Stronger legal protections were delivered to buyers of strata titled properties, securing their right to receive more upfront information about the property they are looking to buy.
Buyers must be given compulsory information about both the strata titles scheme and the strata titled lot they are looking to buy into, prior to signing a contract for sale and purchase of the lot.
If a seller doesn’t provide this information to the prospective buyer, the buyer may be able to delay the settlement or avoid the contract entirely.
This reform has allowed buyers to better evaluate the financial status and levels of cooperation within a strata titles scheme and identify what ongoing or upcoming scheme expenses there are, before committing to the purchase.
A more efficient, lower-cost dispute resolution process was put in place with the independent State Administrative Tribunal (SAT becoming the ‘one-stop-shop’ for strata disputes in WA (excluding debt recovery).
Previously, strata disputes could be heard in multiple courts as well as the SAT. This made it difficult for people to understand which court should hear a case, often resulting in prohibitive expenses to engage lawyers and advisors and leaving many disputes unresolved.
SAT is less formal and has more flexible procedures than those used in traditional courts, allowing for a more appropriate and timely means for people to obtain administrative justice.
Strata disputes now have a much better chance of resolution, at a faster rate and lower cost.
Significant legislative focus was given to improving the management of strata titles schemes and benefits were delivered within the areas described below.
- Better by-laws - to improve scheme management, minimise disputes and make living in strata fairer.
- Modernised scheme management - to better reflect modern strata management needs, such as electronic options being introduced for scheme communications, voting and meeting attendance.
- Statutory duties for strata managers - to deliver industry-wide clarity on the consistent standards that should apply to this role.
- A 10 year maintenance plan and reserve fund - required of select strata titles schemes to better support the long-term planning and upkeep of common property.
New safeguards were put in place for strata owners through the introduction of a complete, transparent process which must be followed to implement a scheme termination.
Terminating a strata titles scheme means to ‘bring to an end’ all the existing lots, so the underlying land can be subdivided in a different way.
Termination and redevelopment of strata titles scheme land is increasingly common in Western Australia, with many buildings ageing and costing owners large amounts in maintenance.
The reforms created three distinct termination pathways:
- The sole owner of all the lots wants to terminate.
- All the owners want to terminate: an ‘owner-initiated unanimous proposal’.
- The majority of owners want to terminate, but one or more do not.
Learn more within Landgate’s Guide to termination of WA strata schemes.
A new form of land tenure called leasehold strata was introduced to Western Australia through the reforms.
A leasehold scheme is a strata or survey-strata scheme that is set up for a fixed term between 20 and 99 years.
The leasehold strata option has been available in other places, such as the UK, Singapore and NSW for some time.
It is designed to provide more housing options, including more affordable housing, and to support strategic site development such as around train stations and major transport corridors.
Learn more about leasehold strata.
More flexibility was created for the staged development of strata and survey-strata schemes.
Prior to reform there was a risk that subdivision could come to a prolonged standstill while the developer seeks to obtain necessary consents to make a change from the original Management Statement proposal.
WA’s updated strata law brought in changes that allow this process to be less cumbersome for developers, while still ensuring the rights of lot owners who have already bought into earlier stages of the scheme are protected.