Question: We’ve used a storage room on our floor for over 20 years. The committee has decided to charge rent for the room. Can they request we pay $600 a month to rent the room prior to a decision being reached at the AGM?
Our owners corporation has a by-law providing that fobs can only access respective floors in our building. Various residents on our level (8) have shared a storeroom located on this floor for the past 20 years. The room is not classified as a storage area on the strata plan like other storage areas in the complex. The residents were advised maintenance of the room was the shared responsibility of the lot owners on level 8, not the owners corporation.
The strata committee would now like to rent the storeroom. We’ve been told to either remove our items or start paying rent at an amount of $600 per month.
If the storeroom is offered to others in the building, we feel the security and privacy of the residents on our floor would be compromised.
Do we have any rights? Can the committee impose a rent prior a decision being made at the AGM?
Answer: Attend the general meeting and voice any concerns prior to the owners voting on the resolution.
Based upon the information provided, it appears the room you are referring to is common property.
I also assume there are no by-laws in place in relation to the room.
Section 112 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 provides the owners corporation with the right to licence the room, subject to the licence being approved by the passing of a special resolution:
112 Owners corporation may grant licence to use common property
- An owners corporation may grant a licence to an owner or occupier of a lot in the strata scheme or another person to use common property in a particular manner or for particular purposes if the owners corporation has approved the granting of the licence by a special resolution.
- A licence may be granted subject to terms and conditions.
- Without limiting this section, a licence may be granted under an agreement with the local council for a strata parking area under section 650A of the Local Government Act 1993.
The owners corporation will usually have a solicitor draft a licence agreement.
The licence agreement will then be annexed to the notice of the general meeting pursuant to which the special resolution is to be made.
You may wish to make enquires with the strata manager to obtain a copy of the licence agreement before the notice of the general meeting is issued. You should inform the strata manager that you have concerns in relation to people having free access to level 8, that the licence agreement should have terms and conditions to maintain security on level 8, and you would like to review the licence agreement to ensure it does not impact upon your security or privacy.
For example, you may consider if the licence agreement should limit the number of people who may at any time hold a licence to use the room, limit the number of access cards issued for use in relation to the room, place restrictions on items which may be stored in the room (no flammable goods, no perishable foods, etc.).
It would be better for you if your concerns are incorporated into the terms and conditions of the licence agreement before the agreement is annexed to the notice of the general meeting.
You should attend the general meeting and voice any concerns prior to the owners voting on the resolution. If you wish to propose changes to the wording of the agreement, or restrictions on who may licence the room, you should be prepared to discuss such matters at the general meeting.
In relation to your concerns regarding security and privacy, a properly considered licence agreement should be able to cater for these concerns. I provided a few examples of how your concerns could be addressed above. If you consider your security and privacy is compromised by anyone else accessing level 8 to use the room, and no one else should have access to level 8, you should be prepared to substantiate these concerns at the general meeting.
It is not clear why the owners corporation would advise you have the responsibility to maintain the room. This implies the owners corporation knew you were using the room. You should obtain legal advice in relation to whether any legal rights for you to use the room arise from this.
In relation to whether the owners corporation may impose a charge of $600 on you to use the room. Based upon the information provided, it appears the owners corporation does not have the right to impose this charge at this time. However it may also be the case that you do not have authority to use the room. The owners corporation may have the right to ask you to remove your property from the room and stop accessing the room. You should double check the registered by-laws and check whether there is anything in writing (for example minutes of meetings) authorising you to use the room. You should obtain legal advice in relation to this before any licence is put to a general meeting for resolution.
If you consider you should have the right to continue to use the room because you have used it for the last 20 years, you should obtain legal advice before any licence is put to a general meeting.
This post appears in the June 2023 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.
Shane Williamson
Williamson Lawyers Pty Ltd
E: shane@williamsonlawyers.com.au
P: 0404 045 605
Before making or enforcing a by-law for the intended use of a carapace I suggest reading this …
https://lrsjhumanrights.wordpress.com/the-owners-unit-plan-no-928-v-cochaud-unit-titles-2017-acat-66/
Great answer Leanne, In addition to bylaws and storage within parking. In structural terms, these paring spaces are not designed to take the load of anything but vehicles. Once you start to use your storage for anything other than its designed use, you are placing stress on post-tensioning and slabs. The result is often cracking between columns where a slab becomes flexural and add water, you have got yourself the beginnings of slab degeneration and concrete cancer.
HI how are you. The new tenants of a unit in our block of 6 have told us they will be doing woodworking on furniture in their garage and will be using power tools. in their downtime from work. I am the Strata Mgr and have told them they cannot have a workshop in the garage and that bedrooms are above them. Also this is a directly against noise and the right for residents to enjoy privacy rule. There is also the issue of using “house” electricity in the garage to do this. I think this is in breach of strata laws re noise . They have already started drilling and putting up shelving and wall units in there into common walls without any approval . I have emailed the owner to ask them to cease and desist and also for them to advise their agent to tell the tenants.. What do I do if they ignore this? Any advice to resolve same would be much appreciated. thanks lost sleep last night worrying about this. cheers
Hi Janey
This article contains a number of Q&As detailing enforcement of bylaws: NSW: Q&A Issuing and Enforcing a Notices to Comply with a By Law
We hope this assists.
Hi, can i build a colorbond fence on my storage land to keep it private and more securities on basement apartment? Thank you
Our by laws are a case in point when it comes to storage in car spaces – it’s not allowed. That has not stopped the practice and the B.C. will take no action to enforce the by law, despite both a fire risk audit and a safety audit pointing out the dangers associated with the stored items.
