New strata laws ensure fairer rules for fees and charges

Legislation improving the way strata communities operate passed the NSW Parliament last night.

The reforms will help owners repair and

maintain common property, support the uptake of sustainability and accessibility infrastructure, and give owners more options to pay levies when facing financial stress. 

This legislation is the Minns Labor Government’s third tranche of strata law reforms and builds on changes which came into effect on 3 February 2025, requiring strata managers in NSW to provide significantly more The reforms will help owners repair and maintain common property, support the uptake of sustainability and accessibility infrastructure, and give owners more options to pay levies when facing financial stress.

The laws will:

• Protect owners corporations from unfair contract terms such as limits on a strata managing agent’s liability.
• Encourage the uptake of sustainable infrastructure such as solar panels and electric vehicle charging by prohibiting bylaws that block the infrastructure due to external appearance.
• Protect owners from bill shock by requiring developers to have initial levy estimates to be independently certified, including increased penalties for non-compliance.
• Make it easier to terminate strata managing agents and building manager agreements if they carry on a business that is contrary to the law.
• Prescribe training requirements for strata committee members to help them perform their roles.
• Allow Fair Trading to enter into enforceable undertakings with owners corporations that do not meet their duties to maintain and repair common property.
• Help owners in financial hardship by requiring owners corporations to offer a payment plan before taking debt recovery action and prohibiting blanket rules to refuse payment plans.
• Make it easier to install accessibility infrastructure in common areas by lowering the voting threshold for approval from 75% to a majority vote.

This legislation is the Minns Labor Government’s third tranche of strata law reforms and builds on   changes which came into effect on 3 February 2025, requiring strata managers in NSW to provide significantly more detailed information to owners' corporations about their services and relationships, to increase transparency and accountability within the strata sector.

Strata managers must now disclose any connections with suppliers and developers, provide detailed breakdowns of insurance quotes including commissions and broker fees, and report in real time if any new connections or interests arise.

The NSW Government’s reforms will be enforced by a dedicated Strata and Property Services Taskforce within NSW Fair Trading, backed by an $8.4 million investment. 

Consumer confidence in strata is vital to the government’s housing agenda, and the Taskforce will be focussed on high impact initiatives to support the 1.2 million people living in strata across NSW.

The Taskforce will strengthen compliance and enforcement, dispute resolution, and regulatory reform within the strata sector, with a focus on raising professional standards and delivering better outcomes for consumers.

For more information, visit the NSW Fair Trading website here: https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-property/strata-and-community-living

Quotes attributed to Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong:

“The family home is often the biggest financial investment most of us will make – when it is in a strata community the Minns Labor Government is making sure that there are protections in place to help owners make informed decisions on the future of the property.

“Repairs to common property are the obligation of the owners’ corporation, and these reforms help to ensure the hard-earned money of individual owners invested in the property will prevent it from being run down, become a safety risk or cause greater damage through neglect.

“These changes will make buying into strata more transparent and improve the building owners experience when they receive the keys from the developer.”

Quotes attributed to Fair Trading Commissioner Natasha Mann:

“The number of strata schemes in New South Wales has grown from around 70,000 at the end of 2015 to more than 87,000 – creating a greater need for targeted, proactive regulation to ensure practitioners and businesses in the property industry are properly trained and supervised.

“The Strata and Property Services Taskforce is improving the NSW Government’s oversight of real estate and strata managing agents by bringing together new and existing specialist staff across Fair Trading to uplift its enforcement of NSW strata and property laws – restoring consumer confidence and lifting standards across the sector.”