Which property report do I need before buying a house?

Most buyers need a building and pest inspection, the conveyancer's searches and the seller's disclosure document, plus a check of zoning, flood and bushfire mapping, then one extra report only for a question that is still open. No single report answers everything, so match the report to the question you cannot yet answer. Prices below were checked on 1 November 2026.

Is the house itself sound?

Only a building inspector and a pest inspector can tell you. In Queensland, only a licensed residential building inspector can complete a pre-purchase building inspection, and only a licensed pest controller can complete a termite inspection. Victoria's Section 32 statement does not cover the condition of buildings, so no disclosure document or map-based report replaces an inspection.

What does the contract disclose?

Each state makes the seller hand over a disclosure document. Your conveyancer or solicitor reads it and orders the searches it leaves out.

• Queensland: the Form 2 seller disclosure statement. Since 1 August 2025 the seller must give it to you before you sign, and you may be able to terminate up to settlement if it is missing or materially wrong. Flooding history need not be included. See the Form 2 guide.
• New South Wales: the contract carries a section 10.7(2) planning certificate, the council's written statement of zoning and planning controls. See the section 10.7 guide.
• Victoria: the Section 32 vendor statement, which must reach you before you sign. It covers title matters, zoning, outgoings and a bushfire-prone declaration.
• South Australia: the Form 1 vendor's statement, served after both parties sign, which carries your cooling-off information. See the SA checklist.

State checklists: Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

What is mapped over the land?

Free government tools show the zone and overlays. In Victoria, VicPlan produces a Planning Property Report, a PDF of zone and overlay maps. In NSW, the Planning Portal Spatial Viewer generates a property report PDF covering planning controls and other matters affecting the property. For other states, see what zone is my property.

LayeredGeo's Property Report is a $9 PDF that puts the zoning, flood, bushfire and heritage overlays, easements, and ground hazards such as acid sulfate soils for one address in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania or the ACT into one document, with the water and sewer pipes where the utility publishes them and a free map preview before you pay. It reads public mapping and is not a title search, a council certificate or a building inspection, and it does not replace the Form 2, section 10.7 certificate, Section 32 statement or Form 1. See property due diligence reports and why the data is scattered.

Will it flood, and how deep?

An overlay shows only that land is inside a mapped flood area, while a flood model shows depth and speed. Brisbane City Council publishes a Flood Awareness Map and a FloodWise Property Report (how to read it), and the Queensland Government recommends contacting the local council for property-level flood data. The official flood maps by state guide lists the rest.

LayeredGeo's Flood Model Report is a $9 PDF that lists every published flood model reaching one property, with the modelled depth, velocity and flood level for each event. It exists only where a model is held, in parts of Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT.

Is the block steep?

LayeredGeo's Terrain Report is a $9 PDF with a contour map, four elevation cross sections, the peak grade, the driveway grade from the street and a 3D model, drawn from government elevation data in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Elevation data is not surveyed ground level; for detailed design see land survey costs.

What is the ground like if I build or extend?

Reactive clay (it shrinks as it dries and swells as it wets) is a common footing risk, and the site investigation decides the AS 2870 class the slab is designed to. LayeredGeo's geotechnical desktop study is a $119 PDF with the mapped geology, nearby bore logs, soils, acid sulfate soil, groundwater, slope and an indicative soil reactivity range in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia. It is a desktop study, not a site investigation. See what a geotechnical report costs.

What is the property worth?

LayeredGeo does not sell valuations, price estimates or sales history. Cotality and PropertyLens sell value estimates.

What do Landchecker, Cotality and PropertyLens offer?

Landchecker is a map-based platform for planning, sales, permit and title information. Its Starter plan is free for one user and includes property search, planning zones and overlays, and ordering of titles and plans, which are charged separately. Standard is $750 a year ex GST for one user, with 10 Premium Property Reports per member each month, and Advanced is $2,400 a year ex GST with unlimited reports. Its product page says Professional customers can buy a single Premium Property Report for $24.90 (inc. GST), and it lists land size, sales history, permit history, flood, bushfire and landslide hazards, easements and contours. It does well on sales and permit history, aerial imagery and ordering titles from the same map.

