News

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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Changes to Fire and Emergency Services Levy (FESL)

This Flat Chat article in the Domain explains changes in the way the so-called Fire and Emergency Services Levy (FESL) is raised. From 1 July 2017, the annual fire services levy will be collected via council rates rather than via buildings insurance. This will ensure the FESL will be spread more evenly across a broader slice of…

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Interesting strata facts (NSW)

For those who like statistics, we have some numbers that might interest you. A total of 76,733 Strata Schemes were registered in NSW in February 2017. SCA (NSW) reports that as of February 2017 there were 821,044 strata lots registered with the NSW Land and Property Information (LPI), which is a significant 12,668 lots or 1.6%…

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Q&A: Steps to take when renovating strata unit?

We provided a response to a LookUpStrata reader, who wanted to know the appropriate steps to take to obtain approval for renovating a strata unit. In summary, this owner should have a lawyer prepare a common property rights by-law for inclusion in an agenda of the Owners Corporation. They will also need a Section 108 motion…

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Q&A: Use of wrong allocated parking space

A LookUpStrata reader discovered they’d been using the wrong parking space and wanted to know what rights they have to get their actual allocated car parking space as per the contract of sale. In short, the strata plan allocations of car spaces will usually override any practices/use by the individual owners/occupiers. We recommended that the…

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