Strata is the fastest growing form of residential property ownership in Australia. Over half the new dwellings to be built in our metropolitan areas over the next decades will be strata titled. The growth of this sector raises increasingly important questions over property ownership and governance.
A new two-year research project, supported by the NSW strata industry and the NSW State and Federal governments, will chart the key issues facing the governance and management of strata buildings. The research will be undertaken by the High Density City team at the City Futures Research Centre. The project is the first major study of the strata sector undertaken in Australia.
The research has three main aims:
- 1. To explore the role, capacity & effectiveness of owners’ corporations as agencies of property governance and management.
- 2. To explore the capacity & effectiveness of strata managers as mediators of outcomes for owners and residents in strata & their role within the overall structure of management & governance.
- 3. To assess how well residential strata works from strata owners’ points of view.
The project, which focuses on NSW, will deliver systematic information about the operation of the strata system. The findings will assist residents, owners and those involved in strata management and policy development to better understand the nature and scale of issues facing the strata sector and its capacity to self-manage these issues. It will provide an informed evidence base to support improved best practice and policy development across the sector. While it focuses on NSW, the results will inform policy and practice in the strata sector across Australia.
The research will be undertaken by the City Futures Research Centre in partnership with:
- The Institute of Strata Title Management
- The Owners Corporation Network
- Lannock Strata Finance
- Macquarie Bank
- NSW Land and Property Management Authority
- NSW Fair Trading
Funding and support to carry out this project has been received from our partners and from the National Competitive Grants Program run by the Federal Governments’ Australian Research Council.
