Find the preeminent Strata title Management
Strata or strata title was initially introduced in the state of New South Wales to make it easier to cope with the legal ownership of different units or lots within a particular strata scheme. Previously the ownership based on company titles had a lot of shortcomings including the difficulty of instituting mortgages for which the strata title act of 1961 was introduced.
Strata title or community title refers to the kind of property ownership where an individual owns a part or a portion of a particular building. This form of property ownership was devised for multilevel apartment blocks, villas, town houses, office space, retirement villages and various other kinds along with shared areas or common properties.
The concept of strata community as a way of life which developed in Australia is now become an accepted and much acclaimed form of legal ownership of property in different parts of the globe like Canada, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Dubai, Fiji, South Africa etc. Though it is similar to buying any other independent property strata offers something more. The lot owner in these kinds of schemes owns his unit and at the same time shares the ownership of the common property with other owners.
Strata title schemes have two different kinds of property
• Individual property or lots
• Common property
Lots are apartments, garages or storerooms and common property is all that which doesn’t come under a lot owned by an individual like stairs, roofs, elevators, car parks, gardens, driveways etc. So basically the common property refers to the common facilities within the premises of a building and all that area which is above, below and around the strata scheme.
To understand these intricacies one should have sound knowledge about the concept of strata. Moreover before investing in a particular scheme one should thoroughly read the by-laws and see if it suits his/her requirements.
As each strata has multiple owners, problems generally arise regarding the use of common property, budget allocation, distribution of duties and many other related matters. Each lot owner by default becomes the member of the body corporate or the owner’s corporation. So it is but natural for the question to arise- can the strata be self managed or one should hire a professional strata management company. More often than not most of the strata schemes go in for a licensed strata manager from a well established company to look after the day to day running of strata.
The owner’s corporation comprises of all the lot owners of a strata scheme. But to avoid chaos and confusion they elect an Executive Committee who further selects a spokes person who along with the strata managers works as a team to oversee the day to day issues.
The strata manager has a full time job making sure that you have a hassle free and peaceful co existence.
Let’s discuss the responsibilities –
• Collection of quarterly levies, taxes, insurance premiums
• Record and accounts maintenance
• Provide legal advice
• Resolving of disputes
• Maintain common property
• Notify, attend and keep minutes of GBM
We can safely say that an efficient and expert strata manager will make your life in a strata community a wonderful experience.
Christopher Whelan is a Licensed Strata manager at Whelan Property Group Pvt. Ltd. has years of experience in the marketing and trading Strata title management.His online and offline knowledge regarding strata Management and schemes makes him a great resource of strata community.