Philip has been waiting 10 years for strata to fix a leak in his apartment

3 FEBRUARY 2024

For a decade Philip Baigent endured water pooling on his balcony and leaking into his flat, warping the floorboards and causing mould.

Karen Stiles, the executive director of the Owners’ Corporation Network of Australia, says governments set up strata as a housing model, but “don’t support it in any way”.

“For example, owners’ corporations are not eligible for disaster relief because that’s only available to individuals and small businesses, and they fall through the cracks,” Stiles says.

When an owners’ corporation can’t get along, the tribunal will often appoint a compulsory strata manager. When that happens, the compulsory strata manager has full legal responsibility and financial management over the property – “the power of God”, as Stiles puts it.

Stiles says there needs to be better training for strata managers and a higher bar for compulsory strata managers, including qualifications and a reporting mechanism.

Read full article:> https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/philip-has-been-waiting-10-years-for-strata-to-fix-a-leak-in-his-apartment-20240124-p5ezof.html