Q. What is the difference between a Conditional Contract and an Option Agreement?
A. Both forms of agreement are commonly used when buying or selling land for development purposes. A Conditional Contract is a formal contract where a full deposit will be payable on exchange of contracts and the contract will complete once a condition or a series of conditions have been fulfilled. Normally the condition is that a Planning Consent has been granted and care must be taken to ensure that the Planning Consent granted does fulfil the developer's requirements.

An Option Agreement is purely an option for a purchaser to purchase land at an agreed price at any time during a fixed period of time. Under an Option Agreement, even if a purchaser obtains a Planning Consent, he still has the option to not proceed with the transaction and this is the main difference between an Option Agreement and a Conditional Contract.

Q. Can I be certain I can build the proposed development on the land I am buying?
A. We ensure that we are made fully aware of the proposed development required and undertake all necessary searches and enquiries to ensure that, subject to obtaining a Planning Consent, the proposed development will be able to be constructed on the property being purchased. Our searches will reveal that all necessary rights of access and services are available and that the development does not breach any restrictive covenants. We ensure that all searches and enquiries are undertaken prior to the buyer being legally committed to purchase the land and a full legal report will be provided to the buyer.

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