ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
Land Loans.Buy the Block Now and Build Later.
Most blocks in a new estate are sold before the plan is registered. That makes it an off-the-plan purchase, with a longer cooling-off period, its own legal protections, and a settlement date the developer controls rather than you. Your finance approval runs on a much shorter clock than their timeline.
15 minutes, ideally before you sign anything. Bring the estate name and the expected registration date. No paperwork, no credit check, no obligation. If the block is too far out for an approval to survive, we will tell you to wait. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – Land and Construction Lending
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Is a Land Loan and How Is It Different From a Home Loan?
A land loan finances a block of vacant land you intend to build on later. It is assessed differently from a home loan because there is no dwelling to value, no rental income, and in a new estate often no registered lot yet. Lenders commonly want a larger deposit, and how much larger differs sharply between them.
The part most buyers are not told is that a block in a new estate is bought off the plan. The NSW Government describes selling land before it is subdivided as buying off the plan, and under the Conveyancing Act 1919 a lot is created only when the plan creating it becomes a registered plan. That gives you a ten business day cooling-off period rather than the usual five, and a set of protections around sunset clauses. It also means your settlement date belongs to the developer.
Then there is the holding cost. Vacant land has no principal place of residence exemption unless you are building your home on it and meet Revenue NSW conditions, and first home buyer duty relief on land runs out at $450,000 rather than $1 million. Both are decided before you sign, not after.
Common Situations
Six Ways People Buy Land and Why They Are Not Financed the Same
The block decides the lender long before your income does. These six cover most of what comes through the door.
A block in a new estate that is not yet registered
The most common case and the one with the most moving parts. You are buying off the plan, settlement follows registration, and registration is on the developer’s timetable. The work is matching a lender to that timeline rather than to today’s date.
A registered block ready to settle now
Far simpler. The lot exists, it can be valued, and a normal settlement period applies. More lenders will look at it and the approval does not have to survive a wait.
A house and land package
Usually two contracts, one for the land and one for the build, and they settle at different times. How it is split changes your duty position and your loan structure. See construction and renovation loans for the build half.
A rural or acreage block
Land size, zoning, access and services all narrow the lender panel, sometimes to a handful. Blocks above certain sizes are treated as rural rather than residential by many lenders, which changes the assessment entirely.
Land bought to build an investment property
The principal place of residence land tax concession does not apply, because you will not be living there. The tax treatment follows the use of the borrowed money. See investment loans.
A foreign person or an Australian living overseas
Foreign persons buying vacant land face a condition to complete construction within four years and cannot sell before it is complete. Australian citizens abroad are exempt from approval entirely. See expat and non-resident home loans.
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Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Land files sit with Moufid, our Head of Residential Lending, and almost all of the useful work happens before anything is submitted. The registration estimate, the sunset date and the disclosure statement decide whether the finance holds together, and lender policy on unregistered lots, land size and how long an approval is held narrows the panel more than your income does. Watching that approval against the registration date and re-presenting the file before it lapses is most of the job on an unregistered lot.
100+ Lenders Including
Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it. Which lender suits you is decided by your file, not by who is on this list.
Found a Block You Like?
Fifteen minutes tells you whether the timing works. No credit check.What Actually Decides It
A Block in a New Estate Is Bought Off the Plan and That Changes Your Rights and Your Clock
A land loan is not a smaller home loan. You are buying an asset that may not legally exist yet, on a timetable somebody else controls, with holding costs that start at settlement and tax relief that runs on a clock. Six things decide whether it works.
The lot does not exist until the plan is registered
Under the Conveyancing Act 1919 a lot is created when the plan creating it becomes a registered plan, and not before. Until then you hold a contract, not a block. Settlement follows registration, registration is the developer’s to deliver, and nothing about your finance can change that date.
Your approval expires long before the estate registers
Pre-approval commonly lasts three to six months. Registration of a new estate frequently takes longer. When the approval lapses you are assessed again on your circumstances and the lending rules as they are then, not as they were when you signed. This is the single most common thing that goes wrong, and it is entirely foreseeable.
