Strata Changes Could Result in Less Fees for Pet Owners in NSW

A dog drinks water in a file photo. Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Pet owners could be saved additional fees under recent tweaks to strata laws in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW).

The government will introduce reforms in the state Parliament to ban fees, bonds, or insurance for pets.

The NSW government said it wants to make it “easier” and “fairer” for residents.

“Currently, some strata schemes are charging application fees to consider an application to keep a pet or imposing a bond on keeping a pet,” the NSW government said in a statement.

“These fees or bonds are costly, unnecessary, and unreasonable. Owners already pay levies to finance the administration of their scheme and the cost of insurance for any damage to common or association.”

Strata Laws Before Parliament

The pet fee changes are among a number of strata reforms being considered in Parliament this week.

Some of the changes included reforms to the collective sale and renewal process to make it more transparent and ensure goods and services are competitive.

Owners and corporations will also need to get a second opinion if the cost of work on a strata facility is more than 30,000.

Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the current strata rules were not keeping pace with the market’s needs.

“Across government, we’re working to get more homes built, but we’re also making sure we’ve got the right systems and laws to manage them,” he said in a statement.

“There are currently over 85,000 strata schemes in NSW compared to just 50,000 in 1996, so getting this right will be critical.

“As the number of strata schemes in the state has grown rapidly, the rules haven’t kept pace.”

NSW Parliament will sit for three days both this week and next week.

Pets in Homes

In South Australia, the government is also planning reforms to allow pets in rental properties.

Under the proposed law, a tenant who applies to have a pet in a rental property cannot be “unreasonably refused.”

“The reforms in South Australian will take a similar approach to those introduced in Queensland, which seek to balance the rights of landlords and tenants,” the government said in June.

“Renters must still seek permission from the landlord to keep a pet and they are liable if the pet causes damage.”

Landlords would still be able to refuse a pet if there is a sound reason such as the pet not complying with council rules or being a risk to public safety.

In Queensland, the government relaxed legislation for pets in rental properties in October 2022.

Landlords are unable to refuse pets at properties without providing a reason. However, they are still able to say no to pets if they provide specific grounds such as lack of fencing, damage concerns, and health and safety risks.

Tenants are now able to request to keep a pet in a rental property using a Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) Pet approval form.