Areas we serve / Mornington Peninsula / Flinders and Shoreham
Lawyers and solicitors for Flinders and Shoreham
Holiday homes, coastal property and heritage, and wills and estates for Flinders and Shoreham clients, from our Frankston office about 35 to 40 minutes away.
What we do for Flinders and Shoreham clients
Choose what you need help with. Each one opens the detail further down this page.
Legal services for Flinders and Shoreham clients
Flinders sits at the entrance to Western Port, where a telegraph cable from Tasmania came ashore in 1869, and its pier and the remains of the telegraph cable station are on the Victorian Heritage Register. Shoreham, at the mouth of Stony Creek, began as a farming district that shipped timber from a jetty on the creek. About half of the homes in both towns were unoccupied on Census night in 2021, many of them holiday houses.
We act for owners of holiday homes and permanent homes, for buyers and sellers, for owners building or renovating near the coast, and for families with wills and estates. Radek Dajer, our principal solicitor, acts personally on each matter, in English or in Polish. Much of the work can be done by phone, video and email.
Coastal controls
Since 9 January 2025, new overlays have applied to coastal erosion and flooding hazard areas along the Western Port coast, and development there typically needs a coastal hazard vulnerability assessment.
Holiday homes, coastal property and estates in Flinders and Shoreham
Choose a topic to see what it involves and how we help.
Taxes, registrations and agreements for holiday houses, whether you use them yourself, rent them out or share them.
- Short stay levy: since 1 January 2025 a 7.5% levy applies to bookings of less than 28 days, unless the property is someone’s principal place of residence. The booking platform collects it, or the owner for direct bookings.
- Shire registration: short stay rentals must be registered each year under the Shire’s Short Stay Rental Accommodation Local Law 2022, with a contact person and the registration number in your advertising.
- Empty homes: vacant residential land tax applies to homes left empty for more than six months of a year. A holiday home used by the owner for at least four weeks may be exempt, but the conditions need checking every year.
- Land tax: a holiday home is not your principal place of residence, so it usually counts towards your land tax.
Planning checks for buying, building and renovating near the Western Port coast.
- Coastal hazards: since 9 January 2025, an Erosion Management Overlay (EMO6) and updated Land Subject to Inundation Overlays have applied to coastal hazard areas on the Western Port coast, and development there typically needs a coastal hazard vulnerability assessment.
- Village centres: the Flinders and Shoreham village centres keep an 8.5 metre height limit.
- Bushfire: Shoreham is in a Bushfire Prone Area, while parts of the Flinders township are outside it. New homes in a Bushfire Prone Area must meet bushfire construction standards.
- Before you buy or build: we check the zone and overlays on the land with the section 32 statement, and work with your designer before you commit to costs.
Heritage places, proposed listings and permits in Flinders and Shoreham.
- On the register: the Flinders pier and telegraph cable complex, The Pines foreshore reserve at Shoreham and Lyncroft at Shoreham are on the Victorian Heritage Register.
- Proposed listings: the Shire has asked for Heritage Overlays on a number of houses and other places in Flinders and Shoreham (Amendment C302morn). The Shire is still waiting for the Minister’s authorisation to put it on public exhibition. If you are buying or renovating an older house, check its status first.
- Permits: under the Heritage Overlay, a planning permit is needed to demolish, build, externally alter a building or paint an unpainted surface, and in some heritage places to repaint a building or remove a tree.
Probate and estate administration where the estate includes a holiday house.
- Is a grant needed? A holiday house in the deceased’s sole name usually needs a grant of probate before it can be sold or transferred. Property owned as joint tenants passes to the surviving owner.
- Family provision claims: must generally be filed within 6 months after the grant of probate or letters of administration.
- Planning ahead: if you want the family beach house kept or sold after you die, say so clearly in your will, to reduce the risk of a dispute.
Owners who live elsewhere
Many Flinders and Shoreham owners live in Melbourne or further away. Much of the work can be done by email, phone and video, so you may only need to come in to sign documents.
Selling a holiday home
Selling in Flinders or Shoreham, step by step
What happens from listing to settlement, including the points that come up with holiday houses.
01
Prepare the contract
We prepare the contract of sale and the section 32 statement, including the planning controls and any heritage overlay, so the campaign can start on time.
02
Tax clearance
Most sellers now need an Australian Taxation Office clearance certificate by settlement, whatever the price. Apply early, because it can take some weeks to issue.
03
Short stay bookings
If the house is listed for short stays, plan when to stop taking bookings, and deal with any bookings that fall after settlement before you sign.
04
Adjustments
Council rates and water charges are apportioned between buyer and seller. For most sales, a seller can no longer pass land tax on to the buyer.
05
Settlement
Settlement happens electronically through a platform such as PEXA, so you do not need to attend. Once it is confirmed, the agent can release the keys.
How we work
Visit us from Flinders and Shoreham
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm, by appointment
From Flinders and Shoreham
About 35 to 40 minutes by car via the Frankston-Flinders Road or Peninsula Link.
By bus
Route 782 runs between Flinders and Frankston through Shoreham, Balnarring and Hastings.
Parking
Wilson Parking at 453 Nepean Highway, street parking on the Nepean Highway, and the car parks at McDonald’s across the road and at Dan Murphy’s.
Common questions
Can’t see your question? Call 1800 776 529 or send us a message.
If you rent it out for short stays, yes. The Shire’s Short Stay Rental Accommodation Local Law 2022 requires yearly registration, a contact person who responds to neighbours’ complaints within two hours, and the registration number in your advertising. The state short stay levy is separate.
Often. Since 9 January 2025, erosion and flooding overlays have applied to coastal hazard areas along the Western Port coast, and development there typically needs a coastal hazard vulnerability assessment. The planning property report shows what applies.
The planning property report shows whether a Heritage Overlay applies now. The Shire has also asked for new Heritage Overlays on a number of places in Flinders and Shoreham, and is still waiting for the Minister’s authorisation to put them on public exhibition, so check the status before you buy or renovate.
Start with how the title is held and anything you agreed. A written co-ownership agreement covering costs, use and a buy-out avoids most disputes. If co-owners cannot agree, VCAT can make orders about co-owned land, including an order for its sale, under the Property Law Act 1958 (Vic).
Our office is at 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston, about 35 to 40 minutes by car. Much of the work can be done by phone, video and email, so you may only need to come in to sign documents.
Yes. Radek Dajer speaks Polish and can take your instructions and explain your documents in Polish. See our Polish-language services.
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Talk to us about your Flinders and Shoreham matter
Tell us briefly what has happened or what you are planning. We reply to every enquiry within one business day, by phone, email or text, whichever you prefer.
What happens next
- Send the form.
- We reply within one business day.
- We arrange a time to talk, or ask for any information or documents we need first.
Prefer to talk? Call 1800 776 529, Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm.