Hi All,
I live in a unit complex of 6. The complex has common property at the back of the units which is the backyards of all units. The backyards are not individual or private and my questions is:
1) Can the common property be turned into privately owned individual backyards
2) If yes what is the best approach to take?
3) If Yes what hurdles may I approach
4) For it to go ahead will 100% of the committee need to agree on proposalIf the common area is able to be divided into individually owned backyards, this will increase each individual unit in value by approximately 5 to 15%.
Thanks for your Feedback
Cheers MatKA010 | Raw Profits Pty Ltd
https://lawseo.com.au
Phone MeI would suggest that if you own them all you can do what you like, or if all owners agreed you could do it also.
Tools
KA010, In order to answer your question, there is more information required. Are the units on one level or are they two story? or are all of the units on the ground floor? If the complex is two story or more then I would suggest that the exercise is really not worth persuing as from past experience of this concept, I have found that the courtyards are rarely used and do not add to the value of the unit. On the other hand, if they are all ground floor units with direct access to the courtyard, it will definately add value to the units.
1) Can the common property be turned into privately owned individual backyards – Yes
2) If yes what is the best approach to take? The easiest way to do this would be by giving exclusive use of the courtyards through the Body Corporate. This would be the cheapest approach and almost as good as title.
3) If Yes what hurdles may I approach. From past experience there will almost always be someone who is not interested.
4) For it to go ahead will 100% of the committee need to agree on proposal. It will require 100% agreement of all owners not just the committee.Hi Jon,
Thanks for your reply! That is great to hear as the units are all ground level units. Sounds like my only hurdle will be ensuring all owners agree. Do you think it would be a good idea if I put together a quote or proposal of the project or will this put the owners off. Can you suggest any reason as to why the owners may not want to go ahead with such a project. Or on the otherhand do you think I should I just bring it up as an idea at the next committee meeting which is in October.
Thanks again for your help
Cheers MatKA010 | Raw Profits Pty Ltd
https://lawseo.com.au
Phone Mefinancial situation would be one possible flaw in the idea. If one person can't afford to buy their backyard, then you could all be in trouble. You may also have to look at strata fees, if this was common ground then the body corporate would have paid for maintenance on it, if it becomes private, then what would you do? Also our strata levies are proportioned on the land on each title, would you have to have new titles drawn up, and if so , would this affect your rates. I'd imagine the council would want more money in there somewhere lol. Just a few ideas but, if you can do it, go for it. You may need council approval for it I think. Might pay to get a professional to look at the idea and the ramifications involved in it.
Hi Mat, When you say committee meeting, I'm assuming that you mean Body Corporate Committee and if so is it your annual general meeting? If it is I would definately put your idea forward for discussion. This should be done by way of a motion and needs to be in writing prior to the meeting so that other owners have a chance to think and talk about it.
Contrary to HGWells thoughts, it will not effect rateable value for the owners nor will it affect the Body Corporate levies (in fact if you are paying a gardner at the moment, you may well reduce the cost to the BC because once the courtyards are given exclusively to the unit owners the responsibility for maintenance falls to the owners not the BC.)
The only costs that would be involved in this process would be
(a) A surveyor to draw up a survey plan showing the area and position of each courtyard
(b) Lodging the survey plan with the relevant Govt Department and having it anexed to the Body Corporate Management Statement as exclusive use areas
(c) Fencing the relevant courtyards.All of this could be done through the Body Corporate either by raising a special levy or by increasing the quarterly fees for a period of time and doing the job in stages. Good luck with the project, if done corectly it will raise the value of each unit.
Jon
Hi Jon,
Yes I mean Body Corporate Meeting which your right will be the Annual General Meeting to be held on the 22nd October, 2007
Two other quick questions:
1) Can you suggest a proffessional body that would be able to assist in the process of putting together a formal proposal to the owners i.e should I approach a solicitior, surveyor or would you suggest just corresponding directly with the Body corporate (is it something the body corporate are not going to want to proceed with) or alternatively do it myself
2) The Annual General Meeting agenda has already been set therefore how can I put forward this idea before the meeting. I have the name, addresses and number of all owners, should I put something together and send it off to the owners individually? I agree I should give them the chance to asses and review the project themselves before the meeting
Thanks again for your feedback, fingers crossed all goes well when I put this idea to the owners
Cheers MatP.S- Its a little exciting because if this projects pulls off it could increase the value of the units by an extra 10 – 20% (the area is quite flat)
KA010 | Raw Profits Pty Ltd
https://lawseo.com.au
Phone MeKA010,
1) Can you suggest a proffessional body that would be able to assist in the process of putting together a formal proposal to the owners i.e should I approach a solicitior, surveyor or would you suggest just corresponding directly with the Body corporate (is it something the body corporate are not going to want to proceed with) or alternatively do it myself
An interesting question and I'm not sure if it is the way you have written it or my missunderstanding of the way that you have written it. It seems to me that many people have an incorrect understanding of Bodies Corporate. The company that has been employed to run the Body Corporate for a complex are in fact just that – employees. The owners of the indvidual units in a complex form the Body Corporate and as such they dictate to the Employee (Body Corporate Companie) what actions they wish to be carried out. The main purpose of employing a Body Corporate Company to run the show is to make sure that everything is done legally and on time and to hold the records in a secure place for future reference.
2) The Annual General Meeting agenda has already been set therefore how can I put forward this idea before the meeting. I have the name, addresses and number of all owners, should I put something together and send it off to the owners individually? I agree I should give them the chance to asses and review the project themselves before the meeting
At this point in time, I would not bother to enlist the assistance of any one who is likely to charge money untill you have assessed the general feelings of the other unit owners. You may have an opportunity to discuss your thoughts at the meeting during General Business. Perhaps then (if you get enough support) you may be able to go away and come back with some quotes for further discussion.
Jon
Hi Mat
You will need 100% agreement from owners.
Some points to consider:
From the layout of the unit block, will everyone gain exclusive use of the same area? If all areas are identical you have a better chance of agreement. If some units are gaining more, then some sort of monetary compensation will probably be necessary to get the agreement of units with the smaller areas – maybe the larger area units could pay for the fencing.We owned a unit in a complex of 80 units where the manager wanted to have electronic gates installed. Cost per unit was $500. He enlisted a local realestate agent to give written advice to the effect that electronic security gates would increase the value of the units by approximately $5,000. He was able to get 80 unit owners to agree, and impressive achievement.
You may have to check with council – some areas require a certain percentage of the land to be common areas.
Have your idea put on the agenda for the general meeting – you will get an idea of the level of support and also the issues that others may think of.
Good luck!
Marg
Hi Marg,
Yes if the untis were divided all would have exclusive access and all would be of equal size. Unfortunately the agenda for the meeting has already been scheduled so I will go armed with as much info as possible and put this forward to the committee.
Hopefully it will turn out to be an easy process. Thanks again for your feedback
Cheers MatKA010 | Raw Profits Pty Ltd
https://lawseo.com.au
Phone Me
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