You get ten business days to cool off rather than five
An off-the-plan contract in New South Wales carries a ten business day cooling-off period, double the five that usually applies to a completed home. A disclosure statement must also be attached to the contract, setting out sunset dates and other conditional events. Both exist because these contracts are harder to get out of later.
A developer cannot simply walk away on the sunset date
Section 66ZS of the Conveyancing Act 1919 lets a vendor rescind under a sunset clause only with each purchaser’s written consent, under an order of the Supreme Court, or as permitted by regulation. They must also give you at least 28 days written notice with reasons. A rising market does not entitle anyone to re-sell your block.
Land tax starts and the way out runs on a four-year clock with five conditions
Vacant land has no home on it to attract the principal place of residence exemption. Revenue NSW allows the exemption for land you are building your home on for up to four years, extendable to six in exceptional circumstances beyond your control. Five conditions apply, including that you cannot earn any income from the property once construction begins, and must live there at least six months once it is finished.
First home buyer duty relief on land stops far below the home threshold
Under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, vacant land at or below $350,000 is exempt from transfer duty and land under $450,000 is concessional. For a new or existing home the same scheme runs to $800,000 and $1 million. On a Western Sydney block that gap is usually the difference between paying no duty and paying all of it.
Checked 1 September 2026. Sources: the definition of an off-the-plan contract and when a lot is created, section 66ZL of the Conveyancing Act 1919; sunset clause rescission, section 66ZS; cooling-off and disclosure, the NSW Government; the land tax concession for unoccupied land, Revenue NSW; land tax thresholds and rates, Revenue NSW; duty thresholds, the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme; pre-approval duration, ASIC Moneysmart; Best Interests Duty, ASIC Regulatory Guide 273. These are New South Wales positions. Thresholds and scheme rules change. Nothing here is legal or tax advice. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
The number worth working out before you sign is not the rate. It is what the block costs you to hold if registration slips a year, and whether your approval survives that long. Ask us to model both.
The Honest Comparison
Buy the Land Now or Wait and Take Land and Construction Together?
This is the real decision, and it turns on how ready you are to build rather than on the finance. Here are both sides properly.
Land and construction together
- One approval covering land and build, so you are not approved twice against two sets of rules
- The land tax clock and your build start closer together, which protects the concession period
- You know your total cost before you commit, rather than finding out after you own the block
- You may lose the block. Good lots in a wanted estate do not wait for you to choose a builder
- Land prices in the estate can move while you are still comparing build quotes
Buy the block on a land loan
- You secure the lot you want, at today’s price, in the estate and position you chose
- Time to design properly and get competitive build quotes without a deadline
- Registration delays work in your favour if you are still saving toward the build
- Holding costs, land tax where it applies, and no rental income while you own it
- Two approvals, and the second one is assessed on the rules in force when you build
If you have no builder, no design and no firm build date, buying the land first is a decision to start paying for something you cannot yet use. The holding costs are real, land tax may start, and the four-year concession clock runs from when you take ownership rather than from when you are ready.
We would rather arrange one facility that covers the land and the build than write a land loan now and find you cannot service the construction loan in two years. That is the smaller transaction for us and it is often the right answer.
There is a second point that is worth more than any rate, and it belongs to your conveyancer. First home buyer duty relief on vacant land stops at $450,000, where the same scheme runs to $1 million on a home. How your purchase is structured, and whether you are buying land or buying a completed home, can be worth tens of thousands in duty.
Ask a conveyancer before you sign, not after. We have seen that single question change the numbers by more than any rate comparison on this page could.
Ask Us Whether the Timing Works Yet
We will run the holding costs and the four year concession clock against one facility covering the land and the build. Fifteen minutes. No credit check.The Difference
Land Deals Fail on Dates Rather Than Rates
Almost every land purchase that goes wrong goes wrong on timing. The registration slips, the approval lapses, and the buyer is re-assessed into a market and a rule set that have both moved.
