In New South Wales (NSW), the Valuer General is the State Governments principal advisor on all land valuation matters. The Valuer General has a statutory responsibility to provide fair and accurate land valuations for rating and taxing purposes, to determine compensation following the compulsory acquisition of land and to provide specialist valuation and property advice to government and the public.

The Valuer General values all land on behalf of the State Government and maintains a Register of Land Values containing information in relation to land ownership, location, occupation, value and other information as required by the Valuation of Land Act 1916 (NSW). The Register of Land Values contains the following information in relation to land:

the ownership of the land
the occupation of the land
the value of the land
reference to the title of the land
the location or description of the land
the area of the land, and
any other information as required by Valuation of Land Act 1916.

The Land and Property Management Authority supports the role of the Valuer General through the provision of technical and operational expertise in producing and recording land values for New South Wales.

Most land in New South Wales is valued using mass valuation, where properties are placed together and valued in groups called components. The properties in each component are similar or are likely to change in value in a similar way. Within each component, at least one representative property is valued individually each year to measure how much the value has changed from the previous year. The change in value is then applied to all properties within the component to determine their new value.

Before undertaking valuations, valuers will inspect and analyse a large number of sales in a locality to gain in-depth understanding of what is happening in the real estate market. This information and the valuers expertise are then used to value the representative property. If you would like legal advice concerning a land valuation matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.