Australia, July 2 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement:

1. These proceedings concern a claim for specific performance of a contract for the sale of a parcel of land at Austral in the south west of Sydney. The land is more particularly described as X Boyd Street, Austral (formerly X Boyd Street) and is contained in folio X/X/X (Property).

2. The plaintiff (Castle Group) seeks specific performance of a Contract for Sale of Land of the Property dated 11 October 2024 (Contract). The first defendant (MH Affordable Homes) is the registered proprietor of the Property.

3. The proceedings have a degree of commercial urgency to them in circumstances where, pursuant to the terms of a Settlement Incentive Deed dated 7 November 2024 (Incentive Deed), Castle Group receives a deduction in the purchase price of approximately $2.6 million if settlement occurs prior to 6 June 2025.

4. The second to forty-sixth defendant are the purchasers of lots to be created by a subdivision of the Property, under off the plan contracts (pre-sale contracts) entered into with MH Affordable Homes in the period between 2017 to 2020. There is now no dispute that Castle Group was not aware of these pre-sale contracts when it entered into its contract with MH Affordable Homes to purchase the Property.

5. Attached to these reasons is a schedule identifying the pre-sale contracts.

6. The second to forty-sixth defendants fall essentially into three groups.

7. The first (the Rescinding Purchasers) have recently elected to rescind their contracts. The purchasers in this group are the second, third, 13th, 14th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 34th, 35th, 39th, 40th, 41st and 45th defendants. MH Affordable Homes has now refunded to them all of the moneys which they paid under their contracts.

8. On 27 May 2025, I made orders by consent ordering the Rescinding Purchasers to remove their caveats and otherwise dismissing the claims against them.

9. The second group constitutes the non-rescinding purchasers. All other defendants, save for the first, ninth, 38th, 27th, 28th and 46th defendants fall into this group (Non-Rescinding Purchasers).

10. By cross-summons filed 21 May 2025, the Non-Rescinding Purchasers seek a declaration that they each have an equitable interest in the Property in priority to Castle Group's equitable interest.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1972de5a2341fc610e6bfcc8)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.