This article discusses whether the management rights onsite requirement is negotiable in Queensland.
Question: Our management rights agreement says we are to reside onsite, however, we wonder if this is negotiable.
We own permanent management rights in QLD. Our agreement says we are to reside onsite however we wonder if this is more of a ‘you choose to live onsite however you don’t have to’.
Has there been a change to onsite living?
We are thinking of putting a caretaker into the supplied unit for free rent in return for being on call from 5pm to 8am and we will live off site.
We can’t separate the office and the residence as we use the garage for our office.
Should this be possible? What would we have to do to set up this arrangement?
Answer: If your management rights agreement says you need to reside onsite from a contractual perspective, you still must do that.
The legal position changes with the arrival of the Property Occupations Act which we wrote about here: Education – News & Webinars
That removed the need to reside onsite from a licencing perspective.
If your management rights agreement says you need to reside onsite from a contractual perspective, you still must do that. It is a question of what your agreement says about whether that must be you or whether you can put someone else in there. Each management rights agreement is different. There are no hard and fast rules.
Secondly, the splitting bit we wrote about here: Separating your lot from your management rights business – and it seems you have done your research about the practicalities of that.
So what you need to do is understand your management rights agreement, and then have a chat with your committee about what it is you need to do. The committee might be able to consent to what you want, or you may have to go to general meeting. It all depends on the specific clauses that you have to address.
This post appears in Strata News #545.
Frank Higginson
Redchip Strata Law
E: FrankH@redchip.com.au
P: 07 3193 0500
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