NSW Strata Hub scheme to start May 2022

The NSW Government hopes its new Strata Hub system will be live from next May. The hub is intended to be a central access point that will make it easier for buyers and owners in residential strata buildings to get the information they need. The Hub will require strata schemes to provide key information about their scheme to Fair Trading who will provide the information on a portal for easy access. It will also allow NSW Fair Trading to better monitor strata buildings’ ongoing maintenance and defect management to ensure duties are being upheld and the safety and amenity of strata buildings is preserved. The aim is that owners and buyers within NSW strata schemes become aware that maintenance of the scheme is not neglected. The government viewed the information repository as "increasingly important as the uptake of strata living in NSW increases while key information about strata schemes remains hard to find or unavailable." The NSW Government passed reforms to the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 in March 2021 to enable an annual reporting scheme to be established through the regulations. "It is important to note that access to information in the Strata Hub will not replace the need for people who are looking to buy a strata property to perform their due diligence enquiries," the department's latest update advises. It is anticipated that owners corporations that do not provide their annual report within the allotted time from 2022 can be fined a maximum of $5,500. Fair Trading will hold some information for compliance purposes only be seen by Fair Trading and other regulatory authorities such as the insured replacement value of the scheme, the balance of the capital works fund. The NSW govenment issued an explanatory paper last month seeking feedback on its implmentation. The Department of Customer Service (DCS) is now seeking public feedback on the Information Regulation, available on the NSW Government’s Have Your Say website: www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/strata-report. Following the feedback, it is anticipated that the final Information Regulation will be published in December 2021. The Hub forms a part of the NSW Government’s broader transformation of the regulation of residential apartment buildings where transparency and better outcomes for consumers are paramount across NSW’s 83,000 strata schemes. The Strata Hub is being opened in phases with phase one of the Strata Hub, the Strata Building Bond and Inspections Scheme (SBBIS) function going live in July 2021. The SBBIS requires developers to pay a two percent bond on newly constructed multi-story strata developments, which can then be used by owners corporations to fix defects. Moving the SBBIS into the Strata Hub has been the first step.