r/stratachataus

I’m on the body corporate of a building where one of the owners (a notorious nuisance who is not on the body corporate) has requested the strata roll from the strata manager - he has been told that he can have names but not people’s emails. Nobody on the body corporate wants him to have everyone’s contact info. However, he insists that this is covered under the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 No14.

Firstly, is it legal for the strata manager to deny him the email addresses of all the owners?

Secondly, is there a worst case scenario if he pursues the strata roll with everyone’s emails? Can he take his demands to NCAT, etc? Are there legal repercussions if the strata management (and body corporate secretary, from what I understand) prevent him from obtaining access of the strata toll emails?

The guy is highly annoying and this is just a power trip for him, however I don’t want this to cause issues for the secretary of the body corporate.

Our small strata group has not payed the unit who has our common property lighting wired to their meter for about ten years now. Most owners are new so didnt understand the set up.

Does the owner of the unit supplying our common property electricity have any right to be compensated for those ten years?

Can they just have the common property power disconnected ?

The unit has been tenanted for at least five years. Can the tenant seek compensation from our strata corporation?

Hi all

The unit next door is available for sale and we are looking to purchase it for the extra space and parking spot.

We'd like to add a door or arch to one of the common walls so we can open the space up to make one bigger unit but retain separate titles.

Has anyone gone through this process before and do you have any advice to share? Our strata manager has recommended consulting a lawyer but beyond that we don't know where to start.

Would be great if you could recommend a strata lawyer in Sydney NSW and a reliable building inspector/engineer to assess if feasible.

Thanks

Our apartment has what is essentially an enclosed patio at the entry-way. It is technically common property but it is behind (our) locked door and is basically a long hallway before you enter a 2^(nd) door inside our unit. This area has frosted glass.

We’ve been pinged by strata for breaching by-law 21 prohibiting items “visible from the outside not in keeping with the appearance of the building” because 1 panel of our shoe cabinet is partially visible.

HOWEVER, I did a walk through of the building and more than 50% of units are doing the same thing.

I intend to raise a motion to change the by-law but in the meantime I wanted to ask, is there really any argument about the building’s appearance when the majority are doing it?

Hi everyone,

Would love to get some thoughts and feedback on my current situation, any suggestions for handling the situation also welcome! This issue is slated for our upcoming strata AGM.

TLDR; neighbour wants free use of a common use area directly in front of our house for parking his car or having his trades park there, but demands the space be kept free if we use it. Is it reasonable for us to request a bylaw/rule from the strata group to ensure free access to the space at all times?

Apologies in advance for the long post - sharing as much detail as I can.

My family and I have moved into a new home in a strata group (not our first time in one). We have been here less than a month.

We are located at the back of our group with another property. There is a space directly in front of our front porch that is part of the shared driveway/common use area. It is not designated parking and we believe the purpose of it is to allow us to reverse out of our garage more easily. If our driveway is shaped like an "L" we are located right at the end of the bottom line, and our neighbour is located at the right angle. Parking in the space also means the driver stares directly into our front room.

Within our first few days of moving in, our neighbour approached us several times about not having our car parked there. He demanded we park on the street to keep the space free "for vendors" and visitors (its not visitor parking). We agreed and parked directly in front of our garage. This was apparently not acceptable either, and neither was my grandmother parking in the "visitors" spot.

We are now parking on the street as much as possible while we clear out our garage (where our car was always going to be parked) of junk after the move.

Since these interactions, our neighour has freely used the spot for his own car and demands that it be kept free for his tradies. We would be fine with this if cars being in this spot didn't a) make it difficult for us to get out of our garage, and b) if he didn’t treat the space as an extension of his own home for free use.

In talking to the other members of the strata group, we are not the first people to have issues with this neighbour and both of them have had their share of run ins with him over the years.

My question is - is it reasonable for us to ask for a rule or bylaw to be put in place by the strata group to clearly define use of this space? Is it possible for the strata group to apply rules to common use areas?

We are more than happy not to use the space and avoid doing so as much as possible - we are just hoping for some equal rules around use.

Any other suggestions on how to manage this situation would be much appreciated!

**EDIT: important for context on the dynamic with the neighbour but not relevant to the question. His demenour towards me on the first day we moved in was very friendly and welcoming. While I was unpacking on the first day, I called the police because I could hear what sounded like a serious domestic incident between him and his wife. He started in on the parking issue the next day.

I own a unit in a NSW strata scheme and submitted a renovation application about a month ago (kitchen renovation and flooring replacement), including all plans and supporting documents requested.

