Strata And Community Titled Schemes Act

By Author: Christopher Whelan
Total Articles: 74
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Strata title act was introduced in the state of New South Wales in Australia after the government realized the public dissatisfaction over the company title ownership of property.
The previous ownership allowed the people to own a part of the building by virtue of holding company shares. All the decision regarding permission from the company chairman. This led to a loss of independence and other related problems which were later mulled over by the government policy makers who came up with the Conveyancing Act in the year 1961. This has further been reinforced by the NSW strata schemes management act 1996 and NSW strata schemes management regulation 2010.

The new policy of strata scheme handles the legal ownership of a part or portion on a building or structure commonly known as a lot. This portion can be villas, townhouses, offices, retail shop, so on and so forth. By virtue of a strata title a lit owner independently holds the right over his lot and shares the ownership of the common property by other members of the owner’s corporation.

This gave a lot of independence which was previously denied. Since ...
... there is a lot of work involved in the day to day functioning of a strata scheme it has been a fairly common practice to hire strata managers to handle financial, secretarial and maintenance issues.

But any scheme cannot be totally problem free and so before entering in to a strata title property it is necessary to understand the system.

•Selection of appropriate scheme to suit your requirement
•Insurance cover
•By laws are extremely important
•Facilities available
•Neighbors and dispute resolution
•Building defects and its repair

Like any other living quarters strata scheme defects also can be resolved by active participation of the lot owners corporation and also hiring the services of a professional strata manager.
Strata schemes are divided into numerous independent lots and some common property and common facilities which are not part of any specific lot. The owner’s corporation or the body corporate which consist of all the lot owners jointly own and bear the responsibility for maintenance and management of the common areas and common facilities which come under one head – common property.

For the smooth functioning of a strata scheme the members of the owner’s corporation elect a body known as the Executive Committee and these members work as the voice of that particular strata scheme as it is not possible to involve all the members for each and every issue.
Though self management is always an option most of the lot owners unanimously agree to hire the services of a strata management company to avoid the hassle of day to day problem shooting.

Effective management of strata property can be a complicated process and it requires in depth knowledge and understanding. Moreover one has to deal with the ever changing rules and regulations of the Govt. and understand the nuances of the schemes by laws for mitigating any problems and disputes.

Christopher Whelan is a Licensed Strata manager at Whelan Property Group Pty. Ltd., a professional and proactive Strata title management Company Sydney.