Approximately 17% of NSW residents live in properties governed by strata laws and regulations with the NSW Government forecasting this to surge to 50% in Greater Sydney alone by the year 2040. As of November 2022, there were 89,049 strata schemes formally registered comprising a staggering 1,043,690 individual lots or units. This is changing the landscape of housing tenure in NSW.
Shelter NSW is very pleased to release a discussion paper on this topic, examining the impacts of strata on housing affordability and accessibility in NSW. Given our remit as an organisation, the paper has a specific focus on understanding the experience of, and factors contributing to strata-induced housing precarity, especially for low-income people.
While renters within strata communities are undoubtedly impacted, this paper primarily focuses on the challenges faced by low-income property owners within strata schemes. Issues covered in the paper include the challenge of hidden fees and unanticipated levies; instances of strata companies engaging in exploitative practices and the ramifications of declining building quality.
Lindsay Gardens, the worldâs first ever strata-titled building