- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 4 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
Good Evening
I live in a 100 year old brick apartment block with a flat roof that has 2 x fibre clad laundry huts and a similarly structured studio apartment of approx 30 to 40 square metres in size situated on it. The studio apartment does not have an independent lot status, so is considered part of common property. For several years in times past it was rented out, but this activity ceased after some residents were nervous this activity fell outside of the law and did not want to take the risk. It is now empty and used for strata meetings only.
As the building requires extensive maintenance and funds will need to be raised, the idea of either renting our outright selling the apartment to achieve this, has been presented, but no-one has the expertise to be able to ascertain whether either of these options is viable and the conversation often ends up going in circles.
Can anyone advise;
A.what kind of lawyers or professionals would be best qualified to obtain advise from
B.Can you recommend any in particular?
C.Can you point me to any previous forum posts which relate to this issue?
Thanks
-
Replies
-
Habermas – on the assumption that your 100 yo building is covered by Strata as opposed to Community Title, then provided the “studio apartment” complies with relevant building codes for a habitable dwelling, amongst other things in terms of ceiling height, windows in sleeping areas, bathroom/toilet facilities, and fire safety, and with the tenancy regulations for water efficient fittings and electricity isolators / metering etc then so far as I’m aware there’s no other limitation on the Owners Corporation (O/C) renting or leasing that area of its Common Property provided its decision on that property “dealing” is resolved by ≥75% of those voting in favour (incl. by proxy) at a General Meeting; that is by special resolution.
The sale of that area is a little more complex, as in addition to that same special resolution to approve of that “dealing” and the building code / occupation compliance, the O/C would have to undertake a Strata Sub-Division involving in part commissioning a valuation of the “studio apartment” in order to perform a redistribution of the aggregate units-of-entitlement (UOE) of the Scheme (if only to allocate a UOE and therefore levies to the studio), to have the Strata Plan redrawn, to obtain the consent of the Local Council, and to have all of that Registered with NSW Land & Property Information (incorporating the former Land Titles Office).
The latter process is a little complex from the perspective of matters being handled in the correct sequence, but any lawyer with strata or property development expertise should be able to assist.
Albeit from a different perspective, there’s been a recent discussion on Flat-Chat about strata-experienced lawyers HERE.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.