The ticking clock on ACT land leases and how to secure your property

In most parts of the country, when you buy a house, you're buying the land too.

In the ACT, however, the government owns all the land and leases it back to home owners. While in practice these leases function in almost exactly the same way as a freehold title, they can be revoked, and they do run out.

The inner south is home to some of the ACT's oldest land leases. Picture by Kimberley Le Lievre