Strata Regulatory Watch
Quarter 1, 2020
Happy new year to all our clients, friends and colleagues!
2020 is set to be a big year in the strata industry as significant legislative changes are introduced in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. In NSW, the residential tenancy laws are changing, as too are the community titles laws. We can also expect some regulation being introduced around short term letting.
This is the 2nd quarterly edition of our Strata Regulatory Watch. This is where we summarise important case law, regulatory changes and policy updates that may have an impact on our clients. You will also find a selection of some interesting articles our team has published over the last few months.
If there is anything in this newsletter of particular interest to your team, please get in touch. We'd be happy to send you more information or present it in more detail.
Community Titles law reform in NSW
The NSW Government is currently seeking feedback on the draft Community Land Management Bill 2019 and the Community Land Development Bill 2019. The Bills represent what will be a complete redraft of the NSW community scheme laws.
Invitations for public feedback opened on 5th December 2019 and will close on 28th February 2020. We have written a short article on what these changes involve plus links to the draft bills and the detailed position paper.
Changes to residential tenancy laws in NSW, VIC and ACT
Residential tenancy laws are changing in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, with Queensland, WA and the Northern Territory expected to follow suit later in the year. The proposed changes are fairly consistent across the states.
The ACT introduced their changes on 1 November 2019. A summary of the changes can be found here.
In NSW, the changes come into effect on 23 March 2020. The most important change for strata schemes, owners and tenants relates to the information that must be disclosed to prospective tenants. From 23 March 2020, before a tenancy agreement is signed, a landlord or agent will need to give a tenant a copy of the strata scheme’s by-laws. They will also need to inform the tenant if a strata renewal committee is currently established for the scheme (i.e. the scheme has received a proposal to undertake a collective sale or redevelopment known as a strata renewal). We have written a short article summarising the changes that are coming to NSW.
Victoria has progressively introduced renting law changes over the past two years, with all changes expected to be in place by July 2020. For more information on the changes that can be expected, they are listed on the Consumer Affairs Victoria web site.
Update on regulatory changes from last newsletter
Below is a quick update on the regulatory changes planned for NSW, VIC, WA and QLD which we reported in our last edition:
- Short-term rental accommodation (STRA) changes in NSW - no change.
- WA's new strata regulations - update: the regulations are now going through the Parliamentary process. A date range of January to June 2020 has been provided as per the Strata WA web site.
- QLD body corporate law changes - update: public consultation on the proposed changes closed on 1 December 2019. The timing for the release of the new laws and regulations is not known, but most likely in the first half of 2020.
- Strata reforms in Victoria - no change.
STAFF ARTICLES
Gary Bugden OAM wrote an article late last year about a decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which found levies were not recoverable by an Owners Corporation because of technical non-compliance with Victorian legislation. This was a timely reminder for strata managers, software companies and secretaries about the need for attention to detail when imposing owner corporation or body corporate levies.
In certain circumstances, a body corporate may be in a position where it may wish to ‘buy-back’ the management rights and caretaker’s unit within its own community titles scheme. This article by Aleksandra Naglik explores the options available under the BCCMA and regulations.
This Queensland case garnered some media attention as it found a body corporate governed by BUGTA was able to implement a by-law preventing short term letting. In this article, Jaimi-Lee from our Brisbane office explores what this means for Airbnb hosts in Queensland and other Australian states.
In this article, Emma Smythies from our Sydney office explores the two options available to a NSW lot owner - strata plan of subdivision or Exclusive Use – Common Property Rights by-law - including the steps for each one and her recommendation on the best way to proceed.
TEAM NEWS
We are pleased to welcome two new members to our team - Jason Browne as Partner in our Brisbane office and Natalee Forster, a licensed conveyancer and paralegal in our Sydney office.
Jason was a senior member of King and Wood Mallesons’ market leading real estate practice, and prior to that General Counsel of Walker Corporation. Natalee joins us from Thomson Geer, a large national law firm.
Get in Touch
If you have any questions in relation to this regulatory newsletter, or you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team on 07 3905 9260 (Brisbane) or 02 9199 1055 (Sydney), visit our web site or contact us via email at info@bugdenallenlawyers.com.au