December Newsletter 2021

Have you read about the Appointment of the
first Property Services Commissioner for NSW? Or the new Strata Hub?

The New South Wales Government has announced the appointment of the state’s first Property Services Commissioner, Mr John Minns. Commissioner Minns’ appointment commences on 6^th December, 2021.

The appointment is to improve transparency, accountability and regulation of the real estate sector for increased protection of consumers in NSW whilst being responsive to the needs of property services professionals.  It is modelled on the successful appointment of the NSW Building Commissioner who was appointed to reform the building and construction industry.

Commissioner Minns will work with the Property Services Expert Panel and the NSW Government to drive positive reform to support consumers and improve services delivered by the regulator to agents and property service professionals.

The Property Services Commissioner sits independently of Fair Trading and will report directly to the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service and Minister for Better Regulation.

Property Services Expert Panel and the Commissioner are tasked with making recommendations to the Government as to how the Government can improve and deliver focused services to the property services sector and consumers by the regulator, NSW Fair Trading.

As stated in the NSW Government media release “The real estate industry contributes $100 billion and over 37,000 jobs to the NSW economy. That is why it is critical to have the right processes in place to allow the NSW Government to support this thriving industry whilst maintaining the highest protections for consumers”.  The link to the media release can be found here.

The Property Services Council Bill, 2021 (NSW) sets out the stated objectives of the Council as being:

• to promote appropriate standards of conduct and competency for agents
• to protect the interests of persons who deal with agents
• to facilitate the resolution of disputes between agents and persons who deal with them.

 
The Council also has the following functions:

• to provide advice, reports or recommendations to the Minister relating to (among other things):
• the business of agents
• the education, training and continuing professional development of agents
• consumer protection
• the management of strata properties and community schemes
• the education, training and continuing professional development of strata managing agents

This is a further improvement to the strata sector following the introduction of the Professional Standards Scheme for Strata Managing Agents in July 2021 and will streamline strata managing agents’ statutory obligations under the Property and Stock Agents Act, 2002 (NSW) (previously known as the Property, Stock & Business Agents Act) and the Strata Schemes Management Act, 2015 (NSW).

The new NSW Strata Hub!

In a NSW Government release in March 2021, the NSW Government opened consultation on a proposed centralised digital strata hub revolutionise the way anyone who builds, owns, lives or works in a strata scheme can obtain the information they need.

Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Mr Kevin Anderson said the hub is being built as part of the Government’s commitment to transform the building and construction sector into the transparent, consumer-centric industry it needs to be.
 
The link to the media release can be found here.

The intention of the strata hub is stated to be to consolidate core information about NSW’s 82,000 strata schemes in one place, giving property purchasers insights in their potential new home or investment property while allowing the regulator to monitor each building’s ongoing maintenance and defect management.  It will be a single access point for critical strata information. The Strata Hub will allow regulators to monitor maintenance of strata properties.

The NSW Government hopes that the Strata Hub will be available for use from May 2022 pending the passing of relevant legislation.

Mr Anderson also said “It will also let the regulators keep a close eye on each strata building to make sure NSW homeowners are not burdened with avoidable building defects when maintenance is neglected.” but that the Strata Hub is not intended to be a substitute for due diligence eg a books and records search prior to purchase.

Owners Corporations will soon be required to report certain information about their schemes such as annual fire safety statements, address for service of notices, contact details for the scheme and litigation relating to defects.

It is also expected that the Strata Hub will manage and monitor the payment of the building defect bond after it is lodged through the NSW ePlanning portal, which is to pay for any defects found in the first 24 months after the construction is completed.

Stay Safe and Informed!

Regards,
Leanne Habib
CEO