Sasha – I assume that you’re aware of the process (in NSW) to obtain the Owners Corporation’s consent to an exclusive use arrangement, but briefly that requires:
- A Motion on the Agenda for a General Meeting, and the passing of a “special resolution” by a minimum 75% of those entitled to vote (i.e. including proxies), with that percentage being calculated from the units of entitlement (UoE) of those voting and the aggregate UoE of all those in attendance (a “poll vote”); and
- A further Motion passed by the same means (i.e. a special resolution) to approve of and register (with NSW Land & Property Information) a Special By-Law to cover the conditions of the exclusive use privilege, including responsibilities for the maintenance of the area and any fee payable by the beneficiary (i.e. yourself) on an initial and possibly an on-going basis to the Owners Corporation (O/C).
In answer to your question about how the initial fee might be calculated, a method that’s been discussed here in other posts and which it’s thought was established by the High Court for situations where a Lot is added to by an Owner, but is nonetheless applicable to exclusive use, is:
X = A – (B+C), where…….
X is the amount payable to the Owners Corporation
A is the market value of each Lot with the exclusive use area included as if part of it, as determined by a Registered Valuer
B is the the market value of each Lot as it currently is, determined as above
C is the costs to the proponent of, in this case, convening the General Meeting (unless it’s an already scheduled AGM), obtaining the Valuations, and having the Special By-Law legally prepared and Registered.
I’ve referred to an initial fee, because there’s also the matter of an on-going fee to reflect the difference between A and B above in the context of Levy Contributions, where a hypothetical increase in value of the Lot/s of say 10% might be expressed as an additional / separate fee payable (quarterly?) by the beneficiary to the O/C that equates to 10% of the Levy Contributions then applicable.
Not an overly simple process, but is nonetheless a way forward if you can garner sufficient support from another three (3) Owners (assuming equal UoE for each).
Div 4 of the NSW Strata Schemes Management Act applies