The question of what to do about old, crumbling apartment blocks standing where new, larger and more efficient apartment blocks might be built is an increasingly urgent issue.
Demand on inner-city living space is increasing and small blocks well past their use-by dates are very much in the sights of developers. But you need a 100 percent vote of all owners before a strata title can be “extinguished” and something bigger and better erected in its place.
This means the “last man standing” can effectively hold developers and their neighbours to ransom.
There has been a move in recent years to reduce the threshold to 90 or even 75 percent but recently members of the Owners Corporation Network voted to retain the “all or nothing” 100 percent voting requirement.
The OCN is the single most significant group in NSW run by and for strata owners and is often consulted by government so their view is influential.
While they wrestle with the question of how to renew the housing stock without throwing people out of their homes, the OCN have organised a couple of workshops on the 12th and 26th of this month that go right to the heart of strata living as a whole, from controlling levies to timber floors.
Speakers will include strata lawyers, building managers, accountants and experienced executive committee members. The sessions cost $60 for non-members ($45 for members) and you can get more information on their website, OCN.org.au.
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