Allocation is the point at which a plot stops being a purchase and becomes yours in a practical sense. What follows is a sequence most buyers have not been told about, and the gap between expectation and reality is where frustration lives.
The allocation letter, and the plot number. You should receive written confirmation identifying a specific plot on the layout. Check the number against the layout drawing and against what you were shown on the ground. If a number was reserved for you earlier, confirm it has not changed.
Physical identification on site. Arrange to be shown your plot with a surveyor, and have the corners located. If the estate is providing beacons in your name, establish when. This is worth doing promptly; boundaries are far easier to settle before neighbouring plots are built on.
Your own survey. In most schemes you will receive or commission a survey plan drawn in your name, lodged and registered. Ask who does this, whether the fee was included in what you have already paid, and how long it takes.
The deed. The deed of assignment transferring the interest to you is prepared, executed by both parties, and stamped. Ask for a realistic timeline rather than an optimistic one, and ask what stage it is at when the date passes. Have your own solicitor read it before you sign.
Governor's consent, where it applies. This is the longest step by a distance, and the one least within the developer's control. Consent applications routinely take many months and sometimes considerably longer. It is not evidence of a problem. What matters is that the application has genuinely been submitted, that you can be told its reference and status, and that nobody has implied it would be quick.
Registration. Once consent is obtained, the instrument is registered and you hold a complete, recorded position. This is the end of the documentary process and the point at which resale becomes straightforward.
Service charge begins. Usually from allocation, not from when you build. Budget for it from the start.
Building, if you are building. Estates run development controls — approved designs, setbacks, materials, a window within which you must start, and often a schedule of construction hours. Get the building guidelines at allocation and read them before you commission a design, not after.
What to do throughout. Keep every document in one place: allocation letter, receipts, survey, deed, correspondence. Ask for a written status update at intervals rather than waiting to be told. And put questions in email, so that answers are recorded.
A realistic frame. From allocation to full registration is a process measured in months rather than weeks, and in some states considerably longer. A developer who tells you otherwise is either inexperienced or managing you. Our own position on each estate — what has been obtained, what is in progress, and what has not been started — is published on the estate page, including where the answer is unflattering.
Still deciding what to buy?
Tell us the size, the area and the budget. We will tell you what fits and what the documentation position is on each one.