Flat Chat Strata Forum Common Property Current Page

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  • #9948

    Hi All..
    I have an interesting query. About 12 months ago I bought a unit on the ground floor of a 3 level block. We have a small courtyard and one balcony above. The top floor units each had a very small balcony that was positioned about 5 or 6 meters back behind a ledge. From these small balconies it was impossible to look down into our courtyard. The ledge is clearly marked “Common Property” on the plans we were issued with our sales contract. We liked the fact we only had one unit able to look down into our courtyard.

    Towards the end of last year, there were some building rectification works completed. These works were funded via a special levy that was raised prior to us purchasing our unit. A result of these building rectification works are that the ledge that I mentioned above now appears to have been converted into a larger balcony for the exclusive use of the units on the top floor. The area has been sectioned off so each unit now has access to an individual private rooftop terrace. The railings for these areas now go right up to the ledge so we now have two of the 3 top floor units able to look into our courtyard. We have lost some privacy whilst no doubt the values of the top floor units have increased significantly.

    I have browsed through all available copies of previous committee meeting minutes and there has been no mention of these balconies being altered in any way. I suspect it was completed on the sly.

    What is worse is that of the three units to have had these Balconies added, all three are committee members. (one was not on the committee last year though when this work was apparently approved)

    I am currently waiting a response from our executive committee on how and when these works were approved, and also confirmation on how it was funded. I have been told that the addition of these terraces is unlikely to affect the value of the units due to the fact that the new balconies are not on title. I’m not entirely convinced of this.

    I would be interested to know if there is anything that can be done by these unit owners to convert the Common property area to their own property? Given that they are all members of the EC… is there any chance they may be able to do this without anyone being able to stop them?
    Ideally, we would like the new balconies removed but its starting to look like that this will happen. Should we fight for some form of compensation?

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Flat Chat Strata Forum Common Property Current Page