Are New NSW Strata Owners Being Conned?

The latest changes to financial incentives to new home buyers in NSW promote buying and developing new high rise apartments as this summary on the NSW Office of State Revenue website explains.


Now you'd think that was a good thing for new buyers, developers and the strata title sector.  But not everyone thinks so.


Jimmy Thomson expresses a cynical opinion about the changes in his Flat Chat column saying that this change means that the least savvy and experienced home owners in the state are pushed into the most complicated kind of property ownership (strata title) in circumstances where most new buildings have defects.  And, he's probably right with the unhappy result that many of the new strata owners will have bad experiences and develop a 'second rate' view of strata title.


But, that doesn't mean new home buyers shouldn't be encouraged to buy strata apartments and that developers should not be developing them.  That's precisely the kind of real estate new owners should be buying and that government should be stimulating.  It also helps with housing affordability.


The problems of strata ownership (complex rules & processes, lack of understanding by owners, building defects, etc) just need to be fixed to benefit everyone involved and make strata ownership desirable for all the right reasons (not just financial).  After all it's the way we'll be living in the future.




Francesco ...