NSW shakes up strata law
NSW fair trading minister Anthony Roberts has finally outlined the parameters of strata law changes at a Strata Community Australia’s Owners Day over the weekend. The new laws are slated to come into force mid-next year. On the agenda are permission for pet ownership in units, banning smoking on balconies, an end to proxy harvesting of votes, teleconferencing, the developer practice of phoenix companies and a reduction in the length of strata management contracts.
Saved for an attack on the laws next year will be short-term or holiday letting and the dissolving of strata title.
With 30% of NSW people living in some 72,000 strata title units, new laws will allow pets by default in units, using the government’s “model” by laws. Mr Roberts said that many strata unit blocks adopt the government’s model by-laws only to find they are very hard to change. He said, the new model by-laws will also cover smoke drift and coping with the problem noisy timber and tiled floors preventing the installation of these.
Other items that will be in the new laws, according to Mr Roberts, will be ending proxy harvesting and encouragement for tenants to participate in owners corporation affairs. The new laws will restrict proxy votes in strata schemes with more than 20 units to 5% of the total ownership. Under 20 owners will only be allowed one proxy vote.
The use of phoenix companies – where developers deliberately go bankrupt to avoid the financial consequences of inferior work and defective buildings then resurface in another guise will be stopped. “Planned bankruptcy as a business model will be a thing of the past,” Mr Roberts said.
Strata managers, caretakers, building managers and selling agents will not be permitted to sit on executive committees and committee members must declare any conflicts of interest and avoid voting on issues should any conflict exist.
Mr Roberts said that online teleconferencing, electronic voting and greater flexibility in the timing of AGMs will also be addressed.
Issues such as extinguishment of title, short-term or holiday letting in residential buildings and “rogue parking” will now be addressed in a second release of law changes early next year.
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