Future Proofing NSW Strata Laws

NSW is reviewing its strata laws (again) and has invited everyone to make comments in an Open Online Forum until the end of February (see NSW Strata Law Reforms are On Again)


And, now they've asked me to write a blog for the Forum which I've done about looking to the future to make real improvements to NSW strata laws.  It's called Turn your Strata Thinking Forwards Before Making Changes and in it I make 10 key suggestions for change as follows.

1. All current bugs in strataneed to be identified and fixed.  They’re easily discerned from court decisions; owner, resident and manager experience; complaints to government; previous discussion papers; and simple analyses of the current laws by experts.  This is a big job, but it’s just the beginning.
2. The different property title regimes for medium and high-density real estate need to be merged so that they operate consistently. There’s no good reason why owners’ experiences in strata buildings should differ to community title or part strata.
3. Governance models and hierarchy need to be re-thought and re-structured based on clear policy positions about whether (or not) owners should always overrule elected committees.  After all, if everything always needs to be decided by owners then why give committees and managers any decision making powers and responsibilities?
4. Strata scheme information collection and sharing needs to be upscaled so that more information is more easily available to owners (and others) about what has, is and will happen in strata buildings.
5. More flexible options for discussions, debate and decision making by strata owners needs to be permitted so that engagement levels increase from the current minimums and decisions better reflect owner views.
6. Long term (non-owner) residents’ interests in strata buildings need to be recognised.  They form almost half the strata constituents in New South Wales and are critical to the future.
7. The construction quality of the strata buildings needs to be improved and guaranteed (at construction, for the first owners and in the medium and long term) by improved approval, checking and re-checking systems.
8. Differences between the experience (and cost) of property ownership between free standing and medium-high density real estate needs to be reduced or eliminated, so that strata property is not second rate property.
9. A register of strata buildings and key information should be created, with regular updates so that everyone can know more about what is (and is not) happening in those buildings.
10. The position of non-owners who assist strata corporations needs to be better defined as traditional roles and business models change to meet owner, committee and building needs.

So have a look at the Forum and make your own views heard.

Francesco ...