The History of Strata and Strata Management

The first strata titles legislation was enacted in 1961 when the New South Wales Parliament passed the Conveyancing (Strata Titles) Act 1961.

Strata title has evolved considerably since its inception, with continual reviews of the legislation as the government attempts to meet the demands of home unit owners for resolution of the various challenges of communal living.

The original concept of strata title was to allow people to own their flats in multi-level buildings. It is a means by which a person can buy and own ‘property’ which might be a substantial distance above ground level.

Before strata title, the most common way of buying into a high-rise building was to buy shares in the company which owned the building, thus giving a right to occupy one or more of the flats. This is commonly called ‘company title’. There are still many company title buildings in existence today.

While it was originally expected that strata schemes would all be vertical blocks of flats, some strata schemes are all on the one level (e.g. townhouse and villa developments). Some comprise of only two lots.

Strata Schemes are not limited only to residential strata management developments they may also consist of the following:-

• Commercial strata management
• Industrial and Retail strata management
• Mixed Use
• Resorts and hotels; and
• Retirement villages.

Since the introduction of strata title it has been common practice for owners corporations (formerly bodies corporate) to employ strata managing agents to attend to their financial, secretarial and maintenance matters. Initially these positions were filled by real estate agents and often accountants and solicitors. With the introduction of new legislative and licensing requirements and as the management of buildings become more complex and onerous many real estate agents have opted to withdraw from the fast growing industry.

As a result of these changes this has seen the introduction of more specialised strata managing agents.

The Strata Agency’s core focus is the management of strata schemes, assisting developers and company title buildings. We service strata management Sydney including the Eastern Suburbs, CBD and the North Shore.

The Strata Agency would welcome the opportunity to discuss the management of your scheme, or if you would like an obligation free management quotation please  contact us