Governing the Compact City: The Role and Effectiveness of Strata Management in Higher Density Residential Developments

This research project, supported by the NSW strata industry and the NSW State and Federal governments, charted the key issues facing the governance and management of strata buildings. The research was 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 had three main aims:

1. To explore the role, capacity and effectiveness of owners’ corporations as agencies of property governance and management.
2. To explore the capacity and effectiveness of strata managers.
3. To assess how well residential strata works from strata owners’ points of view.

The project, which focused on NSW, delivered 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. The research provided an informed evidence base to support improved best practice and policy development across the sector. While it focuses on NSW, the results are expected to inform policy and practice in the strata sector across Australia.

The research was undertaken by the City Futures Research Centre in partnership with:

Strata Community Australia (NSW)
The Owners Corporation Network of Australia
Lannock Strata Finance
Macquarie Bank
NSW Land and Property Information
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.

Who was involved?

As part of this research, we conducted surveys and interviews with:

Members of executive committees of strata schemes across NSW
Strata managing agents across NSW
Owners of residential strata units across NSW

If you have any questions about this project, please contact��Dr Hazel Easthope.

FINAL REPORT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts (centre) with Dr Hazel Easthope and Prof. Bill Randolph of the ��¼� Faculty of Built Environment at the launch of their strata title study 21 May 2012