I don’t particularly want t be the spoil sort by making waves about this (lack of storage space is a problem) but I imagine our insurance would be in jeopardy if a claim arose related to this matter when the risk has been identified and the B.C. did nothing.
What should I do?
We have replied to this question in the article above.
Thanks Tyrone. I must admit I’m still puzzled. I have been under the impression that there is a general principle that a policy holder must take reasonable steps to ameliorate risk where a risk is identified. In the case of my initial enquiry regarding stored items in car spaces, a fire risk has been identified in the course of a periodic inspection by a fire authority and the risk report to the B.C. If a fire was to occur in the stored items and the damage resulted in a claim on the BC fire insurance policy wouldn’t the insurance company want to know why no action was taken by the BC to respond to the fire inspector’s report? Would not they be entitled to argue that in ignoring the report the BC was in effect accepting the risk and therefore accepting responsibility for the consequences of that risk?
Hi Tony
Policies have requirements such as taking reasonable reasonable care for the safety of Your Property Insured, to prevent loss of or damage to Property and to comply with any law, safety requirement, Australian Standard or regulation of any Government
or Local Government body.
How far the insurer can go in applying these conditions at the time of a claim is dependent on a case by case basis.
Tyrone Shandiman
Strata Insurance Solutions
T: 07 3899 5129
E: tshandiman@iaa.net.au
This information is of a general nature only and neither represents nor is intended to be personal advice on any particular matter. Shandit Pty Ltd T/as Strata Insurance Solutions strongly suggests that no person should act specifically on the basis of the information in this document, but should obtain appropriate professional advice based on their own personal circumstances and the specific coverage afforded under their policy wording. Shandit Pty Ltd T/As Strata Insurance Solutions is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 404246) of Insurance Advisernet Australia AFSL No 240549, ABN 15 003 886 687.
I live next door in a house to a block of 6 strata units.
One of the owners has a son who visits and stays with his parents. He recently harassed and displayed threatening behaviour towards me when I watered the nature strip and it’s trees whilst his car was parked next to the nature strip, stating that it threw dirt onto the lower part of his car door.
I was screamed at by both he and his wife in unison whilst he displayed threatening behaviour towards me. I was unable to see any likelihood of dirt on the door at all.. His father and other members of the family watched this attack from the footpath outside the unit complex and said nothing.
As they are preventing my peaceful enjoyment of my lot, is there some recourse I can take through Strata Law and his father’s Lot number to prevent this happening again? My family bought this house in 1966 and have never experienced this before. I rang the police but they said they could not do anything.
I am an elderly lady with mobility and medical issues and no one to advocate for me.
Kind regards
Hi Helen
We have received the following response from Leanne Habib, Premium Strata:
You should explain your situation to your strata manager (if you have one).
The “screamers” may be in breach of the by-laws applicable to your scheme, so you should review them. Strata buildings commonly have the following by-laws:
Behaviour of owners and occupiers
An owner or occupier of a lot when on common property must be adequately clothed and must not use language or behave in a manner likely to cause offence or embarrassment to the owner or occupier of another lot or to any person lawfully using common property.
…
Behaviour of invitees
An owner or occupier of a lot must take all reasonable steps to ensure that invitees of the owner or occupier do not behave in a manner likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of the owner or occupier of another lot or any person lawfully using common property.
Depending on the extent of your fear or harassment, and provided you have adequate evidence, you may be able to apply for a personal violence order against the offenders through the police or your own independent lawyer.
I don’t feel that M/s Habib has related in her answer correctly . Helen is in her house so I cannot understand the advice that Helen should be in contact with her Strata Manger if she has one .
I think half the problem is, modern day units simply don’t have enough storage for just normal stuff, and consequently Owners/ Renters, are forced to use whatever space they can in the garage, squeezing it in beside the car, or leaving the car outside completely. If purchasing in a new block, check the storage, if it is not enough for you, it’s not enough for most, and the problem will never go away.
Most strata by-laws also have a noise nuisance provision. This should prohibit any noise that unreasonably interferes with your use and enjoyment of your lot. That may be a more effective way to approach the issue.
I am an owner occupier/occupier in a small block of 8. The garage for the unit above me is directly under my unit. The garage door is motorised & takes forever to go up/down & the noise vibrating through my floor becomes inbearable. The tenant of this unit can some days go in/out 5 times a day & sometimes within. 30 minute intervals. I have contacted the owner regarding maintaining the motor & his reply was to ‘deal with it’ & to contact the real estate handling his unit because that is what he pays them for! I have done this, but, nothing.
Please i need some help.
Thanks
the odds of there being a by law as discussed in the answer here are pretty low.
the best approach is to ignore that and attack this issue from the standpoint of it being a breach of the noise by law as noise is a pretty standard by law and im sure your building will have a by law for that.
Hi Steve
Thanks for your comment. We have received the following response from Leanne Habib, Premium Strata:
Many schemes have “storage” by-laws which regulate whether or not items may be stored in a garage. Similarly, many residential leases restrict garage use to that for a motor vehicle only.
If the stored items are visible from outside the lot this might constitute a breach of the “Appearance of the Lot” by-law where you must not keep anything in the lot which is visible from outside the lot is not in keeping with the rest of the building.
Depending on the nature of the items stored, their storage may contravene the “Storage of inflammable liquids and materials” by-law ie an owner or occupier must not keep such items without the prior written approval of the owners corporation.