In simple terms, strata means shared property ownership. You privately own your lot — an apartment, townhouse, unit, car space or storage area — and share ownership or responsibility for common property such as lifts, gardens, driveways, foyers, roofs, external walls and building facilities with the other owners in the scheme.
In simple terms, strata management is the day-to-day administration of a shared property. It helps owners manage common property, collect levies, arrange repairs, keep records, organise meetings, manage insurance and follow strata laws.
An owners corporation and a body corporate are both names for the legal group of lot owners responsible for managing shared property in a strata, unit title or community title scheme. The main difference is state terminology — NSW, Victoria and the ACT use owners corporation, while Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory use body corporate.
In a strata property, your lot is the private part you own individually, while common property is the shared part of the scheme managed by all owners. Your lot may include your apartment, townhouse, unit, car space or storage area. Common property may include lifts, stairwells, gardens, foyers, roofs, driveways and external walls.
Yes. If you own an apartment in a strata scheme, you usually have to pay strata fees, also called strata levies or owner contributions. These fees help pay for the management, insurance, maintenance and repair of shared property in the building or scheme.
In most Australian strata schemes, having a professional strata manager is not always mandatory. Many owners corporations, body corporates and strata companies can choose to self-manage, especially smaller schemes with simple finances and active owners. However, some larger or higher-tier schemes may be required to appoint a manager, and some schemes may be ordered to appoint one if there is serious dysfunction, poor compliance or financial mismanagement.
A strata manager helps run the day-to-day administration of a strata scheme on behalf of the owners corporation, body corporate, strata company or community corporation. Their work usually includes organising meetings, issuing levy notices, keeping records, coordinating common property repairs, managing invoices, assisting with insurance, communicating with owners and supporting compliance with strata laws and by-laws.
Strata title and community title are both ways of owning property where individual owners have private lots and share responsibility for common or shared property. The main difference is how the property is divided, what the shared areas are called, and how the scheme is structured under the relevant state or territory law.
By-laws are the rules of your strata scheme — covering things like noise, pets, parking, renovations, short-term letting and use of common property. Every owner and tenant must follow them.
A sinking fund (also called a capital works fund, maintenance fund or reserve fund) is money set aside by a strata scheme to pay for major repairs, replacements and long-term maintenance of common property — things like roof replacement, exterior painting, lift upgrades and driveway resurfacing.
A strata roll is the official record of the owners, lots and key administrative details within a strata scheme. It helps the owners corporation identify who owns each lot, where notices must be sent and which people or organisations are connected with the scheme.
Unit entitlements or lot entitlements are numbers assigned to each lot in a strata, unit title or community title scheme. They express that lot's relative share within the scheme and may be used to calculate strata levies, voting power, ownership of common property, or responsibility for particular expenses.