Strata reports must be better, says AIC boss

AIC NSW president Jennie Tonner has urged the state’s consumer protection agency to boost safeguards for apartment buyers by standardising strata reports.

With no qualifications needed to become strata inspector in NSW, there are industry concerns about the quality of strata reports relied on by consumers, with calls by some practitioners to mandate standard minimum requirements.

Speaking at the AIC NSW state conference, Tonner, an industry veteran, said there was merit in a state-wide “systemisation” of strata reports.

“(It) would be great to know that if we’re reading a report, everything that should be there has been inspected and has been looked at and is reported on,” Tonner said in a Q&A session with NSW Fair Trading strata and property services commissioner Angus Abadee.

“If that means charging more, fair enough,” Tonner added.

The comments come days after the NSW government pledged to strengthen protections for the 1.2 million people living in apartments and duplexes across the state with new laws.

Passed by parliament on Thursday, the legislation – the Minns government’s fourth strata bill – boosts powers to publish compliance action taken against owners’ corporations so prospective buyers can know of issues with building repairs and maintenance.

According to Tonner, standardising property reports would help improve buyer outcomes.

“The cost of a strata report is based on an hour and a half’s worth of inspecting the records that are given to them by the strata manager, so I don’t believe that that necessarily means they’ve looked at everything that the strata manager’s given them,” she said.

In her opening address at the conference, Tonner praised the industry for its efforts on training, education and set up with new federal AML/CTF laws.

The new Tranche 2 regime, aimed at curbing organised crime in the nation’s property industry, commenced in July. It was the biggest conveyancing industry overhaul in decades.

“It’s been a monumental task,” Tonner said of the reforms.

“When I look at other Tranche 2 entities there is still a lot of issues with those entities, either not being registered, or not understanding it so I think we, as conveyancers, absolutely nailed it.”

She said conveyancers continued to dominate residential transactions in NSW, with more than 50 per cent market share.

“If anyone thinks we are second best or second choice, we think the community of NSW have voted with their hearts and their transactions. We lead this state in conveyancing.”