We Read the Contract for the Dates
The registration estimate, the sunset date, the disclosure statement and what happens if either slips. Those four things decide whether the finance holds together. The price is the easy part and it is the only part most people check.
Land Policy Varies More Than Land Prices
Maximum land size, zoning, whether the estate is on a lender’s accepted list, whether they will lend on an unregistered lot at all, and how long they will hold an approval. These differ enormously and none of them appear on a rate table.
No Fee. Not Even Clawback.
We do not charge you for the comparison, the structuring or the application, on any loan type. If you discharge the loan early we wear the clawback ourselves rather than invoicing you for it, which plenty of brokers do. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed to you in writing before any work begins.
Legally On Your Side
Land for a home you will live in, or for a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit. Best Interests Duty applies, so we must act in your interests and give them priority where they conflict with ours. Those obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
The Process
How a Land Loan Comes Together
Four steps, and the first should happen before you put a holding deposit on anything.
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15 minutes
The block and its registration date
Which estate, which lot, whether the plan is registered, what the contract says the registration estimate is, and when you actually intend to build. No documents and no credit check. You finish the call knowing whether the timing is financeable and which lenders will look at that estate.
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Before you sign
Matching a lender to the timeline rather than just to your income
How long each lender will hold an approval, whether they will lend on an unregistered lot, their land size and zoning limits, and their view of the estate. On a land purchase this narrows the panel more than your income does.
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You gather
Documents
We confirm exactly what your chosen lender wants before you go looking for any of it.
- Photo identification
- Two recent payslips
- Latest tax return or group certificate
- Three to six months of bank statements
- Evidence of your deposit
- Contract of sale for the land
- The disclosure statement and plan of subdivision
- Build quote or tender, if you have one
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We manage
Approval then the wait then settlement
We manage the valuation and the conditions, then we watch the approval against the registration date and re-present the file before it lapses rather than after. On an unregistered lot that second part is most of the job, and it is the part that is usually left to the buyer.
Track Record
Independent Since 2005
Joe Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded the practice five years later. Residential lending sits with Moufid. Penrith is land estate country, and we have watched a lot of registration dates move.
Related Options
What Usually Comes Next or Instead
A land loan is rarely the whole plan. These are the pieces either side of it.
Construction and renovation loans
The other half of the plan, drawn in stages against the build contract.
First home buyer loans
Where the scheme rules and the duty thresholds decide more than the rate does.
Mortgage pre-approval
Worth understanding properly here, because expiry is the thing that bites on land.
Investment loans
If the build will be rented rather than lived in, the tax and structure both change.
Expat and non-resident home loans
Vacant land is one of the few routes still open to foreign persons, with conditions.
Every home loan we arrange
Back up to the full residential range if none of these is quite it.
Check the Dates Before You Sign.
Fifteen minutes, and you will know if the timing is financeable.Questions Answered
Land Loan FAQs
The questions land buyers ask us most often before getting in touch.
What is a land loan?
A land loan finances a block of vacant land that you intend to build on later. It is assessed differently from a home loan because there is no dwelling to value, no rental income, and often no registered lot yet. Lenders commonly want a larger deposit than on a standard purchase, and how much larger differs sharply between them.
Is buying a block in a new estate the same as buying off the plan?
Yes. The NSW Government states that properties can be advertised and sold before a building is built or land subdivided, and that this is called buying off the plan. Under the Conveyancing Act 1919 a lot is created only when the plan creating it becomes a registered plan, so a contract for an unregistered lot is an off-the-plan contract and the off-the-plan protections apply.
How long is the cooling-off period on an off-the-plan land contract?
Ten business days in New South Wales, which is double the five business days that usually applies when buying an already constructed home. The NSW Government also requires a disclosure statement to be attached to the contract, setting out key information such as sunset dates and other conditional events. Read it before you sign, not after.
Can the developer cancel my contract under a sunset clause?
