Short-term Letting Update

  Short-term Letting Update The Fair Trading Amendment (Short-term Rental Accommodation) Act 2018 (NSW) was recently passed by both Houses and assented to. It has introduced a new Section 137A to the strata legislation which states that a by-law may prohibit short-term letting for non owner-occupiers. In other words, a by-law cannot prevent an owner-occupier…

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NSW: Q&A Water Dripping Over Balcony From the Neighbour Above

  Question: How can I stop my upstairs neighbour from washing down their outdoor area, sometimes with bleach, causing water dripping over my balcony? This disturbs the use of my property. What rights do I have to make them stop? Answer: Your neighbour may not use their lot in such a way that causes nuisance…

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Ask Premium Strata – Owners Corp & Animals

  Owners Corporation & Animals Question: I was under the impression that there was legislation that said an Owner Corporation could not make laws to prohibit animals on any lot. However, it is important to have rules around common property and other sensible rules around owner and pet behaviour Could you please advise? Answer: An Owners…

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NSW: Q&A ‘No Animals Allowed’ – not even a companion animal

  Question: There are a number of very vocal apartment owners in my building who are against animals of any type, including a companion animal. Answer: If you can demonstrate your animal meets the requirements of a companion animal for the specific outlined range of disabilities, the Owners Corporation cannot prohibit the keeping of your…

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NSW: Q&A Fibre optic upgrade to individual units. Who pays?

  Question: Where will the financial responsibility lie for the fibre optic upgrade to individual units, assuming a majority of the owners corporation want direct fibre to their home? Answer: When it comes to the fibre optic upgrade, there is no hard and fast rule. There is no hard and fast rule, however, before considering…

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Your guide to Pets in NSW Strata

Despite the highly anticipated “pet-friendly” amendments to the new strata legislation, animals are still not automatically permitted in strata schemes unless they are assistance animal as referred to in section 9 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 of the Commonwealth. So, you have a statutory right to keep an assistance animal within strata. However, if your animal is…

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Is a by-law prohibiting AirBnB accommodation lawful?

Is a by-law prohibiting AirBnB accommodation lawful? After some 3 years of community and industry consultation, last Tuesday, the NSW government announced its proposed new laws to empower Owners Corporations to ban AirBnB rentals and similar online short-term letting accommodation. Residents will remain unaffected by the proposed new laws. In other words, owners and tenants…

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Common mistakes people new to strata living make (NSW)

Jimmy T from the Flat-Chat website posted this informative article covering typical mistakes made by people who are new to strata living. The top 10 Forgetting about Strata Levies as part of your budget Not getting involved with the management of the strata building Not complaining about noise in the building Assuming, and blindly believing…

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Information on by-law breach penalties

We have written a new article explaining the available penalty options for by-law breaches in NSW strata buildings. Strata residents in breach of any by-law, risk that the Owners Corporation makes an application to NCAT for the imposition of a civil penalty for breaching the by-law. Such penalties are quite severe. The new strata legislation…

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Can an Owners Corporation tow vehicles?

We have written a new article about parking on common property. Under the new legislation, the Owners Corporation has finally received new powers to tow vehicles in breach of by-laws. On the downside, the Owners Corporation must tolerate the offending vehicle for at least five days before it may take any action. The new legislation…

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Q&A: Air-conditioning maintenance – who is responsible?

A LookUpStrata reader wanted to know who is responsible for maintaining an individual unit’s ducted air conditioning systems when their main components are located outside the Lot’s boundaries. The short answer is: it depends. The test for determining whose responsibility repair & maintenance befalls is whether or not there is an exclusive use by-law registered. You can…

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