Thursday, 25 August 2021 – what a great day for pet lovers living in strata. 

New laws on the keeping of animals in strata schemes in NSW started on 25 August 2021. They were informed by public consultation for the strata schemes statutory review earlier this year, including a survey on pets in strata.

The laws recognise the changing nature of strata living and the increasing shift towards pet ownership. These changes will make it easier and fairer for people to responsibly keep pets while living in strata.

Under the new laws, an owners corporation:

• can only refuse to allow an animal into the scheme if that animal unreasonably interferes with another resident’s use and enjoyment of their lot or the common property
• may still require residents to apply for approval from the owners corporation to keep an animal on their lot
• may still set reasonable conditions in their by-laws to manage the keeping of animals in the scheme. Strata by-laws that set a blanket ban on the keeping of any animals within a scheme are not valid.

The laws also include a list of circumstances where an animal causes an unreasonable interference to residents in a scheme. The owners corporation can take steps to prohibit an animal that is being kept in the scheme if the animal causes a nuisance, hazard or unreasonable interference.

Strata Title Management State Manager, Emily Doherty, says she welcomes the clarification these new changes provide to Community Managers in supporting our owners corporations.

Owners corporations will need to review existing by-laws and make sure they comply with the new laws.

Residents of a strata scheme that currently has a ‘no animals’ by-law should contact the owners corporation to update the by-law.

Content provided by SCA (NSW). Click here to read the full article.