I would suggest that the SCA may be incapable of cleaning up its act so the need for an independent review of the sector has never been more important than now. A necessary outcome would be the development of a balanced Strata Management Contract perhaps with annual reporting of KPI’s. The number of Strata that individual Managers are required to manage by the larger corporates guarantees that a reasonable level of service is most likely impossible.
The Consolidation of the industry appears to be driven by maximising the returns to shareholders rather than servicing the client (Even in meeting the terms of the SCA contract ,which is not a high bar for the providers)
Consideration could also be given to a model where the Strata owns the licence for a management platform and so retains all its records for a seamless transfer to another management agency. At this time the lack of portability in changing Strata Managers is used as an anchor to retain clients. The Building Management sector now has the option for Strata to own the licence and delegate to the contracted building manager. Perhaps the time has come that all the reasons as to why this cannot be done for Strata Management need to be solved rather than being used as an excuse.
I expect any independent review will need to employ more staff than anticipated to deal with all the submissions from Flat Chat, Owners Corporation Network and the many Strata that have been disadvantaged by the SCA model over many years.
Perhaps the time has come for the Government to fund the Owners Corporation Network via the Strata Commission? so it is not dependent on funding from commercial organisations with vested interest. The Tenants Union receives funding from the Government so it can be done for a not for profit organisation.
Regards Stephen.
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