Strata Titles

In response to Western Australia’s movement towards higher density living – Vicki Philipoff Settlements have Conveyancers with advanced proficiency in strata title subdivisions.

Our Conveyancers specialize in Strata Titles, registration of Strata Title applications, subdividing strata titles and the creation of strata titles. Our Strata specialists are well regarded amongst the Strata Industry; Project Managers, the Western Australian Planning Commission, Landgate, Surveyors and Valuers all find it straightforward to liaise with our strata specialists owing to their experience and capacity in this niche area.

Yet another additional benefit for our clients is our price. We have established systems to easily settle everything from one singular strata title to a large scale strata development – we are able to attend to your needs at very competitive rates. For further information on our specialist strata title services please contact one of our Conveyancing Specialists.

Vicki Philipoff Settlements Perth are members of the Strata Community of Australia WA.

Precontractual Disclosure Statement to the Buyer

If you are buying a strata title property, the Strata Titles Act states that you must receive certain information from the seller prior to signing an offer to purchase the property. If you have not received the required information, the law gives you certain rights to avoid the contract and/or delay the proposed settlement date.  Please contact us if you have any queries. Also when purchasing a strata title property, you are entitled to inspect the records of the Strata Company prior to settlement if you wish.

Tips & Guides

• The Courts can decide whether a by-law that’s already registered on a Strata Plan has legal gravity (The sole fact that it’s registered on the Strata Plan doesn’t mean it can’t be challenged, overruled or removed).
• You can find out the by-laws registered on the Strata Plan by searching at Land Enquiry Services. If a by-law is not registered within 3 months of voting by the strata company, it is not valid and as a result, is unenforceable.
• Unit entitlement can be altered under Section 38 of the Strata Titles Act. An owner can lodge an Application to have their unit entitlement re-assessed in accordance with the capital value.
• A Management Statement is not “locked in” forever and can be amended much the same way by-laws can be.
• The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) has the statutory powers to efficiently resolve strata disputes. The SAT provides decision database, which contains the outcome of decisions made by the SAT.  The decision database can be found at the SAT Decision database.
• Sellers should let their Settlement Representative and their Selling agent know if they receive a notice of a Strata meeting before Settlement is completed
• Leasehold Schemes are a new form of land tenure introduced by Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018. A leasehold scheme is essentially a strata or survey-strata scheme set up for a fixed term of 20 to 99 years.  The leasehold scheme for each lot, all expire on the same day.
• The owner of a lot in a leasehold scheme has a long-term lease of a lot (or a strata lease), which they can transfer and mortgage without the lessor’s consent, the lessor being the owner of the parcel of land.
• While a strata company does not need legislative authority to do short-term rentals, they might choose to set their own by-laws for short-term rentals in their complex. The standard by-laws currently included in the Strata Titles (General) Regulations 2019 don’t include short-term rentals, so an owner can do short-term rentals unless another law prohibits or restricts them from doing so. A short-stay accommodation by-law would fall into the category of a governance by-law, which would require the strata company to make a resolution without dissent to bring them into effect.
• If the conduct by-laws in Schedule 2 of the Act apply to the scheme (conduct by-law 12(c)), an owner or occupier of a lot must not keep animals on the lot or common property after notice is given to such person by the council. The implication in this by-law is that animals can be kept on the lot or common property until further notice is given not to. A strata company can make different by-laws for the scheme concerning the keeping of pets. Any by-law made in relation to pets could be challenged if it could be argued that it is unfairly prejudicial or discriminatory against one or more lot owners, or oppressive or unreasonable.
• For more information about Strata Titles please see a Landgate’s publication, a Guide to Strata Titles