A by-law to this effect is only enforceable where strata property is held by an investor and not when it is owner occupied. This means if someone lives in a strata property as their principal place of residence, they will still be able to rent out their home or rooms on platforms like Airbnb while they live there, or temporarily go on holidays.
Further information on these legislative changes can be found on the Fair Trading website here.
How to adopt a new by-law
To adopt any new by-law, an owners corporation must:
1. approve the by-law by special resolution at a general meeting, and
2. record the by-law with NSW LRS within 6 months of its approval.
Review by-laws to reflect your community and reduce grievances
All strata schemes have their own by-laws, which govern how the strata community will function and contribute to the overall lifestyle experience within the scheme.
If a strata community has been in operation for a number of years, the by-laws may no longer provide an accurate picture of the community standards and lifestyle expectations of residents.
NSW LRS recommends schemes engage independent professional advice to ensure the by-laws accurately reflect their intention.
Things to consider when conducting a review of by-laws include:
- Know and understand the existing by-laws. A copy of the common property title and the by-laws applying to a strata scheme can be purchased from NSW LRS approved information brokers.
- Know the community and cross reference the buildings lifestyle against the by-laws to establish if they match. If they don’t, the committee should start considering amendments for by-laws that may no longer be relevant for the scheme.
- Amend any conflicts that may exist between existing by-laws and current legislation. Adopt new by-laws that are suitable for the scheme that assist in avoiding issues and grievances.
Register new by-laws to assist with compliance and issue resolution
Any changes to a strata scheme’s by-laws by an owners corporation do not come into effect until they are recorded on the certificate of title for the common property with NSW LRS.
This requirement ensures the folio for the common property concisely records in a single and readily accessible instrument all the by-laws that affect the scheme.
How to record a new by-law with NSW LRS
Where any changes occur to a schemes by-law, the change must be lodged in the form of a consolidated version that incorporates all existing by-laws the scheme wishes to maintain.
The consolidated set of by-laws incorporating the new by-law is then attached as an annexure to the NSW LRS Consolidation of By-law
form.
For more information on how to complete this form click
here.
This form can be lodged at our new Lodgment Office at Liverpool Street as part of our new ‘drop and go’ service for customers during the COVID-19 period explained
here.
Consolidate by-laws (where no changes are required) to more easily store and search by-laws
The NSW LRS Consolidation of By-law
form has been updated so that schemes can consolidate their by-laws more easily where no new by-law changes are required.
Schemes who wish to consolidate model by-laws and one or more registered Change of By-laws on the common property title can now select this option when completing the form. This will assist owners corporations and residents to more easily track, store and search by-laws adopted by the scheme by only having to reference one document.
Upcoming ability to lodge Consolidation of By-laws electronically
The NSW LRS eConveyancing roadmap is increasing the documents that can be lodged securely and efficiently through electronic conveyancing.
NSW LRS and the Office of the Registrar General are working together with ELNOs to enable the remaining paper dealings (known as ‘residual’ documents) for electronic lodgment.
The Consolidation of By-laws is now available for electronic lodgment using the COVID-19 Residual Lodgment service. NSW LRS will update customers and lodging parties as the new documents become available for electronic lodgment.
Several Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about eConveyancing are also available in the NSW LRS website’s Help Hub:
www.nswlrs.com.au/Help/FAQ.
Find out more
For more information about registering a Consolidation of By-laws with NSW LRS, please call our Contact Centre on 8776 3575 or Contact Us online.