Fees for pet owners to be banned amid overhaul of strata laws

The Minns government will seek to overhaul strata laws to close a loophole that has stymied Sydney apartment redevelopments while also making it easier for people who own pets to live in unit blocks.

The number of strata schemes has increased alongside that of apartment dwellings over the past decade, and NSW Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said rules had not kept pace.

The NSW government will seek to close a loophole in strata laws that has stymied apartment redevelopments.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

He will introduce a bill this week that will ban owners from being charged fees or bonds for owning a pet, with the government calling them “unnecessary and unreasonable”.

The changes will also seek to overhaul laws that experts say have held up attempts to boost the state’s housing supply through redevelopment of ageing apartments.

Passed in 2016, the previous changes were meant to boost housing supply. They allowed a block of 75 per cent of owners to agree to sell their building to developers seeking to increase the overall number of units. But the laws contained provisions meaning minority, or single, objectors would have their legal fees paid by the majority.

The reforms were intended to protect home owners from developers, but evidence suggests in some cases it has had the reverse effect. Last week this masthead detailed the case of a development in Macquarie Park where a sale became stuck in the courts by a minority objector.

Despite 40 of 45 residents at the site agreeing to a sale, the sale became mired in the courts after a dispute between the purchaser and a rival developer who had been outbid on its redevelopment.

The case led the successful developer GSA to walk away from the plan, leaving residents with a huge legal bill.

The rules have limited the success of the change in boosting housing supply, with the courts approving only one sale in the six years since the legislation began.

The government will seek to stop that happening by forcing minority owners to disclose conflicts of interest and letting courts award costs against those acting unreasonably.

Customer Service Minister Jihad Dib said the laws meant that “safeguards that were intended to support owners in renewing their strata schemes [are] being used against them”.

“This reform will help restore balance, improve transparency and boost protections for owners in the collective sale and redevelopment process,” he said.

The changes, which have been welcomed by the Strata Community Association, come amid a surge in the number of strata schemes, with about 1000 new schemes registered each year over the past decade.

“Across government we’re working to get more homes built, but we’re also making sure we’ve got the right systems and laws to manage them,” Chanthivong said.

“There are currently over 85,000 strata schemes in NSW compared to just 50,000 in 1996, so getting this right will be critical.

“As the number of strata schemes in the state has grown rapidly, the rules haven’t kept pace.”

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.