Living in a Strata Community?
Living in a free-standing home is completely different to strata community living such as in apartments, townhouses and duplexes. A strata scheme is a residential building or collection of buildings in which individuals each own a small part known as a “lot” and then jointly own common property and facilities.
Strata schemes are subject to a set of by-laws (also called articles or rules), which generally govern the use of common property and resident behaviour. Some state governments provide model (also known as standard) by-laws to be used by strata schemes. In most Australian states and territories the owners corporation (also known as the strata corporation, strata company or body corporate) can use these model by-laws, amend them, or develop their own by-laws unique to their strata scheme, e.g. no hanging laundry on verandahs, no swimming in pool after 9pm, etc.
As all by-laws differ you should obtain a copy of the current by-laws created by the owners corporation specific to your rental property at the time of signing the lease agreement. All owners and occupiers in a strata scheme, including tenants, are legally obliged to comply with the by-laws, so it’s important that you understand and adhere to them.
For more information contact Green Strata or for information specific to your state, visit Strata Community Australia.