Cotality's Property Confidence Report is $25. The product page describes a one-off report sold on Cotality's Property Value website, so confirm the price at checkout. It lists an estimated value range with a confidence score, rental yield and stamp duty estimates, sales and listing history, bushfire, flood, storm surge and earthquake ratings, heritage listings and easements. It does well on value and property history.

PropertyLens sells credits at $2 each, or $49 for 30. A price estimate with comparable sales costs 1 credit. A Deep Research report costs 10 credits ($20) and covers easements, flood risk, heritage and character overlays, nearby development applications, a recommended maximum bid and a checklist of searches still needed. A Buyer Pass is $39 for 14 days and 2 deep reports. PropertyLens covers all eight states and territories and says it is not a licensed valuation service. It does well on low-cost estimates and a pre-offer checklist.

These three add sales history, estimates and permit history that LayeredGeo does not sell. LayeredGeo's reports centre on published flood models, terrain cross sections and a geotechnical desktop study.

How do the report types compare?

Report	What it answers	Who provides it	Typical cost
Building and pest inspection	Is the house sound, and are there termites	Licensed inspectors	Quoted by the inspector
Seller disclosure document (Form 2, 10.7 certificate, Section 32, Form 1) and conveyancer searches	Title, zoning, notices, legal position	Seller or agent; conveyancer	Supplied with the contract; searches quoted
VicPlan or NSW Spatial Viewer property report	Zone and overlays	State planning departments	Free
LayeredGeo Property Report	Zoning, flood, bushfire, heritage, easements, ground hazards; six states	LayeredGeo	$9
LayeredGeo Flood Model Report	Modelled flood depth, velocity and level, where a model is held	LayeredGeo	$9
LayeredGeo Terrain Report	Contours, cross sections, grade, driveway grade, 3D model	LayeredGeo	$9
LayeredGeo Pre-Purchase Property Report	The three reports above in one PDF	LayeredGeo	$25
LayeredGeo geotechnical desktop study	Geology, bores, soils, groundwater, slope, indicative reactivity; QLD, NSW, VIC, SA	LayeredGeo	$119
Landchecker Premium Property Report	Planning, sales and permit history, hazards, easements	Landchecker	$24.90 inc GST
Cotality Property Confidence Report	Value estimate, history, risk ratings	Cotality	$25
PropertyLens Deep Research report	Flood, easements, overlays, applications, maximum bid	PropertyLens	$20 (10 credits)

Common questions

What report should I get before buying a house? Get a building and pest inspection, have a conveyancer review the contract and run the searches, and read the seller's disclosure document. Then add a report for any question still open: planning, flood, terrain or, if you plan to build, a geotechnical desktop study.

Do I need a building and pest inspection and a property report? Yes, because they answer different questions. An inspection covers the condition of the house and termites, which no map-based report can see, while a property report covers zoning, flood, bushfire and easements, which an inspection does not assess.

What is the best property report in Australia? No single report is best, because each answers a different question. Landchecker, Cotality and PropertyLens suit buyers who want sales history or a value estimate, the free VicPlan and NSW reports suit a zoning check, and LayeredGeo suits flood depth, slope and ground conditions from $9.

How does Landchecker compare with LayeredGeo? Landchecker is an account-based map platform with sales history, permits and title ordering, while LayeredGeo sells single reports, with no account needed for the $9 ones. Landchecker lists a free Starter plan and a $24.90 single Premium Property Report for Professional customers, and LayeredGeo's Property Report is $9, without sales history or title searches.

What does Cotality's Property Confidence Report include? It is a $25 one-off report on Cotality's Property Value website that lists an estimated value range with a confidence score, property history, bushfire, flood, storm surge and earthquake ratings, heritage listings and easements.

To see what is mapped over an address before you pay for anything, pop in your address or check out a sample report.

LayeredGeo's Property Report pulls together public planning and site data for property due diligence across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, so you can understand a place before you commit.

About this article. Published by LayeredGeo and written from the published research cited in the Sources section above. It is general information about how property and ground conditions are assessed in Australia, not engineering, planning, legal or financial advice, and it is not specific to any property. Check anything that matters against the source dataset or a suitably qualified professional before you rely on it. If you spot something wrong, tell us at hello@layeredgeo.com.au and we will fix it.

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