Plan to ban renovations

QUESTION: A slim majority on our executive committee want to introduce a new by-law to prevent owners making any internal structural renovations to their units because recent work done was noisy and the chairman says there are now cracks in his apartment walls.

Some of us are against this as there are several units that have had renovations with no problems. Also, this is an old block and potential purchasers could be put off if they know they can’t improve their property. As a result, I reckon more will be converted to rentals, not that tenants are necessarily a bad thing but you want to keep the balance right.

So can a ban on renovations be created as a by-law and if so can this be challenged by an owner due to precedent? – Strata Steve, Balgowlah

ANSWER: For a start, any by-law has to be approved by 75 percent of owners at an AGM so it’s going to need overwhelming support to get through.  A campaign informing all your neighbours what’s afoot and seeking proxies from investor owners should be enough to head this off.

The Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (where strata disputes are heard) is supposed to judge every case on its individual merits so precedents may not carry much weight.

However there is a legal concept that says by-laws can’t prevent a home owner “dealing” with their property. So an owner might argue that it was unreasonable to prevent them from bringing their apartment up to scratch.  Then, if the by-law was overturned, you’d be left with no protection at all.

The best way forward is to create a by-law that imposes sensible restrictions like having to abide by council regulations, provide detailed plans of structural changes and agree to a program of work and access hours, times and duration of drilling etc. That should keep everyone happy and, most importantly, keep your building alive.

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