What documents do I need to sell a house in the ACT?

The required documents under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 (ACT) include a copy of the Crown lease, title and encumbrance details, the deposited plan, a building and compliance inspection report, a pest inspection report (if the home has been occupied), an energy efficiency rating statement, and, for homes built before 1991, an asbestos assessment report or advice. They must all be ready before the property is advertised.

How much does it cost to sell a house in the ACT?

A solicitor's professional fee for a standard sale is about $1,000 to $2,200 (market estimate), and the required building, pest and energy reports add a further roughly $1,287 to $1,587, paid before the property is even listed. On top of conveyancing sit any mortgage discharge fee and estate agent commission, usually the largest selling cost. Sellers do not pay conveyance duty.

What is the difference between the estate agent and the solicitor when selling in the ACT?

The estate agent markets the property and runs the negotiation, auction or tender for a commission. The solicitor prepares the required documents and the contract, arranges the building, pest and energy inspections, coordinates any mortgage discharge, and completes settlement. Agents will not list a property without the required documents ready, which is why sellers typically engage a solicitor first.

Selling property in the ACT: costs and the required documents you must provide

Q: What happens if I sell without the required documents ready in the ACT?

It is a strict-liability offence under section 10 of the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units, if the required documents are not available for a prospective buyer to inspect at all reasonable times an offer might be made. In practice, agents will not list a property without them.

Q: Do sellers pay conveyance duty in the ACT?

No. Conveyance duty (the ACT's name for stamp duty) is paid by the buyer, not the seller, on a standard residential sale. A seller's costs are the solicitor's professional fee, the required-document reports, any mortgage discharge fee, and estate agent commission.

Selling in the ACT puts a legal obligation on you before the property is even advertised: the required documents, including a building and compliance inspection report, a pest inspection report and an energy efficiency rating statement, must be ready for a buyer to inspect before you list. Fail to have them ready and you commit an offence, not just a civil risk. This guide covers what you must prepare, who does the work, what selling actually costs, and what happens on settlement day from the vendor's side.

This guide provides general information only. It is not legal advice. For advice specific to your sale, engage a licensed ACT solicitor.

Key points

Before you advertise, you must have the required documents ready for inspection: title and Crown lease documents, financial and land-use disclosures, a building and compliance report, a pest report, and an energy efficiency rating statement.
Failing to have them available when an offer might be made is a strict-liability offence under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003, carrying a penalty of up to 10 penalty units.
The estate agent markets the property; your solicitor prepares the required documents and contract and runs settlement. They are different roles.
A seller does not pay conveyance duty (that is a buyer cost). Your costs are the professional fee, the required-document costs, any mortgage discharge fee, and agent commission.
An ACT solicitor typically charges about $1,000 to $2,200 for a standard sale (market estimate); the required-document reports add roughly $1,287 to $1,587 on top.

The seller's side of an ACT sale

An ACT sale front-loads the seller's work more than almost anywhere else in Australia. Under the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 (ACT), you must have the complete set of required documents ready for inspection before the property is offered for sale at all, not just before a buyer signs. Everything else, from appointing an agent to settling, follows from having that documentation ready first.

In broad order, selling in the ACT runs: engage a solicitor and commission the building, pest and energy reports; appoint an estate agent; market the property once the required documents are ready; accept an offer, sell under the hammer, or accept a tender; pass through the buyer's cooling-off period on a private treaty sale; and complete settlement, usually electronically, when the price is paid and the Crown lease transfers out of your name.

Your duty to have the required documents ready

Section 9 of the Act defines the required documents in detail. In practice they fall into two groups: documents your solicitor assembles from searches (a copy of the Crown lease, a certified land titles register extract, the deposited plan, and details of any encumbrances), and physical reports you must personally commission and pay for before listing:

Building and compliance inspection report: from an inspection no earlier than 3 months before the property is first advertised.
Pest inspection report: required if the residence has previously been occupied, also from an inspection no earlier than 3 months before first advertising.
Energy efficiency rating (EER) statement: a NatHERS star rating, required for every residential sale.
Asbestos assessment report or advice: required if the home was built before 1991 and no current report already exists.

A never-occupied or still-to-be-built residence, and a "class A" unit, are exempt from the building and compliance report and the pest report. Every category, and which sellers can skip which report, is set out in full in the required documents ACT guide.

