NSW Strata Law Changes from 27 October 2025: What Owners Corporations, Strata Committees and Owners Must Now Do or Know
From 27 October 2025, important reforms to NSW strata and community land laws will come into effect. These changes aim to improve transparency, accountability and financial fairness across all strata schemes.
Below is a summary of what Owners Corporations, Committees and individual Owners need to know and do to stay compliant.
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Financial Hardship Information Statement
Every levy notice issued from 27 October 2025 must include a Financial Hardship Information Statement approved by the NSW Fair Trading Secretary. This statement provides information on where owners can access free and confidential financial counselling, including through the National Debt Helpline.
Owners Corporations will need to update their levy templates and software systems to ensure the approved statement is automatically attached to all levy notices. Committees may also include translated versions in up to ten community languages alongside the required English version, if needed.
Standardised Payment Plans
The reforms introduce standardised rules for payment plans covering overdue levies. Lot owners can now request a plan using the standard Request for Payment Plan for Overdue Contributions form, and every request must be properly considered by the Owners Corporation or its Committee—blanket refusals are no longer permitted.
Committees must respond to requests within 28 days and provide written reasons if a plan is refused. Refusals will only be considered reasonable if agreeing to the plan would leave the administrative or capital works fund without sufficient money to meet its obligations. Owners Corporations cannot charge any fees or costs for submitting or maintaining a payment plan.
If an owner is on an approved plan and is complying with it, no debt recovery action can be taken on those levies. If a request is refused, owners may apply to NSW Fair Trading for mediation or to NCAT for an order requiring the scheme to accept the plan.
Owners Corporations should now adopt the new request form, create a workflow to meet the 28-day response requirement and ensure treasurers and strata managers understand the new payment allocation order: payments must be applied first to overdue levies, then interest, and finally recovery costs.
Strengthened Duty to Repair and Maintain
The existing legal duty for Owners Corporations to repair and maintain common property remains, but NSW Fair Trading now has greater power to investigate potential breaches. Fair Trading officers will be able to request documents, enter premises, issue compliance notices, accept enforceable undertakings and apply fines or orders through NCAT.
Owners Corporations should review maintenance records, prioritise any outstanding repairs (particularly health or safety risks) and document all decisions and contractor engagement. Using Fair Trading’s Strata Building Health Check can help schemes assess their compliance and maintenance priorities.
Download Your NSW Strata Law Changes Checklist
New NCAT Powers for Management Agreements
From 27 October 2025, NCAT will have a new power to vary or terminate strata, building or facilities management agreements if a manager is found to have acted unlawfully. This adds to the existing grounds available to Owners Corporations to review or end such agreements. Committees should use this opportunity to assess their current agreements and ensure compliance expectations are clearly defined and regularly reviewed.
Additional Legal and Administrative Updates
Debt recovery proceedings will now require 30 days’ written notice before legal action can begin, replacing the previous 21-day requirement. Templates for section 86 notices should be updated, and referrals for recovery should not occur until at least 37 days after issuing the notice to allow for postal delivery.
Standard AGM motions about payment plans must now be removed from meeting agendas, as the new law requires each payment plan request to be considered individually. Further reforms are expected later in 2025 and from 1 April 2026, including updated templates and new obligations for developers.
What to Do Now
Owners Corporations and Committees should act now to prepare for the changes. Update levy notice templates, adopt the new payment plan request form, train relevant staff and committee members, and review current repair records and management agreements. These steps will ensure your scheme remains compliant and well-prepared for the new regulatory environment.
For individual Owners, the reforms mean greater transparency, stronger protection from unreasonable refusals of payment plans, and better enforcement of common property repairs. These changes represent a shift towards a fairer, more transparent and better-supported strata sector for everyone involved.
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