Some committee members want to lease one of our visitors parking spaces out to a tenant because they want to add money to our funds. They want to have a EGM to ask owners what they want.
I object not only will it cost us money but it is irrelevant as I believe it is illegal to get rid of visitors parking without getting local council approval as they passed the original number of visitors spaces on the original development application and all my research says they must approve any changes. Our strata managers advice says we can do it but I believe this is incorrect because they imply it is common property when it is not and I think their advice is wrong and unethical. Also once the space is removed can it ever revert to a visitors space (once the tenant no longer requires because they have moved out of the building ?) I object to the whole thing on grounds of legality but no one will support me. I think it is a legal minefield and will probably cost us more in the long run than the income it brings in.
Visitor parking spaces are usually owned and managed by the owners corporation. According to the model by-laws, residents can park in these spaces with written permission from the owners corporation. In this case, the committee is doing their job by asking all owners to consider a proposal and follow the majority’s decision. We recommend checking the registered strata plan and by-laws.
If you have concerns about whether it’s legal to lease out a visitor parking space, you can check with your local council for any restrictions and then provide the information to the owners corporation. This will allow owners to make an informed vote. If you can’t get the information in time, you can suggest that any approval to lease the space should be conditional upon consultation and written consent from the council before signing.
Once the lease agreement is no longer valid, depending on the conditions in the lease, the parking space should go back to the owners corporation and be used as a visitor space as noted on the strata plan.