What happens if the required documents are not ready

Unlike Victoria's Section 32, where the consequence of a defective statement falls mainly on the buyer's civil right to rescind, the ACT makes the seller's failure a criminal matter. Under section 10 of the Act, a seller commits a strict-liability offence, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 penalty units, if the required documents are not available for inspection by a prospective buyer or their agent at all reasonable times when an offer to buy might be made. There is a narrow defence if your lawyer failed to give you a document you reasonably believed you already had, but the practical effect is that agents will not list an ACT property without a complete set of required documents in hand, which is exactly why engaging your solicitor comes before appointing an agent, not after.

Separately, section 11 of the Act automatically writes certain warranties into every contract, including that the property is free of undisclosed encumbrances and unapproved structures. If a buyer discovers a breach of one of these before completion, they may rescind the contract or complete and claim damages, so accuracy in what you disclose matters for the same reason it does in every other state, even though the ACT's mechanism is different.

Estate agent versus solicitor: who does what

Two professionals are usually involved on the seller's side, and they do different jobs:

The estate agent markets the property, conducts inspections and the auction, tender or private-treaty negotiation, and holds the deposit in trust. An agent cannot prepare the required documents or give legal advice, and by practice will not list the property until the required documents are ready.
Your solicitor prepares the required documents and the contract, arranges the building, pest and energy inspections, advises on any issue those reports reveal, liaises with your lender to discharge a mortgage, and completes settlement. The ACT has no independent conveyancer licence, so this is always a solicitor's work, whether a dedicated conveyancing specialist or a general property lawyer.

Engaging your solicitor before you appoint an agent is worth doing deliberately in the ACT, since the required documents can take weeks to assemble (the physical inspections alone need to be booked and completed) and your campaign cannot properly start without them.

Seller conveyancing costs in the ACT

A seller's costs in the ACT include an item buyers never pay: the required-document reports. The main costs are:

Cost item	Typical treatment	Paid to
Solicitor's professional fee	About $1,000 to $2,200, often nearer the top for a sale (market estimate)	Your solicitor
Required-document reports (building, compliance, pest, energy)	About $1,287 to $1,587 combined, paid upfront before listing (market estimate)	Inspectors and assessors (via your solicitor or agent)
Mortgage discharge fee	Charged only if a loan is registered on the property	Your lender
Estate agent commission	Usually the largest selling cost; negotiated as a percentage of the sale price	Your estate agent
Conveyance duty	Not payable by the seller (a buyer cost)	n/a

The professional-fee range and required-document costs are market estimates for a standard residential matter (Independent Insights, November 2025; building/pest and EER price guides, 2026), not an official schedule. Agent commission is set by your agency agreement, not by law. Any capital gains tax is a separate federal matter for your accountant, not a conveyancing cost. The full buyer-and-seller cost picture, with the duty and registry figures computed from official rates, is in the conveyancing cost ACT guide.

Do sellers pay conveyance duty in the ACT? No

Conveyance duty (the ACT's name for stamp duty) is paid by the buyer, not the seller, on a standard residential sale. It is assessed by the ACT Revenue Office on the buyer's purchase and is often their single largest cost, but it is not a seller expense. If you are curious how much your buyer will pay, or you are selling one home to buy another, the stamp duty ACT guide sets out the rates and a calculator.

Discharging your mortgage

If a loan is registered against the property, it must be discharged at settlement so the buyer takes clear title to the Crown lease. Once you have a signed contract, tell your lender you are selling and request a discharge of mortgage; lenders typically ask for several weeks' notice and charge a discharge fee. Your solicitor coordinates the timing so the lender is ready to release its security in the electronic settlement workspace at the same moment the buyer's funds arrive.

Settlement day for the seller

Most ACT settlements now complete electronically through the PEXA platform, so there is no in-person meeting. On the day, both solicitors are in the settlement workspace with the agreed figures. At the settlement time, the buyer's funds are transferred, your mortgage (if any) is discharged from those funds, agent commission and your conveyancing costs are accounted for, and the net proceeds are paid to you. The transfer is lodged with Access Canberra, moving the Crown lease to the buyer. Once settlement confirms, your agent releases the keys.

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Conveyancing Explained provides general information about property transactions in Australia. It is not legal advice and does not create a client relationship. For advice on your situation, engage a licensed conveyancer, settlement agent, or property solicitor in your state or territory.