The NSW today released an update on the Strata and Community Amendment Bill. Please refer to the below for the update.
The NSW Government is advancing the first phase of reforms that aim to deliver immediate benefits for residents in strata and community land schemes. The updated NSW strata and community land laws* are expected to commence in the coming days.
With the rapid emergence and increasing complexity of strata, this information is important to all property professionals in NSW. It is important you are aware of the changes and communicate as required to your stakeholders.
The reforms implement 31 recommendations from the 2021 Report on the Statutory Review of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 and Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 and align community land laws with strata laws. The Report’s recommendations were informed by public consultation on the strata laws.
Some of the key changes:
make it easier and fairer for residents to keep pets and assistance animals by banning fees, bonds or insurance as a condition of having a pet
require managing agents to provide notice three to six months ahead of their contract expiry date to the owners corporation or association
ensure owners corporations and associations have time to review documents ahead of the first annual general meeting by requiring the original owner (usually the developer) to give key documents at least 14 days before the meeting
ensure goods and services are obtained at competitive prices by requiring schemes to get two independent quotes for work costing more than $30,000.
 The reforms passed through the NSW Parliament on Wednesday 22 November and are expected to become law in the coming days. To help you understand the changes, we will share more detailed information on commencement of the reforms, including links to updated web pages. Â
In the meantime, you can visit nsw.gov.au to access the media release or the NSW Parliament website to access the Bill.Â
RegardsÂ
John Minns
Strata and Property Services Commissioner
NSW Fair TradingÂ