
The best parts:
• We don’t bill you until the job is complete so there’s no stress or payment required early on.
• You can view the subdivision status of the title, and get alerts as it gets closer to being issued.
The cost of ordering a Land Title
The cost varies from property to property depending on how many pieces of information are associated with your Land Title. You can view the pricing as you’re going through the shopping cart for your particular property but as a general guide, it’s usually between $40 - $60 for the entire package.
Order your Victorian Land Titles with PSI today and receive your free property report with your Land Title.