Things can get very heated in a strata context. Disputes can be involve peoples’ homes and living arrangements and can be very personal. They can span involve issues and frustrations which have built up over longs periods of time.
Pesky parking practices by owners and occupiers can be a nightmare for strata schemes. However, this source of stress can be translated into a source of revenue for a savvy owners corporation.
The NSW Government is currently implementing a sweeping reform of laws regulating the real estate industry, with an expected start date of 23 March 2020 for most of the reforms.
Strata owners facing the cost of council orders requiring the replacement of combustible cladding are looking for potential solutions against the manufacturers under the Australian Consumer Law.
The issue of pets in strata schemes has always been a controversial and fiercely contested issue.
Pets are often viewed as a member of the family by some, or conversely, an unpleasant annoyance by others.
NSW’s First Cladding Decision
The recent Tribunal decision in SP92888 v Taylor Construction Group and Frasers Putney [2019] NSWCAT has held that combustible external cladding installed on residential buildings is a major defect for the purposes of statutory warranties under the Home Building Act 1989 (the HBA) and will have significant ramifications on owners of residential buildings wishing to explore cladding as a defect.
Amongst the recent raft of changes to the residential building industry, on 1 December 2019 the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulations 2019 (NSW) will commence with a view to providing greater protections to purchasers of residential property from off-the-plan contracts.
Sydney’s Geology
Starting 300 million years ago, a swamp forest started to subside, forming what we now known as the Sydney Basin. Then a river, 5 times bigger than the Amazon, with its origins south-west of Broken Hill, ground down a mountain range in Antarctica (which was then attached to the Australian continent) depositing silica sands into the basin, later to become the region’s most noted geological characteristic, sandstone.
The majority of strata schemes across the country have builder managers, caretakers and strata managers in place to assist the owners corporation in managing and maintaining common property. Under legislation, these management companies are required to be appointed by a written instrument, normally a written agreement, which can have a maximum term of 10 years.
The Office of Fair Trading sought submissions on the proposed Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2019. The following is Bannermans submission, pointing out two key areas that need to be addressed.
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