Residents To Benefit From New Strata Law
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday November 15, 1996
By-laws preventing children from living in blocks of flats will no longer apply and pets will be allowed in units when changes to strata title regulations - now before Parliament - become law.
Hanging washing on balcony lines or out windows will no longer be stopped by body corporates which regulated the domestic lives of more than a million Sydney residents living under strata title schemes.
Body corporates, now to be called owners' corporations, will no longer be able to forbid safety barriers for children being installed on balconies in flats.
The NSW Minister for Fair Trading, Mrs Faye Lo Po, who introduced the legislation in Parliament late on Wednesday night, said the changes embodied in the Strata Schemes Management Bill 1996 represented a long-needed overhaul of the strata titles legislation created in the 1970s.
"The bill tackles the main problems people experience with strata living," she said. "Disputes with bodies corporate have been the main area of complaint over the past five years. We have put strong emphasis on early resolution of disputes in a way that satisfies both parties and prevents problems escalating into intractable warfare between neighbours."
The changes were made to the draft strata title law review overhaul sent out for public comment in March this year.
"We had so many requests for copies of the bill and our explanatory brochure we had to reprint it, Mrs Lo Po said. "All in all we sent out nearly 5,000 copies and received more than 300 written submissions from interested groups and people.".
Other major changes to the bill going through Parliament from the first draft of the legislation include:
* Flexible scheme by-laws will encourage specialist strata developments which can cater specifically for pet owners, gardening enthusiasts or young families;
* New provisions for unit owners with physical and intellectual disabilities or literacy problems will enable them to appoint a proxy to serve and receive notices;
* Minimum public liability insurance will rise from $5 million to $10 million for each building, but the Government does not believe this will result necessarily in higher levies;
* Discounts will be given for unit owners who pay their levies early to redress the impact on owners' corporation funds falling in arrears.
Of the 300 submissions received by the NSW Government, 60 related to the issue of keeping pets.
There are about 45,000 registered strata schemes in NSW.
Provisions which did not change after the submission assessment procedure from the previous proposal released to the public in March included that the Strata Titles Commissioner be given more power over the management of strata title schemes, and fines will be raised from $500 to $5,000 for individuals who fail to comply with the Owners' Corporation by-laws.
Owners' Corporation meetings will be streamlined and corporates will be under a greater onus to provide more detailed plans for spending on maintenance.
The new law is expected to pass through Parliament by the end of the year.
© 1996 Sydney Morning Herald