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Topic
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Who designates if a dividing fence between two owners (ground level) is Private or common property? Why is my wooden fence classified as private and my cost, whilst the brick fence between my neighbours is called common property? Doesn’t sound fair to me. Thanks for help. All parties are in the same townhouse complex, and all fences/walls are strictly between two neighbours. I’m in NSW.
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Have a look here: https://legalanswers.sl.nsw.gov.au/neighbours-and-law/dividing-fences
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There can be unusual cases so check if there is anything peculiar to your owners corporation. For example, At the townhouses where I live, we have a development plan adopted by general meeting resolution which states that fences are discouraged (with an explanation about the reasons) but that fences may be erected with committee approval subject to certain style and neighbour consultation requirements; that repair and maintenance of the fence is the responsibility of the unit owner; that fences must not enclose any common property.
Although these fences may be on a boundary of the unit and common property or with a neighbour, they were not part of the original construction but reluctant permission can be given as a structure erected on the unit subject to accepting repair and maintenance responsibility and other conditions.
In our case, we have a clearly written, explicit policy. Elsewhere, without any such policy adopted by the owners corporation, you revert to the general legal principles that JT has linked to.
That would be the architect and/or developer and would be part of the strata scheme submission for planning approval. It may be changed later, for instance when an owner or owners want to add a fence that wasn’t there to begin with and which is (or should be) installed as part of the by-law giving approval for the installation of the fence.
In that case the owners corp should insist that the fence is lot property to be maintained by the owners on either side, or one owner if they want it more than the other person does.
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