The NSW government wants to know all about your strata scheme – probably more than you know yourself. And owners corps could be fined $5500 for not providing the info it demands.
Owners, tenants and managers have just over two weeks to tell the state government what they think of its plans to gather up the essential details of every strata scheme in the state for its proposed Strata Hub.
“More than 1.2 million people live in strata in NSW,” says a document released last week. “The NSW Government wants to introduce new annual reporting to better meet strata communities’ needs and improve consumer protection.”
Under the Strata Hub proposals owners corporations will need to report information and verify or update it every. The digital portal will “centralise strata information, which is currently hard to find or unavailable,” says the release.
Th government says that once it’s up and running the Strata Hub will “offer up-to-date strata information, provide key data on how schemes are being managed, and make communication easier.”
The government has drafted a proposed Strata Schemes Management Amendment (Information) Regulation which outlines the information to be reported, who can access it, the costs and the start date.
The information is to include:
- Strata plan number and address
- Registration date
- Community or precinct scheme plan number (if applicable)
- Contact details of the owners corporation secretary, strata managing agent and building manager (if any)
- For apartment buildings, number of storeys above ground
- Number of lots in the scheme and their use (residential, commercial, retirement village)
- Whether a strata renewal committee has been formed
- National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) rating/s (if applicable)
- Last Annual General Meeting (AGM) date
- Date Annual Fire Safety Statement issued
- Current insured replacement value of building
- Reported balance of Capital Works Fund
- Date interim or final occupation certificate issued (if available)
It is proposed to charge schemes $3 per strata lot for registering the information (as opposed to an alternative proposed charge of $40 per scheme) and there is a potential fine of up to $5500 for failure to submit or update information.
You can have your say about the proposals (until November 18) on links where you can complete a short survey, or upload a submission or both.
The proposals are based on consultations that led to a summary of what people want from a Strata Hub.
A strata managing agent can also report on behalf of the owners corporation. Reporting will take a “tell us once” approach, supported by pre-filled information where possible.
For more details, you can refer to the Explanatory Paper and the proposed Amendments to the Regulations.
If you have any questions after reading the materials and the FAQs, can email the Strata Policy team or use its Questions tab.
