Question: My unit is at the front of a holiday resort. 80% of the units are owned by one company. The residential owners are always out-voted at AGMs. What can we do?
I purchased a unit in a holiday resort. We have residential owners in the front of the complex and owners who rent out their units for holidaymakers in the back resort part of the complex.
The resort has been purchased with 80% of the units being owned by one company. When it comes to voting at AGMs, the residential owners are always out-voted due to the majority of votes belonging to one person. Our strata rates are extremely high.
What can we do about this? We feel it is unfair and only benefits the resort.
Answer: Where you have a “mixed” strata, it is not unusual to have in your by-laws or management statement a by-law splitting the levies into 3 components.
The act is clear. Section 120 – Voting states that the owner of each lot in a strata title scheme is entitled to one vote. Therefore the company that has purchased a number of the resort lots would have the number of votes equalling the number of lots owned.
I can appreciate your frustration of being out-voted. That said, where you have a “mixed” strata, it is not unusual to have in your by-laws or management statement a by-law splitting the levies into 3 components. One detailing what the whole complex will pay as levies for shared services, then a levy just for the resort side and thirdly a levy just for the residential side. The idea of this is to create equality in the running expenses of the strata complex.
If that’s not the case, the council of owners should address this issue with the resort company. Failing that, it may need an application to the State Administrative Tribunal.
This post appears in the February 2022 edition of The WA Strata Magazine.
Brian Rulyancich
StrataTAC
E: strata@stratatac.com.au
P: 0428 970 067
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