Western Australian strata laws not far away

Western Australian strata laws not far away

The Western Australian Parliament has passed the Strata Titles Amendment Act 2018 and the Community Titles Act 2018, although both Acts are awaiting supporting Regulations before they are proclaimed to commence. The draft regulations have been published and are available at this link. They are expected to be proclaimed and placed before the Parliament soon. While we don’t have an exact time-frame, Landgate WA has indicated it will be around November 2019 once public feedback on the draft regulations is reviewed.

Landgate WA has launched a helpful web site which outlines in plain English the main changes being introduced – it can be accessed here: https://strata.wa.gov.au/

The major changes being proposed cover the following areas:

• The introduction of layered schemes utilising both of the new Acts
• Better buyer information (i.e. new “Information Certificates”);
• A fairer process for scheme termination;
• Improving strata management;
• Efficient dispute resolution;
• Introducing leasehold strata; and
• Development, subdivision and planning.

While a lot of the changes being introduced in WA will simply bring that state in line with other states of Australia, there will still be significant changes for developers, managers and strata companies in WA.