NSW strata owners get fairer, clearer rules
From 1 July 2025, NSW strata laws change to provide property owners with greater fairness, promote sustainability, and simplify renovations, accessibility upgrades, and building management.
Strata schemes around NSW should prepare to comply as the state’s new strata reforms begin on 1 July 2025, with updated requirements for apartments, townhouses, villas, and duplexes.
New and updated requirements apply to strata schemes and community lands, affecting owners, tenants, agents, developers, and committee members.
The new reforms will support owners by easing approvals for accessibility upgrades, assistance animals, and minor renovations, while introducing new committee duties, boosting sustainability, protecting owners, and increasing developer penalties.
The Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) said that the new reforms aim to modernise legislation, eliminate outdated provisions, and streamline processes to enhance efficiency.
REINSW said that the most anticipated changes included the new accessibility infrastructure resolution, which enhances access for people with disabilities, and strengthened duties for strata committee members.
General counsel at REINSW, Nicole Unger, said the new reforms will primarily impact the day-to-day activities of strata managers, but property owners should also be aware of the changes.
From the 1st of July, strata managing agents must now report to the owners’ corporation every six months, increasing transparency regarding delegated duties such as levy notices and contractor orders.
Similarly, agency agreements and service contracts with owners’ corporations can no longer include unfair terms, such as requiring them to cover agent liabilities or limiting agent responsibility.
Under the new rules, strata committees must act reasonably and justify renovation refusals within three months.
Records inspection fees for non-owners, such as prospective buyers, will increase to $60 for the first hour and $30 per half-hour thereafter, marking the first update in over a decade and applicable to both online and in-person access.
Additionally, penalties for developers failing to hold timely AGMs or provide documents will increase to up to $11,000 plus $220 daily fines.
Embedded electricity contracts will now expire after three years or the first AGM, while sustainability upgrades can’t be blocked for appearance alone and must be addressed in AGMs and funding plans.
Finally, accessibility infrastructure requests now require only a majority vote, with owners’ corporations required to consider key factors.
Unger said that while the new strata rules directly impact strata management, property managers and real estate agents must ensure they understand the new regulations.
She said that agents must explain embedded networks and inform buyers about sustainability, accessibility, and contract changes in developer-controlled or off-the-plan strata schemes.
Similarly, she said that property managers must explain embedded networks, clarify evidence of assistance animals, and guide tenants and landlords on new accessibility infrastructure approvals.
“They should know what they are in case they need to educate vendors, purchasers, tenants or landlords,” Unger concluded.
