Hi
Does anyone have advice on purchasing duplexes that are strata titles and ALL grounds around building are common?
Any issues with insurance, common owner disputes etc?
And what would one have to do to have the areas divided up?
Hi
I can only advise on the situation in NSW, so if you are buying in another state you should check with the Office of Fair Trading or equivalent to find out the body who can advise you.
The owners corp can resolve to register a by-law/s that gives each unit the right to the exclusive use of certain areas of common property. This can include front and rear yards, gardens, driveways, and the building including roof, walls, windows, services and other items that would normally be common property. This would mean that you have to maintain your unit as you would a house. If appropriate and done properly, this can result in the only common property being the common driveway, any services that run under the driveway, and perhaps some fencing.
Although the NSW Act allows duplexes to be insured seperately, no insurer will do so, so you might still have to insure together under a full strata policy.
Owner disputes – where do you start? There is the potential for disputes whether there are two units or twenty, including maintenance of the common property eg gardens and lawns, painting etc. Then there are illegal parking issues, noise, appearance of the lot eg one has curtains, the other hangs blankets on the windows and washing off their balcony, doesn’t put their bin away etc. The list is potentially endless.
The ultimate would be to buy both sides, but otherwise, just make sure you check the records to try to see what type of history the property has.
Regards
Wake
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