Low levies headache in NSW
The NSW government is being urged to legislate to ensure investors have some protection on strata levies that are set too low to be realistic and only find out later how much it costs to run their building.
The president of Strata Community Australia (NSW), David Ferguson, said he was aware of the problem of low quarterly strata levies being quoted by developers and was in favour of regulation.
“You could legislate for a sinking fund analysis, which would be put together by an appropriately qualified assessor or quantity surveyors,” he said. “Some people do make buying decisions based on the level of strata fees and while ethical developers present a reasonable budget and levies, some others don’t.”
The Owners Corporation Network is also advocating for legislation around the setting of levies. “Too often levies are set unfeasibly low even for the first year, when big-ticket items in buildings are covered by the warranty period,” executive officer Karen Stiles said. “We know of buildings who’ve had to raise levies by 70% or double them after the first year.”
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