Not freely. Under section 66ZS of the Conveyancing Act 1919 a vendor may rescind an off-the-plan contract under a sunset clause only with each purchaser’s written consent, under an order of the Supreme Court, or as permitted by regulation. The vendor must also serve each purchaser written notice at least 28 days before the proposed rescission, explaining why. This is a legal question for your solicitor.
Do I pay land tax on vacant land in New South Wales?
Often yes, because there is no home on it to attract the principal place of residence exemption. Revenue NSW does allow the exemption for unoccupied land you intend to build your home on, for up to four years, extendable to six in exceptional circumstances beyond your control. Five conditions apply, including that you cannot earn income from the property once construction begins and must live there for at least six months once it is finished.
Do first home buyers pay stamp duty on vacant land in New South Wales?
Usually yes, because the land thresholds are far lower than the thresholds for a home. Under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, vacant land valued at or below $350,000 is exempt from transfer duty and land above $350,000 and under $450,000 attracts a concessional rate. For a new or existing home the figures are $800,000 and $1 million. Ask your conveyancer how your purchase is structured before you sign.
What happens if my finance approval expires before the land is registered?
You are assessed again, against your circumstances and the lending rules as they are then, not as they were when you first applied. ASIC notes that pre-approval commonly lasts three to six months, and registration of a new estate can take considerably longer than that. This is the single most common thing that goes wrong on a land purchase, and it is manageable if it is planned for at the start.
Does Best Interests Duty apply to a land loan?
Yes, where the land is for a home you will live in or for a residential investment property. That is regulated consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, so we are legally required to act in your best interests and, where interests conflict, to give priority to yours. Those obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement. Most of the process runs by phone, email and video, so we settle land loans in every state.
Parramatta
Suite 23, Level 1, 181 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
Mortgage broker Parramatta →Ready When You Are
Check the Timing Before You Commit.
Fifteen minutes with a residential specialist. Tell us the estate, the lot and the registration estimate, and we’ll tell you which lenders will fund it, how long they will hold an approval, and what the block costs you to hold if registration slips. If waiting for a land and construction package is the better answer, we’ll say so.
No credit check, no paperwork, no obligation. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
Land for a home you will live in, or for a residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit, so Intellect Finance is legally required to act in your best interests under the Best Interests Duty in the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. Cooling-off periods, sunset clause rules, land tax concessions and duty thresholds described on this page are New South Wales positions set by government, and they change. Nothing on this page is credit assistance, legal advice or tax advice, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance, legal advice or an offer of credit. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Contract terms are a legal question, and they are yours. Cooling-off periods, sunset clauses, disclosure statements and rescission rights are governed by the Conveyancing Act 1919 and depend on the terms of the contract you actually sign. We can tell you what the published rules say and what they mean for your finance. We cannot advise you on your contract. Have it reviewed by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer before you sign it.
Registration timing is not ours to control or predict. When a plan of subdivision is registered is determined by the developer, the local council and the Registrar General. Estimates in a contract are estimates. Any approval we arrange is subject to the lender’s own validity period, which is set by that lender and can be shorter than the time to registration.
Tax and duty positions are not ours to give. Land tax, the principal place of residence concession and its conditions, transfer duty and first home buyer thresholds are matters for Revenue NSW, a registered tax agent and your conveyancer. Figures on this page are New South Wales positions correct at the date shown. Every other state and territory sets its own, and they differ.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, deposit requirements, loan to value ratios, land size and zoning limits, whether a lender accepts a particular estate, approval validity periods and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and government bodies, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time. Any figure or timeframe on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome.
Best Interests Duty. Credit for the purchase of land for a home you will live in, or for the purchase or improvement of residential investment property, is regulated consumer credit under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. When providing credit assistance in relation to these products, Intellect Finance is required to act in your best interests and, where there is a conflict of interest, to give priority to your interests. These obligations have applied to mortgage brokers since 1 January 2021.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to legislation, state revenue settings, regulatory guidance or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member