STRATA SCHEMES
10/09

Strata schemes are effectively small communities where the activities and attitudes of residents can have a significant impact on the satisfaction and enjoyment of others. Therefore, it is important to be aware of your responsibilities and obligations when you own or live in a strata unit.

Whilst strata living can provide a friendly community style environment, it helps to remember that it is not the same as living in a freestanding house. Some activities may be more restricted in a strata scheme, for example, where you can park your car, hang your washing or when and how you can renovate. Understanding these differences before buying or moving into a strata scheme can help reduce the likelihood of disputes over these activities later on.

What is different about living in a strata scheme?

The key features of living in a strata scheme are:

• you own your unit or apartment as well as sharing ownership and responsibility for ‘common property’
• if you own your unit, you are automatically a member of the ‘owners corporation’ which has responsibility for common property
• every 3 months you have to contribute to the cost of running the building through paying quarterly levies
• you also have to pay money into a sinking fund, for future long term expenses such as painting the building or replacement of guttering
• compared to living in a freestanding house, there will be lifestyle restrictions in a strata scheme, for example there are rules (by-laws) that may affect you doing renovations to your unit, that state where you can and cannot park your car, where you can dry washing or whether or not you can keep pets.

THE OWNERS CORPORATION
 
In a strata scheme

The owners corporation is the body made up of all the owners in the strata scheme. It has the responsibility for:

• maintaining and repairing the common property of the strata scheme
• managing the finances of the strata scheme
• taking out insurance for the strata scheme
• keeping records and accounts for the strata scheme
• administering the by–laws for the strata scheme.

Each lot owner is part of the owners corporation and has a right to participate in the corporation’s decision making. The owners corporation comes into existence immediately a strata plan is registered with the Department of Lands.

At first it may only be made up of the original owner (usually the developer) but as individuals buy into the scheme, the owners corporation gains more members. The owners corporation has an executive committee which can make many of the necessary decisions on its behalf. The executive committee can have no more than nine members. It has a chairperson, secretary and treasurer. An owners corporation may also employ a strata managing agent and/or caretaker to carry out some or all of their functions.

The period from when the strata plan is registered with the Department of Lands up to when one third of the total unit entitlements have been sold is called the initial period. There are restrictions on what the owners corporation can do during the initial period however, the original owner, the owners corporation and/or an owner may make an application to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal to waive, vary or extinguish a restriction.