What is an Owners Corporation?

Strata titled properties in Australia have assets (property, services) that no single private lot owner has individual responsibility and/or authority for. Examples include corridors, communal lighting, and a shared roof and so on.

Within Victoria, Owners Corporations are legal entities created by the registration of Plans of Subdivision. The Plan of Subdivision will show which portions of the property are private and which are common.

Why do Owners Corporations exist?

Owners Corporations enable multiple people to own privately sub-titled property on the same piece of land, which also includes ownership of the land beneath ground level (e.g. a basement car park) and of the airspace above (e.g. when you own an apartment on the third flood, you really own the airspace at that height that is surrounded by walls, a floor and a ceiling).

The Owners Corporation provides a legal structure for shared ownership of the common property and services that exists alongside the private property lots (whether apartment, townhouse, car park, storage space etc.).

This form of title is known as ‘strata’ and was developed in Australia throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s and has continued to evolve ongoing. The legislation governing strata varies across different states. Read More…