First round NSW strata law reforms tell us the govt’s priorities

We now have the first stage of NSW strata law reforms after a 3-year wait and they’re neither terrible nor great; so just OK.

But since they’ve only implemented 31 of the 139 recommendations for changes that’s less than 23% of what NSW Fair Trading said it wanted to change and must be priorities for them.

So, these reforms tell me all I need to know about what [and who] in the Strata Zoo matters the most to the NSW Government.

• Almost 50% of the strata law changes are redevelopment focused around collective sales to make them easier. Since collective sales affect only a tiny number of strata buildings, that must be because it’s important for developers, builders and the wider NSW property sector.

• Almost 25% of the strata law changes are pet focused and follow the pattern in 2021 and 2022 after Cooper’s Case of making NSW strata buildings pet friendlier.

• Another 15% of the strata law changes are just basic housekeeping to fix glitches that have been identified since 2016.  That’s useful but hardly earth shattering since those issues should have been fixed sooner; when known

• The remaining 10% of the changes just add extra layers of strata building administrative work and costs or further erode strata committee autonomy which I’ve said in my Report Card [link] are ill considered knee-jerk reactions to one-off problems that have unwarranted and widespread impacts on every strata building, owner and stakeholders.

So, if you’re a developer or pet owner, or you like more and stricter strata rules and processes, it’s great news.

But, when will real strata reforms and improvements come for most strata citizens?

Just strata saying ...

December 22,  2023

Francesco ...