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Topic
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I own an apartment in a 2 apartment strata. Next door is another 2 apartment separate strata. Total 4 apartments sharing a common wall. We share insurance costs and we both share a driveway to access our individual garages and also share a walkway down one side of the apartment block, but otherwise the land is owned by each individual strata.
One of the 2 apartment stratas is owned by one person and he says it is a Double Duel Occupancy and therefore we all have to agree for cleaning, maintenance costs etc. If this is the case he has a 50% vote and will not pay for any professional cleaning of the driveway , roof tiles etc.
It was agreed 4 years ago to engage a colour consulant to give advice on changing the colour of the painted apartments and it has taken the owner of the 2 apartments 4 years to agree to finally paint in the new colour suggested.
But, he does not want to change the colour of the garage doors and the guttering which would not suit the new chosen wall colour, so we are at a stalemate because we want a fresh look with new colors for the whole building.
As we have all agreed to the new wall colour do we have the right to change the colour of our garage doors and guttering? Note that all the garages are undercover and only one garage door of our strata is seen by any visitors as each individual apartment has their own pedestrian entrance way.
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Check your strata plan management statement – it should be somewhere in your purchase documents. It may be your neighbour has declared this to be a dual occupancy for their own convenience when it is, in fact, strata.
NSW strata law specifically allows two-lot strata schemes to have separate insurances for the individual lots. Just make sure you have at least one minuted meeting with your neighbours a year to make sure you are on the same page and fulfil your legal obligations.
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As we have all agreed to the new wall colour do we have the right to change the colour of our garage doors and guttering? Note that all the garages are undercover and only one garage door of our strata is seen by any visitors as each individual apartment has their own pedestrian entrance way.
I would be tempted to repaint your doors how you want and let chummy nexy door look like the goose he is. But be prepared for him not to pay his share because the paint job wasn’t to his taste.
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Can’t you paint your strata scheme (half of the building) as you wish, and leave his alone? If you really want to make a point, clean half the driveway while you’re at it.
Get two or three quotes for the paint job – ask the painters to quote for 1) half the job and 2) the whole thing. If he won’t accept the whole thing, then go ahead with the half-job on your side of the building. It won’t be long before he decides to match it on his side with his own painter, and you can generously offer him the half-empty tins of leftover paint to get the job started.
But make sure first you are on solid ground that this is strata and his “dual occupancy” claim is rubbish.
Cue “My Pink Half of the Drainpipe“
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