The Western Australia parliament passed amendments earlier on the strata titles to make it clear and fairer to various industries, people, and professionals who have direct involvement in residential and commercial strata.
The amendment campaigns for several factors listed below;
Better buyer information.
Strengthening accountability of strata managers.
Efficient dispute resolution.
Improvements to strata management services
A fairer process for scheme termination.
Leasehold strata, development, subdivision and planning changes.
Broadening tenant participation in meetings.
There are also measures to reduce red tape, such as simplifying the financial statements for the owners. The strata changes will affect different parties involved in the business.
Strata retail owners will get the opportunity to use the strata renewal and collective resale prices to convert an archaic strata scheme into a retail shopping complex and benefit from the sale of their lots in a single line.
Owners
Owners will have to review the new model by-laws and determine if they are suitable for their schemes. The by-laws include options for rules on permitting pets in the property, preventing nuisance smoke and other lifestyle issues. If, as the owner, you realise that your strata scheme advocates for changes, you can decide to adopt some of them or all, or adapt your current by-laws to suit your scheme’s specific circumstances.
Landlords
Landlords are to inform the owners’ corporation in writing of each tenancy and provide valid email addresses for the strata roll. This enables the strata committee to figure out whether the strata scheme should have a tenant representative. The tenant should also ensure they are part of the conversation when their by-laws are being reviewed.
In the new regime, landlords can protect themselves if they prohibit their tenants from electing a tenant representative. They will have to consider implementing new clauses that prohibit the tenants from nominating anyone for the position.
Tenants
Tenants are invited to elect a tenant representative to the strata committee responsible for the day-to-day running of the strata scheme. They should also check the noticeboards and stay informed in case their strata scheme makes changes to the current by-laws.
The tenant representatives must be notified of and may attend strata committee meetings and the general meetings held by owners’ corporations. They will, however, have no entitlements to vote and may be excluded from certain meetings. They will be more of a commercial or a residential tenant than a retail tenant and will therefore have little input on the strata scheme when it comes to a retail perspective.
Strata committees
Strata committees have a job to review contracts with their strata managing agent, caretaker, or building manager entered into before the implementation of the changes to strata. It is also upon the strata committees to ensure they understand fully new laws about proxies, renovations, and a collective sale and how they will impact their decision-making processes.
Strata managing agent
The agent must be informed about the date that the contract will be terminated. The changes in the strata laws state all current contracts end up to 3 years after the commencement of the term. The strata managing agent should also be an industry leader and support the strata scheme. They should choose to explore and adopt electronic communications options that make it easier for everyone to participate in meetings and decision-making processes. One should also review the process for seeking insurance for owners’ corporations; they should seek at least three quotes from various providers when sourcing for insurance services.
Termination of retail leases
The induction of the collective sale and renewal processes gives strata lot owners the entitlement to decide whether to wind up a strata scheme so that the site can either be sold or renewed. On termination of a retail lease, the court has to make an order for the termination.
Under the new regime, the termination of a lease should not affect a right or remedy a person has under that particular lease.