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Strata or strata title was a very different concept when it was introduced for the first time in the state of NSW in Australia in the year 1961 and the first strata building is still there in Ashfield, Sydney. Australia initially had only free standing houses and the apartments appeared in the early 20th century to accommodate the growing population. Initially the ownership in a multi level building was through the company title system where the share certificates were issued instead of property certificate to prove the legal ownership. Introduction of the Conveyancing Act of 1961 clearly established the legal ownership of a part or portion of a building. This act enabled the individual to be a part of community living by owning and sharing the responsibility of the common property and at the same time retain certain amount of independence. The year 1974 saw some major reforms with the new Strata Title Act of 1973 in NSW, Australia. Since then it has been replicated in countries like India, Canada, New Zealand, Fiji, South Africa and Malaysia to name a few. Though strata Title laws differ from place to place and have got different names in the other states of Australia the basic essence remains the same. After a decade the state of NSW brought about more reforms in 1980s with community title laws which allowed estate subdivisions. With growing interest in the strata property by both domestic and foreign investments professional strata companies came up and the Govt. formulated more rules and regulations for the strata managers to handle the strata type properties. Again in 1990s the state of NSW introduced another amendment and made some major strata laws like the NSW strata scheme management act 2010 and the strata scheme management regulation 2010.Strata title laws have been regularly updated to keep up with the increase in the numbers and the last 50 years have seen 300,000 strata companies and 3,000,000 strata lots. Strata schemes basically have two major divisions. Lots and common property. The lot owners look after their own independent units and jointly share the ownership and responsibility of the common property. Apart from this there are by laws for the smooth functioning of the strata schemes and the licensed strata companies have experienced professionals who help the owners corporation to dispense with all administrative, financial, maintenance and other key aspects of a strata scheme and by taking off the loads from the owners corporation they let them enjoy this very different kind of life style. Buying a part or portion of the building was through the company title system. In the prestrata period the company owned the building and the buyer could only have the share certificates issued by them to prove his rights. This system allowed the buyer to ‘own the right to occupy’ a part of the building. The major disadvantage was that the buyer had a share certificate instead of property certificate. As it was a complicated process and problems came up during mortgaging and other related areas people were not very happy with it. Christopher Whelan is a Licensed Strata manager at Whelan Property Group Pty. Ltd. ,a professional and proactive Strata title management Sydney.Here You can get more information on Strata scheme management
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