When strata neighbours start getting snarky with each other, the issues are usually fairly clear-cut. It could be parking in the wrong place, leaving garbage outside your front door or smoking on common property.
But the concept of “my home is my castle” really comes into play when there is a terrace involved and it’s part of the owner’s private lot rather than common property.
To clarify, in most apartment buildings, the balconies are common property. That allows the owners corp to dictate, via by-laws, what can and can’t be put on them.
It’s usually pretty straightforward: no bikes, washing lines or (shudder) barbecues are common restrictions, mainly because of the visual challenges the former present and the antisocial stink from the latter.
But it can go further. You even can be restricted on the style and colour of your window blinds and balcony furniture, on the grounds that you may not change the external appearance of the block.
However, if it’s a lot property terrace or garden, how much control can an owners corp or committee impose?
One Flatchatter this week complained about a downstairs neighbour who responded to a complaint about the highly visible clutter in their garden by asking if they could build a garden shed in it.
When that was refused, a kids’ cubby house and a full-size basketball hoop appeared (the hoop perilously close to the upstairs balcony).
Now, this is lot property so can the strata committee tell them to get rid of them? And if they can, why is the strata manager taking so long to do it? That’s HERE.
Elsewhere on the Forum:
- What do you do about a deceased estate that hasn’t paid its levies for two years? That’s HERE.
- Terraces again! The soil is subsiding in a lot property garden. Who’s responsible for fixing it? That’s HERE.
- The by-law says garages can only be used for “garage purposes” and “ancillary storage”. But the building manager says my apartment service company can’t leave linen there. So what is “ancillary storage”. That’s HERE.
- Can proxies be used in committee elections? And how do we stop the incumbents from just electing themselves every year? That’s HERE.
- Damage to the tiles in one of our old block’ bathrooms has revealed that there has never been waterproofing membrane. Now it’s causing a problem and we need to know who’s responsible. That’s HERE.
- Is there a law that compels the strata manager and committee secretary to reply to my emails? That’s HERE.
There’s a whole bunch of questions, answers and opinions in the Flat Chat Forum. Register and login in and you needn’t miss a thing.
