Q&A: Are you allowed to live in your NSW Strata Garage?

A LookUpStrata reader wanted to know what can be done about tenants who use the garage of their strata unit in NSW as a spare bedroom, and wondered whether this was even legal.

In summary, our response was that a garage is not deemed a “habitable” area and therefore, in all likelihood, the tenants are in breach of Local Council regulations.

A by-law might be a useful tool to highlight to such tenants that they are in breach of Council regulations (and that way you can enforce the by-law through a Notice of Breach and/or take action through Council to issue an order etc).

We also recommend that you check the certificate of title to determine whether or not the garages are identified as a utility lot, as this will further help determine the legality.

You can read our detailed response here.