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I thought exclusive use car spaces in a basement parking area were common property but my strata manager tells me they are not. Some residents or owners are storing large amounts of material in their car spaces – mattresses, TVs, bulk local newspapers which presumably the resident is contracted to deliver, pianos etc. Are they allowed to do this or does it contravene the NSW bye-law in regard to depositing rubbish and other material on common property without consent?
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According to Strata Schemes Management Act (1996) : –
1.Any part of a Lot designated for use for parking of Vehicles must not be used by an Owner or Occupier for any other purpose without the prior approval of the Owners Corporation.2.A Lot or any part of a Lot designated for use for parking of Vehicles must be maintained free of obstruction.I hope that helps
Your SM is correct the exclusive use parking bays belong to the lot owner.
BUT
the lot owner has to comply with your bylaws regarding use of this area and generally their is a catchall bylaw regarding the looks of the lot must be kept reasonable. Storage of items without Strata approval can cause a Notice To Comply with your bylaws be issued against the offender by the EC or SM.
Also storage of large amounts of paper would be considered a fire risk jeopardizing your Strata insurance.
Prufrock – sorry, but in as much that such a provision of the SCMA (post #2) would solve your problem, it sounds to me like a Special By-Law that’s been devised only for a specific Strata Plan.
As KWP said (post #3), there is a Model By-Law (17 in the SCMA) that’s main intent is manage what residents have within their Lots such as brightly coloured curtains or balcony umbrellas that can adversely affect the appearance of the building.
That By-Law actually refers to things that are “not in keeping with the rest of the building”, so whilst it may be a bit of a stretch, if the carspaces are part of each Lot (and that’s very likely), then residents storing the things such you describe within them may contravene that definition, because a carpark is for the keeping of cars.
Have a talk with your Executive Committee and Strata Manager about possibly issuing the users of the offending carspaces (i.e. owners and tenants) with a Notice to Comply (NTC) where it can state that it “believes” (i.e. not definitively) they’re in breach of that By-Law and requires them to rectify the breach.
See what happens, and maybe come back after that with the outcome, because the NTC is a mandatory first-step after which your Owners Corporation could pursue the matter further if needs be.
Usually there would be a bylaw about a lot owner not doing anything that unreasonably interferes with the reasonable use and enjoyment of the common property (that is ACT wording but probably similar elsewhere). That can cover a lot of things. It could be argued that storage of unsightly mess in a lot owners parking space is interfering with my reasonable expectation that I could use the common property (in this case the shared part of the parking area) without being visually assaulted by ugly mess.
I would use this and any more specific bylaw and concern for fire risk and anything else. List them all. Ask people nicely first, then more firmly, then go to the tribunal. Be utterly fair. Give the same letter to all offenders on the same terms.
I was under the impression that “exclusive use” meant that it was Body Corporate owned and the lot owner was grant exclusive access and use? An example would be a courtyard accessed from the lot but unable to be accessed from elsewhere. It doesn’t form part of the lot holding but is only accessed and used by the one lot owner. This may be in perpetuity (generally carparks unless they actually have their own lot number and can be sold separately), or it may be granted as part of a by-law that is reviewable. Whilst owned by the Body Corporate this doesn’t allow the owner to do anything they want and they still need to comply with any relevant provisions.
I will consult with my strata manager andget back with a more clarified reply that may help you
Hi All,
in NSW, most strata plans that are registered, subdivide the property into lots and common property. When trying to work out who the parking space belongs to it is important to review the strata plan. Normally in NSW, the parking spaces are also part of the owners lot. So while the structure, being the floor structure of the car park, be it concrete or even a car stacker, will normally be common property, and the air space of the car space will belong to the lot owner (just like in the apartment).
There are a few commercial buildings that I have seen where the parking spaces are not part of the lot title, and they are in fact common property, but there is an exclusive use by-law registered on title, granting owners of respective lots, rights and responsibilities for the use of a particular car space.
The above said, the air space of a car parking space is typically part of the lot, and the owner or occupier’s responsibility to maintain and keep tidy.
Interestingly, this then extends to the issue of a random vehicle owner parking in someone else’s car space, then this is a matter of Trespass, which is a criminal act, and the NSW Police have an obligation to assist to resolve.