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I have a relatively unusual strata situation that I hope you may be able to help me with.
My wife and I just bought an early 20th century house that is the only stand-alone residence on a block of land that includes the house and 12 apartments.
e original block was subdivided in the 1980s with the house retained at the front and the units at the back, and including a swimming pool shared by all strata owners.
The old house is on almost 400 m² of land and we pay about 10% of the Strata which is quite reasonable for the area – about $3,000 a quarter.
As I imagine often happens in cases like this, the 12 units attract all the maintenance money and the house has been neglected to the point where it needs extensive work.
The house needs a new roof and new gutters, new fascias and new windows upstairs that are all rotten, etc etc. My guesstimate is that the work would cost more than $200,000 and the Strata sinking fund is zero. It would require a special levy of around $13,000 for each unit holder.
A friend suggested that we look at getting off the Strata but not completely. The idea would be to create a by-law that would in effect take the house (almost) off the strata. We would still pay a nominal amount of say $1000 or $1500 a quarter which would allow use of the pool and include insurance cover for the house. We would not be liable for any maintenance for the 12 units and the 12 unit owners would not be liable for maintenance of the house. Basically, we would be able to do anything we liked with the house without any referral to Strata or involvement in the strata plan with the 12 units.
Is this something that could be done simply with a by-law.? What proportion of vote would be required? What are the risks? What are the costs?
It is not really feasible to try to remove the house completely from the Strata plan because of the shared pool and access needed to the house via common land. Services to the house – water, gas and electricity are all independent of the 12 units.
Estate agents tell me that if we got the house even partially off Strata, it would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars more than it is now. That is because many buyers are put off by the unusual strata situation.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
PS, I really enjoy your appearances on ABC radio. Great work.
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I don’t have an understanding of strata law, but I think this would be difficult because the proportion of the strata fees paid is based on the allocation when the strata was set up. Also the other owners are not likely to agree to having their strata fees increased. When you bought, you agreed to paying that fee.
There is a legislated requirement that the strata should be kept in good repair. Get a lawyer and go to the tribunal, to get an order for strata to repair your building. Even if it requires a special levy, then it still has to be shared among all owners.
You live in a house which is separate from the other homes. Ask a strata lawyer whether they could draft a by-law “conferring rights or privileges over common property” to have more autonomy over the maintenance of your lot.
Regarding a “divorce”, I suggest you read:
Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)
Part 7 By-Laws for Strata Schemes
Division 3 By-Laws conferring rights or privileges over common property
Sections 142-145
For the time being, you are entitled to get common property maintenance work done on your lot. It is up to the owners corporation to find the funds for it.