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Topic
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I live in WA part of a group of townhouses
I have a backyard with a dividing side fence backing onto common property. The wall is an ‘L’ shape and the last part is on my property, 80% of the wall is the dividing wall between me and the strata common area. The common property is just a small area of garden and park area that is not used by any person. When I bought the property 5 1/2 years ago I was told by the strata manager that the fence was half mine and half the strata responsibility. No other properties are involved.
The brick wall as a result of age and large trees on the boundary the wall has develops several large cracks and looks awful. I would like to have the wall replaced. I am willing to replace the wall at 100% my cost and will have a stratco steel fence of the same colour (as other stratco fences in the strata) put in its place. Part of my motivation to 100% pay is due to very poor payers of strata levies by other owners, the wall is also restricting me doing anything meaningful with my back yard and fixing my front yard. It is also part of my 2 year get out of this hell to sell in a few years plan.
I know I need strata permission, but is it just permission from the EC? Does it need to be a EGM?
Thanks for your help
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Replies
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I would agree with the real estate agent that the wall is half yours, half owners corp responsibility to repair and maintain. However, I would ask around to see what was done for the other steel fences you mention. Were they approved by EC only or by general meeting? Are they in the same situation on common property/unit area boundaries?
They are your minutes so insist!
I am surprised that fences would be paid for by insurance. Usually insurance would pay if a particular event caused damage – somebody backed a car into the fence, for example, or it was washed away when a water main burst. Routine repair, maintenance and eventual replacement is generally not funded by an insurer.
If WA is like the ACT, the Act requires the owners corp to be fully insured. However, you can’t get utterly ‘full’ insurance because every insurer has an excess on their policies. To the extent that the OC is not fully insured, it has to pay the difference. There are moves here by some to try to have that changed so the excess for repairs to individual units can be charged to those unit owners.
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