Date: 28 April 2025
Court: Supreme Court of Victoria – Common Law Division | Trusts, Equity and Probate List
Judge(s): Finanzio J
Judgment date: 16 April 2025
Citation: 461 Hampton Street Investments Pty Ltd (ACN 644 677 976) v Registrar of Titles [2025] VSC 204
Catchwords: Vesting order | Expediency and the ‘principle of last resort’ | Remnant land

Abstract:

The Supreme Court of Victoria granted a vesting order for a sliver of land that had been overlooked in the administration of three generations of estates, enabling its transfer to facilitate the development of a mixed-use complex and the subsequent settlement of off-the-plan contracts for the sale of lots within the development.

Facts

461 Hampton Street Investments Pty Ltd (developer, first plaintiff) discovered when preparing the plan of subdivision for registration that it did not own a sliver of land (36cm wide and 30.48m long) within its development site (the land sliver). At the time that the proceeding was commenced, construction of the development was substantially completed. The land remained registered to Theodore Stanley Waley, who died in 1977. An unbroken chain of representation…