The Unit Titles Legislation Amendment Act 2020

Early this year, the government introduced new legislation, the Unit Titles Legislation Amendment Act 2020, to improve the management of units plans in the ACT, with a particular focus on mixed-use developments.  The Amendment Act and accompanying explanatory statement are available here.

The MBA had input into the reforms as part of a broader consultative group on unit titles. The reforms will commence on 1 November 2020, with transitional arrangements in place to allow time for developers, owners corporations and industry to prepare for some of the more substantial changes taking place.

There are important and significant changes with respect to mixed use developments, titling arrangements and shared services within buildings.  There are new additional disclosure requirements for selling units off the plan that we strongly recommend you seek appropriate legal advice well before you embark on your next residential development project.

Information about the scope and detail of the upcoming changes to the unit titles legislation is available on the Build Buy or Renovate website and the initial package of reforms page. These webpages will continue to be updated with further information and resources in the lead up to the commencement of the reforms.

We also plan to host a seminar on the reforms for members with our representative on the reform consultative committee, Susan Proctor of Proctor Legal to speak on the changes.

Susan recently hosted Michael Hopkins on her podcast Strata with Susan and if you are interested you can access the first three episodes of the podcast at the below links:

• https://www.proctorlegal.com.au/articles-resources/strata-with-susan-episode-one
• https://www.proctorlegal.com.au/articles-resources/strata-with-susan-episode-two
• https://www.proctorlegal.com.au/articles-resources/strata-with-susan-episode-three

Strata with Susan is also available to listen to directly on most popular podcast apps.

If you have any questions, please email Ashlee Berry, MBA Member Services Director (aberry@mba.org.au) or alternatively you could contact the Project Team at stratareform@act.gov.au or phone Access Canberra on 13 22 81.