Acquire an existing project
How to diligence a consented or part-built scheme, and price what you are actually buying.
The decision this page helps you make
Whether the existing consent, contracts and works are worth their price, and what must be renegotiated before completion.
Buying a live project transfers more than land. You inherit a licence with conditions and deadlines, a design that may not suit your product, contracts with designers and contractors, and whatever was built or paid for so far.
The core diligence question is whether the consent is valid, current and usable as-is. Licences can lapse, conditions can be unmet, and works executed differently from the approved project can require regularisation before a use licence is issued.
Pricing follows that answer. A consent you can build immediately is worth substantially more than one requiring amendment, which in turn is worth more than one that must be resubmitted. Part-built works may add value or be a liability, depending on quality, documentation and compliance.
What you are deciding
- Asset purchase or share purchase, and what liabilities each route carries.
- Whether to build the approved scheme or amend it, and what amendment costs in time.
- Which existing contracts to novate, renegotiate or terminate.
- How to price part-built works, including any remedial or regularisation cost.
How to proceed
- Verify the licence: validity, conditions, deadlines and any suspension.
- Compare the approved project against what has actually been built.
- Review every project contract, including designers, contractor and any pre-sales.
- Quantify remedial, regularisation and completion costs before offering.
- Choose the acquisition route with legal and tax advice on the liabilities transferred.
- Structure completion around the milestones that de-risk the consent.
Documents you will need
- Construction permit and full approved project, including all approved amendments.
- Municipal file correspondence, conditions and inspection records.
- As-built survey and site inspection reports.
- Contracts with designers, contractor, suppliers and any pre-sale buyers.
- Company accounts, tax and debt position where a share purchase is proposed.
Checklist
- Licence validity and expiry dates confirmed against the municipal file.
- All licence conditions listed, with evidence of compliance or a cost to comply.
- Deviations between approved and built works identified and quantified.
- Pre-sale contracts reviewed for price, deadlines and buyer remedies.
- Contractor position clarified: sums due, retentions, claims and warranties.
- Insurance, guarantees and warranties confirmed as transferable.
- Structure of the acquisition chosen with liabilities mapped.
Risks and how to handle them
A licence that has lapsed or is close to a deadline.
How to handle it: Verify status directly with the municipality and make completion conditional on a valid consent.
Works built differently from the approved project.
How to handle it: Commission an as-built comparison and price regularisation before offering.
Pre-sale contracts on terms you cannot deliver.
How to handle it: Review every contract and price the exposure, or renegotiate before completion.
Hidden liabilities in a share purchase.
How to handle it: Run financial, tax and legal diligence on the company and secure warranties and indemnities.
Questions people ask
- Is buying the company safer than buying the asset?
- Neither is inherently safer. A share purchase can preserve licences and contracts but carries the company's history; an asset purchase is cleaner but may require consents to be transferred or reissued. The choice needs legal and tax advice for the specific target.
- Can a construction permit be transferred to a new owner?
- Transfer is generally possible through the municipal process, but it is a procedural step with requirements and timing. Confirm it before assuming the consent moves automatically.
- How should part-built works be valued?
- By what it costs to complete compliantly, not by what was spent. Unverified or non-compliant works can carry negative value once remediation and regularisation are priced in.
- What if the seller cannot produce the full municipal file?
- Treat missing documentation as unquantified risk. The file can usually be reconstructed with the municipality, but do not complete on the assumption that it is complete and compliant.
General guidance for planning decisions. It is not legal, tax or planning advice for a specific site.