14-07-2015, 11:14 PM
NSW strata law change to boost housing supply
THE AUSTRALIAN JULY 15, 2015 12:00AM
Samantha Hutchinson
Property Writer
Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello says the reforms “will reinvigorate NSW”. Picture: David Swift. Source: News Corp Australia
NSW is in line for a sizeable boost to its housing supply with the introduction of new strata laws that will make it easier to sell or convert strata titles.
A long-awaited strata reform package has proposed more than 90 changes to the legislation, with a key change that lowers the level of consent needed to make changes to rules that govern a building and how it is run.
In two draft bills put forward to the state parliament today, body corporates will only need agreement from 75 per cent of strata owners before changes to titles can occur, down from a previous requirement for 100 per cent agreement.
The new rule will make it a lot easier for building owners to make decisions about everything from parking to passive smoking rules. But policy makers anticipate the new rule will trigger a swag of buildings to hit the market as potential residential development sites.
“These reforms will reinvigorate NSW through an increase in housing supply and a stronger construction industry,” Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello told The Australian.
“By 2040, about half of Sydneysiders will be living in strata. The proposed reforms are reflective of present needs and future demands”.
The changes are long overdue, according to the industry.
“There is little argument that there is a need to change the way strata schemes are terminated,” Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner Paul Carrick said.
About 30 per cent of residential strata schemes in Sydney are 30 years old. State land and property titles revealed that only 826 schemes had been terminated since the legislation was enacted — a fraction of the 70,000 schemes in NSW.
“The main reason so few strata schemes have been terminated is because of the difficult process required to terminate a strata scheme,” Mr Carrick said.
“It is difficult to obtain a unanimous resolution of the owners corporation ... particularly in large strata schemes where there may exist many competing individual interests.”
It’s a struggle strata owners in Sydney’s Hudson House know well.
The Macquarie Street landmark, with owners including Phillip Wolanksi, the Thai Embassy and The Australian Hotels Association, has been at the centre of a standoff between owners who want the office tower to be sold as a residential development site and those who don’t.
Owners of more than 11 of the 17 storeys have been battling since 2013 to secure residential approval for their floors, with a view to sell the building as a residential development site. In April, they appointed CBRE agents Nick Heaton and Josh Cullen to sell their cumulative holdings with a price tag of more than $120 million, even as a handful of owners stood firm on their office holdings.
Under the new scheme, these objections would be overruled because more than 75 per cent of owners were in favour.
The draft bills are open for feedback until August 12, with final bills to be introduced to parliament later this year.
THE AUSTRALIAN JULY 15, 2015 12:00AM
Samantha Hutchinson
Property Writer
Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello says the reforms “will reinvigorate NSW”. Picture: David Swift. Source: News Corp Australia
NSW is in line for a sizeable boost to its housing supply with the introduction of new strata laws that will make it easier to sell or convert strata titles.
A long-awaited strata reform package has proposed more than 90 changes to the legislation, with a key change that lowers the level of consent needed to make changes to rules that govern a building and how it is run.
In two draft bills put forward to the state parliament today, body corporates will only need agreement from 75 per cent of strata owners before changes to titles can occur, down from a previous requirement for 100 per cent agreement.
The new rule will make it a lot easier for building owners to make decisions about everything from parking to passive smoking rules. But policy makers anticipate the new rule will trigger a swag of buildings to hit the market as potential residential development sites.
“These reforms will reinvigorate NSW through an increase in housing supply and a stronger construction industry,” Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello told The Australian.
“By 2040, about half of Sydneysiders will be living in strata. The proposed reforms are reflective of present needs and future demands”.
The changes are long overdue, according to the industry.
“There is little argument that there is a need to change the way strata schemes are terminated,” Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner Paul Carrick said.
About 30 per cent of residential strata schemes in Sydney are 30 years old. State land and property titles revealed that only 826 schemes had been terminated since the legislation was enacted — a fraction of the 70,000 schemes in NSW.
“The main reason so few strata schemes have been terminated is because of the difficult process required to terminate a strata scheme,” Mr Carrick said.
“It is difficult to obtain a unanimous resolution of the owners corporation ... particularly in large strata schemes where there may exist many competing individual interests.”
It’s a struggle strata owners in Sydney’s Hudson House know well.
The Macquarie Street landmark, with owners including Phillip Wolanksi, the Thai Embassy and The Australian Hotels Association, has been at the centre of a standoff between owners who want the office tower to be sold as a residential development site and those who don’t.
Owners of more than 11 of the 17 storeys have been battling since 2013 to secure residential approval for their floors, with a view to sell the building as a residential development site. In April, they appointed CBRE agents Nick Heaton and Josh Cullen to sell their cumulative holdings with a price tag of more than $120 million, even as a handful of owners stood firm on their office holdings.
Under the new scheme, these objections would be overruled because more than 75 per cent of owners were in favour.
The draft bills are open for feedback until August 12, with final bills to be introduced to parliament later this year.