StrataAU

WHY HAVE MY LEVIES INCREASED?

A question asked frequently and misunderstood often.

To drill deeper into it, there are two questions to ask first. Are you asking about a singular levy payment, based on your previously paid total or are you looking at the budget and levies proposed for the coming financial year?

If you're asking about the levies proposed for the next year, the simple answer is: your levies are probably going up because so is the cost of living. If you are a stand-alone homeowner, your insurance would be going up as would the cost of materials, maintenance and repairs. It's the same for Bodies Corporate. Your running costs are higher therefore your levies need to be higher to cover the costs to keep the body corporate running!

You’ll find the biggest contributor to any levy rise is the rise in insurance costs. The last few years have seen massive price inflation to cover the same structure - that has to be paid from BC funds, therefore, the appropriate additional money needs to be raised to cover it.

If you are asking about a particular levy instalment being higher than the instalment just gone, it could just be that the small rise was okayed (CARRIED by majority vote) at the last AGM. Before you email your committee or BC Manager - take a peep at your last AGM Meeting minutes. You might be able to answer your own question with documentation you already have.

Body Corporate is complicated. It's best left to an expert. Call StrataAU if you’d like your property managed by good humans.

☎️ 0434 748 321

MAINTENANCE VS IMPROVEMENT
A cage match for the ages, to be sure.

You live in a Body Corporate Scheme, and you want to make a change to your allotted outdoor area that is “exclusive use”. Easy right?

Easy, sure. But do you know if your plans would be deemed as maintenance or an improvement? And do you need approval? From who? The committee or the entire Body Corporate at a General Meeting?

While every question posed in Body Corporate comes down to the individual scenario, here are some things to understand:
If you are maintaining what is there, to keep or restore, it is most likely going to be deemed as maintenance
If you are taking something, and changing or upgrading it “for the better”, aka, not like for like, you could be wandering into “improvement” land.

Once you are in the “improvement” column, there are some things to consider:

A committee can approve your improvement if:
✔︎ the total cost is less than $3,000
✔︎ the improvement does not detract from the appearance of a lot
✔︎ the body corporate is satisfied that the use and enjoyment of the improvement is not likely to be a breach of the owner’s duties as an occupier (e.g. by causing a nuisance to others in the scheme).

➡️ If your improvement will cost more than $3,000, a motion for the works you wish to embark on must be authorised by ordinary resolution at a general meeting.

Don't feel supported by your manager? Call StrataAU. We’ll take care of you.

☎️ 0434 748 321