This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE property industry has welcomed the Western Australian government’s decision to go ahead with major reforms in strata title laws.
The long-awaited announcement from Minister for Lands Terry Redman comes after a public consultation period, which began in 2014.
The proposed reforms aim to provide more flexible and sustainable housing options to benefit developers, strata owners, investors, residents and tenants.
Legislation to reform Western Australia’s Strata Titles Act 1985 is expected to be introduced to Parliament in the second half of 2016 after extensive work by Landgate.
Landgate’s chief executive Mike Bradford said amendments to the Act are being drafted.
“After two years of stakeholder consultation and a three-month public comment period, it is very pleasing that these much needed changes will be drafted,” he added.
The proposed reforms include:
– introducing two new types of strata, community title schemes and leasehold strata schemes
– improving the staging of strata developments
– improving the quality of information provided to buyers of strata properties and improving and simplifying the dispute resolution processes
– better management for strata schemes and making strata managers more accountable
– proposals to terminate a strata scheme if a majority of owners vote to do so – 75% of owners must agree in schemes of four lots or more
– all majority termination proposals must be reviewed by the State Administrative Tribunal to assess procedure and fairness.
Property Council WA Executive Director Joe Lenzo said the proposed reforms to the Strata Titles Act are long overdue.
“The strata titles system is very important for the continued growth of Perth and major centers in Western Australia. Strata offers great flexibility for housing and commercial properties and it’s vital that the regulations are updated.
“The reforms will modernise the strata titles system including the introduction of Community Titles, more efficient strata development and reducing the complexity of strata purchases and management,” he added.
“Community titles will enable a greater mix of property uses in a precinct including residential, retail and commercial, it will make planning for community developments easier and will reduce the cost for large-scale integrated developments like tourist resorts,” Lenzo said.
Australian Property Journal
