[Matthew Saunders]

Hi Michael,

Penrith Council has a minimum rate structure and we have one main strata complex where we use aggregation of strata lots. It is a retirement village where the carspaces are separate lots in the strata plan. For that complex the owners can choose whether they want or need a carspace. If a person wants to sell their unit and they own a carspace, they can either sell it to a new owner if the new owner wants it, or offer it to another owner that may want a carspace. This means we are always moving around unit entitlements for the units to aggregate the units with their carspaces, depending on which unit is associated to which carspace.

We are now getting numerous multi-storey apartment development where the trend is to have some storage spaces and carspaces as separate lots in the strata scheme, so I am predicting that this will become a new headache for us. These apartments are popping up near the railway where parking is tight, so we have no way of knowing if the carspaces are being used by the owner in conjunction with their unit or separately leased out by the owner.

The Revenue Raising Manual says that if a ratepayer approaches the council and asks for aggregation, it would be difficult for the council not to apply this provision. I take this as meaning if they ask for it they get it.

The Act says for two or more parcels of land so you can aggregate a unit/carspace and storage space if you choose (but not two habitable units).

I can’t see where it says they have to be in the same strata plan, but I think they should be adjacent to the habitable dwelling. For example an owner in a strata complex might buy a car-space in the next door strata complex.

Kind regards,

Matthew.