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We are seeing more “strata committees are blocking XYZ” reports lately! People sometimes forget that strata buildings are a democracy and the committee is elected to enact the collective wishes of all owners. And in most strata plans the strata committee would not be authorised to approve the installation of electric vehicle charging equipment. Such decisions usually require approval by a majority of owners, and any owner in a strata plan can ask for a decision by all owners in a General Meeting.

If an owner wants to install a charger and cannot do so through their strata plan’s renovation approval process, they can ask for it to be voted on at a general meeting – either the next AGM or by calling an EGM. A motion to install EV chargers would probably fall under sustainability infrastructure and if so it only requires a 50% majority to pass. And this can be a simple online vote – there is no need for a physical meeting.

But it also requires expert reports on the suitability of the electrical supply, fire and insurance considerations, and any other issues, so the owners can make an informed decision. By-laws to cover the installation, use and maintenance of EV charging equipment will also need to be drafted, approved and registered. These by-laws might need to include provisions for the owner to contribute towards additional costs incurred by the building, such as upgrading the power supply or increased insurance premiums.

A strata plan I work with, where owners have garages, recently decided to upgrade their electrical systems to provide each garage with a 15 amp power socket connected to the main power supply via that owner’s electricity meter. This cost about $70,000 – approximately $1,000 per owner. This was a good solution for them but maybe not practical for buildings with basement or open plan car parking. Such buildings might opt to install charging points at selected open air common property (visitor) spaces, but should the building, meaning all owners, have to share the cost when it is for the benefit of a select few?

And who pays if installing EV chargers requires an expensive upgrade of the building’s electricity supply? The best option may be to have an external provider install and maintain the shared facilities on a commercial basis, where they pay for the installation and the electricity used, and they receive the revenue from the users.

In major European and Asian cities electric vehicles are becoming the norm, yet most people live in apartments that do not have on-site parking. The EVs are parked on the street and charged at public facilities, so these strata questions do not arise!

Did you know that Strata Title originated in NSW?

The 1950s post-war boom created huge demand for housing, and in Sydney this included many new apartment buildings. But defining ownership rights and responsibilities in a shared building was complicated. The normal way at that time was to create a company that owned and managed the site and building/s, and the owners of individual apartments had shares in this company.

In this Company Title system (which is still used by some older buildings) owners contributed to running and maintenance costs in accordance with their shareholdings, which were determined by the relative value of their apartment. They formed a Board of Directors to run the company, and to vote on the rules and regulations that would apply to the building. These rules could be very specific to the needs of those owners, which is a reason some established communities have chosen to stick with Company Title.

But this was not really the equivalent of the Torrens Title that applied to freestanding houses, where the government guarantees that the proprietor actually owns the land and everything built on it. It also meant that it was harder to obtain finance, because the banks prefer that their loans are secured by a mortgage over land and improvements. Not surprisingly, banks don’t see shares in a company as equivalent to real estate security.

Fortunately, in 1961, the NSW government devised a way to issue government-guaranteed title for apartments, and this was called Strata Title. In Strata Title each property owner owns everything enclosed by the walls, floor and ceiling of their apartment – the airspace, internal walls and fixtures etc. Plus they share ownership of the building itself and the land it is built on, these elements are called Common Property.

The first version of Strata Title defined the boundaries of the apartment as the centre line in shared walls, and the outside of external walls. This proved impractical due to the need for consistent maintenance of the building structure, and in 1974 a major update changed the boundaries to the inside surface of external and shared (boundary) walls. This also made most balconies, and the doors/windows opening on to them, common property. However, this change did not apply retrospectively, so in buildings strata titled before July 1974 the original definitions generally apply.

The Strata Act was given another overhaul in 2015 which improved governance and tightened regulation, while better defining the rights of individual owners – including a process to sell buildings for redevelopment if 75% of owners vote to do so.

From the outset, Strata Title was a success despite its complexity. Other states in Australia, and around the world, picked up the concept and implemented the same or similar property title legislation. Strata Title, along with variants such as Community Title, provides owners and lenders a government guarantee of title, and a structure to manage multi-dwelling property developments. It’s not perfect, but works for the vast majority of situations.

Are installations of electric vehicle chargers blocked by strata committees?

Where did Strata Title come from?