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I’ve recently purchased a strata managed apartment in NSW and have encountered some problems with the strata committee outright refusing requests, without allowing discussion or vote at an AGM. I’m unsure of whether the SC are over-stepping in their role, or whether they do, in fact, hold the right of veto on submitted proposals.
We’ve been at the property for about 8 months and have recently requested permission to make minor modifications to common property; Namely, the installation of an exhaust fan / vent for a currently un-ventilated bathroom. Steam condensation is a big problem and we’re worried about future water damage. I obtained a quote for installation, provided a detailed description of the works and forwarded the request to the committee.
All I got in return was a single sentence email that read “the committee do not support the modification”. Several more email exchanges revealed some extremely half hearted arguments about “precedent” and concerns about “external water penetration”. It was my understanding that a vote at a general meeting would be required to approve/deny the request, so I was shocked that the very small committee (4 people) were able to outright reject something without taking it to the rest of the owners (48 in total) for vote. I also began to wonder how many other reasonable requests from other owners had been struck down without seeing the light of day.
So do I have any cause for escalation here? Are my committee being unreasonably obstructionist or are they acting within their remit? What steps could I take if they refuse to even consider such minor (and necessary) modifications?
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