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Parking On Common Property

In 2009, Chairman of the Owners Corporation Network, Stephen Goddard wrote a letter to the Fair Trading Minister, Virginia Judge stating that parking is the, "biggest headache in strata living.”

Mr Goddard wanted the Government to repeal a ban that prohibits individuals clamping cars parked on strata properties against the wishes of members of the scheme.

“Under NSW law, building managers and owners cannot touch illegally parked cars and, if the car owner does not live in the building, there is no way to warn or fine them,” reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

Adequate parking is an issue in space-restricted Sydney. In a strata situation, there are generally two aspects of parking that cause grief. The first is people parking in your designated space and the second is people parking in visitor’s spaces longer than what’s considered socially acceptable.

At The Strata Agency we recommend the following course of action.

Your Car Space

More likely than not, if there’s a car in your space then it’s parked by mistake. Many strata car parks don’t mark the spaces with the unit numbers for the protection of the residents. We advise simply placing a note under the wind-screen wiper, drawing attention to the car owner of their mistake. An apology generally follows immediately.

While the car may be parked on your ‘property,’ it still belongs to someone else. Do not have its wheels clamped as this is illegal. Do not have the car towed, as any damage caused to the car during this process is your responsibility.

If the situation isn’t resolved with a simple note, call the police and seek their assistance in handling the issue.

Visitor’s Parking

Car owner’s abusing common property visitor parking is a contentious issue.

Standard By-Law 2 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 states that, “An owner or occupier of a lot must not park or stand any motor or other vehicle on common property except with the written approval of the owners corporation.”

Most strata schemes have adopted this by-law prohibiting an apartment owner from using the visitor’s space without permission. In general, the time limit and regularity for people using the visitor’s car spaces is up to the owner’s corporation to decide. There aren’t any Government rules regulating use of the visitor’s parking.

At The Strata Agency we believe that visitor’s parking is just that. It is parking spaces for the use of family and friends visiting people living in the apartment block. Visitor’s generally stay for an afternoon or evening and then vacate the space for others to use. If your strata scheme has a special by-law that caps the time limit on visitor parking, then it’s generally your responsibility to ensure your visitors obey this time limit.

If you believe that someone is abusing the visitor’s parking space in your scheme, then we advise the following course of action.

In the first instance, you should address the issue with the car owner either directly if you know who they are or by placing a note under their wind-screen wipers. If this fails to resolve the issue, take photographs to document the abuse and present the evidence to the owner’s corporation. Because visitor’s spaces are common property, the owner’s corporation can pursue the issue via the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal of the NSW Office of Fair Trading if need be, with the possibility of serial offenders being fined.

If you have any further questions about parking, call your Strata Manager at The Strata Agency.