The Statutory Review of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (SSDA) and the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (SSMA) Consultation Paper listed 10 recommendations to improve the liveability of strata complexes. Notably, recommendation 115 will prohibit by-laws that block sustainability infrastructure due to appearance and examine any necessary exemptions to this requirement.
SCA (NSW) does not support recommendation 115 for a blanket prohibition of by-laws that block sustainability infrastructure. Currently, sustainability infrastructure by-laws only require a threshold of most owners to vote in favour of them to be adopted by an owners corporation – unlike other types of by-laws that require no more than 25% of the vote against them to be adopted.
In relation to a blanket prohibition on by-laws that block sustainability infrastructure due to appearance, a developer and an owner’s corporation (OC) could preserve the architectural and landscape standards which were originally approved for development. An example would be solar panels; however, care needs to be taken in a strata community title scheme which has by-laws specifying architectural and landscape standards.
Conversely, in relation to a blanket prohibition on by-laws that block sustainability infrastructure due to issues other than appearance, SCA (NSW) is aware of reasons for such by-laws that go beyond the control of the scheme. For example, a strata scheme made such by-laws to protect all lot owners because those who had installed a charging station or induction cooktop caused a power failure as the allocation of electrical power to the whole strata complex exceeded the electric supply.
Ultimately, SCA (NSW) seeks to improve by-laws to ensure every NSW resident living in a strata complex can experience the highest quality of living.