From what I understand, parts of the works may fall under minor renovations, while other parts may require an ordinary resolution, but the main issue is that I still cannot get a clear answer on the approval pathway or timeline.

I’ve been told the application needs to be considered by the strata committee, but the committee meetings have now been postponed three times and there is currently no new date set.

I’ve followed up multiple times in writing with the strata manager and have also asked whether the kitchen and flooring components can be assessed separately if they fall under different approval pathways, but communication has been limited and I still have no timeframe.

The delay is now affecting contractor scheduling and planning.

A few questions:

1. Can a strata committee effectively delay consideration of a renovation application by repeatedly postponing meetings with no new date set?

2. Is there any obligation under NSW strata law for an owners corporation or committee to deal with renovation requests within a reasonable timeframe?

3. Given the repeated delays and no new meeting date, is it reasonable for me to commence mediation through NSW Fair Trading now?

4. If mediation fails, is an application to NCAT the next step?

5. Has anyone dealt with something similar and managed to obtain a determination?

Not trying to force approval, I just want a lawful decision (yes or no) so I can move forward.

UPDATE: They've scheduled a meeting for next week at the last minute, likely because I sent an email mentioning mediation. There's also a motion to change the renovation approval process to make it easier like a couple of people have mentioned in the comments. Thanks everyone for the insights and advice.

Hi
Developer of my lot still owns 72% of units in my complex.
In terms of voting rights, given they own the majority of units, is it essentially their vote wins every time because they own the majority?
How does voting work so it’s fair for all owners?

Here's the situation.

VIC owners corporation, 36 lots. We have one owner who owns four lots.

I have been away from the committee for a while as i was overseas and in reading the previous minutes of the AGM I missed, the one lot owner with multiple lots had appointed three proxies to represent his other lots. The four of them voted themselves on the committee at the AGM which means that they hold four seats on the committee for the owner.

At the last AGM I put a block to this, namely because I questioned with the chair whether there were valid proxies recorded - there weren't ahead of the meeting. They (the owner and proxies) are not happy.

I spoke to Consumer Affairs Victoria to get some advice on this issue. Their advice was that the Act is pedantic about stopping owners from having multiple seats on a committee. They advised that under the Act, while an owner is allowed to appoint a proxy to represent them, the Act specifically says that the proxy represents a 'lot owner' not a lot. Their advice is that an owner who has multiple lots is still the same lot owner. While they are allowed multiple votes at a general / special meeting, they cannot appoint multiple proxies to occupy multiple seats on a committee.

Has anyone come across any VCAT cases where anyone has challenged this? I can't seem to find any but someone with more experience might be able to point me in the right direction.

I know that in practice, this clause has been interpreted differently and i have heard of developers holding multiple seats because of their ownership but want to find cases either way that have been tested at Tribunal. I want to make sure we have a strong case to say to this owner that they can be a part of the committee but they cannot have multiple seats.

Hello,

We have an unregistered vehicle for 6+ months in our guest car park. It is owned by tenants in one of the strata units. Tenants are not dealing with it.

We have no by-law that allows towing.

How can we force the owner/tenant to remove the vehicle? We do have clause that says guest parks are to be used by bona fide guests only.

Are we going to need to adjust bylaws?

I’m in a small apartment building in Australia (owners corporation) dealing with building-wide moisture/rising damp possible structural issues.

An engineering report was completed and paid for, but the strata manager delayed providing it and it still hasn’t been circulated to the full committee. The report identifies broader building issues, but there’s been no action, no plan, and no timeline.

Over the past 6+ months I’ve reported consistent building-wide signs of rising damp and moisture issues, including musty odours, tide marks and staining on walls, bubbling/peeling paint, crumbling plaster and salt deposits, warped floorboards, mould growth, and deterioration of skirting boards. These issues are present across multiple areas/units, not isolated to mine.

I stepped into the secretary role to try to get traction, but little action was taken. An engineering report was only obtained after a ceiling in another unit collapsed, and it identifies broader building issues and safety risks, including brick fencing that requires immediate demolition. Despite this, there is still no clear remediation plan or action underway.

In my unit:

- Significant damage to floorboards and walls from rising damp
- Issues appear to be getting worse
- My health is being affected

I’ve formally requested the report be circulated and asked for next steps, and contacted the chairperson, but no response so far.

I’ve temporarily left my unit due to stress and potential health impact.

Questions:

- What should I do if the manager/committee keep delaying?
- When/how do I escalate (Consumer Affairs VIC, VCAT, etc.)?
- How can I protect myself legally/financially if the building deteriorates further?

Any advice from people familiar with strata/OC issues in Australia would be appreciated.