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Whether you are a Strata Management Company or servicing the strata industry, create your own Premium Listing in just a few minutes! Be part of the Strata Marketplace. Your listing is extremely quick and easy to set up. Grab your complimentary Premium Listing Promotional Package and increase your strata business exposure today.
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Looking for a strata lawyer, financial advisor, plumber, and electrician or maybe maintenance work is required?
Australia wide - you'll find what you're looking for here.
NSW: Q&A Security and Insurance issue due to shop customer’s access to common areas
Scott Driscoll, Strata Community Insurance Question: In our mixed use building, a shop allows customers to enter secure residential areas to access toilet facilities. How does this affect our building’s Security and Insurance?
ACT: Q&A Where do my Common Property Boundary Lines Lie?
Jan Browne, Whittles Strata Partners Question: Due to a water leak at our building between the internal walls of two units, we are trying to locate the common property boundary lines. Is there a resource to assist for ACT Strata Schemes?
NSW: Q&A Strata Disputes Resolution and Divisive Disruption of Meetings
Leanne Habib, Premium Strata Question: What rights of refusal (or banishment) does a Strata Committee have when a disruptive Owners Corporation member insists on attending, and then refuses to maintain their role of a silent observer by interjecting and essentially sabotaging Strata Committee proceedings?
QLD: Q&A Accuracy of Body Corporate Committee Meeting Minutes
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal Question: I’m questioning the accuracy of body corporate committee meeting minutes of our Annual General Meeting. I’ve found that although I did attend this meeting I was not included in the list of attendees of owners and committee members.
NSW: Q&A Strata plans and their debt recovery procedures
Rod Smith, The Strata Collective Question: Our strata is requesting we pay a special levy as over 10% of lot owners have failed to pay their strata fees. I do not want to pay this special levy. What will happen to me?
SA: Q&A Accidental damage caused by the upstairs lot owner
Tony Johnson, Horner Management Question: If water damage has been caused by a faulty tap in the upstairs unit, can the downstairs owner claim accidental damage for the repairs to the building such as ceilings and walls?
QLD: The BUGTA law reform recommendations paper has been released
Frank Higginson, Hynes Legal Although there are probably bigger fish to fry for the majority of strata title owners in Queensland, for those who are in BUGTA regulated buildings this is a much bigger deal.
StrataLoans Infograph Celebrating StrataLoans Second Birthday! The size of loans over the past two years has varied considerably with the smallest being just $3,750 to the largest being $5,000,000. The purpose of these has also varied from painting and refurbishments to balcony repairs and legal costs.
Adrian Mueller, JS Mueller & Co The Supreme Court has rejected a proposal by an owners corporation to upgrade its common property in a way that would have impeded access to an owner’s car space. What are the broader implications of this case?
Aust Wide: Mobile App Tenant Engagement and Strata CRM.
Stratafy brings the full end to end software management for all strata buildings. Stratafy was built with the end user experience in mind.
NSW: A next generation strata manager. People matter!
Strata success comes from building positive relationships with our clients to ensure the communities we manage live efficiently and harmoniously.
News of the Week
NSW government to impose 180-night cap on Airbnb properties in Sydney
Lisa Visentin & Alexandra Smith, The Sydney Morning Herald The NSW government will regulate Airbnb-style letting by imposing a 180-night cap on the number of days investor properties can be rented in Sydney, and will give strata corporations the power to ban short-term letting in their buildings.
Sector with almost $1 trillion worth of assets that's run mostly by volunteers
Ryachel Clun, The Sydney Morning Herald With an insured value of almost $1 trillion, covering 2.6 million lots and directly employing 9000 people nationwide, the strata sector is an important part of the Australian economy.
That's according to the first comprehensive national report of its kind into the strata sector, co-authored by University of NSW associate professor Hazel Easthope.
LAST CHANCE NSW!
Strata Community Environmental & Engagement Award
The City of Sydney is sponsoring the Strata Community Environmental and Engagement award at the 2018 CHU Strata Community Awards.
The award recognises strata schemes that have improved environmental performance and is a great way of increasing awareness of programs and initiatives being undertaken by strata buildings.
Nominations are now open for the awards. All strata schemes in NSW are eligible to apply, including non-members of Strata Community Australia.
State Member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, has launched a petition to have short term letting debated in NSW parliament. He needs 10,000 signatures. They must be original signatures so people need to print, sign, and mail/drop off to his office.
We urge NSW LookUpStrata readers to sign, put up in their lobbies, and share with their committees and other lot owners.
Independent MP Alex Greenwich: There has been a strong supportive response to my petition calling for owners corporations the authority to control short term letting in their building, including to place limits beyond state controls or to ban the practice outright. If you support this approach, please sign and collect signatures. Print petition HERE.
NSW: Report a scheme not complying with window safety device requirements
To report a strata scheme that is not complying with the window safety device requirements, send an email to [email protected] along with the following information:
your name and contact details
the address of the strata scheme
the managing strata agent's name and contact details (or Secretary's details, if there is no managing agent).
Quick NSW Q&A
We sometimes receive interesting questions into the site which aren't quite long enough to create a post. We thought we'd share some here. We recently received the following question: Q: Can you control what someone installs or parks in a carport? Leanne Habib, Premium Strata replied: A: Yes, to some extent the Owners Corporation may control what someone stores/parks in a carport. This is generally done through the “in keeping with the appearance of the building” by-law. Alternatively, it can be controlled through the “storage of flammables/toxic items” by-law. Some schemes have a by-law that nothing other than a motor or other approved vehicle may be stored within the carspace/carport – ie no storage of any items whatsoever like luggage, white goods, storage boxes etc. However, under the new legislation no by-law may be harsh or oppressive.
