- This topic has 11 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 2 months ago by .
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Hi all,
Hoping to get some advice on something please. We recently purchased a unit in a block in Victoria where the main power supply for the whole block (e.g. switchboard with fuses and utility provider meters) was installed within our unit (in an internal stairwell area that is on our title, and not common property) many decades ago because it was the nearest location to the street/pole. Having it at this location means we cannot use the space as we would like (e.g. we can’t store things in this area because other owners and utility companies need access in case of faults, new connections, etc.), and it limits potential renovations. Mostly, it’s a major inconvenience having to provide access to everyone at any moment.
We feel this equipment should be moved to the external side of the same wall (which is a common property area), however the other owners have said it’s impossible or too expensive (i.e. they don’t gain anything from it).
What avenues do we have in this instance?
Thanks!
- This topic was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by .
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I think you have hit the mark by pointing out that there;’s nothing for them to gain from doing it. So the answer would be to give them some incentive. How about charging them rent for the space for the entire time that you have been there and into the future. Calculate the rent on the basis of commercial storage and lost opportunity to use the space for your own purposes. Add in the incentive that you won’t charge for back rent if they move the power board.
By the way, the chances are the power board is past its use-by date anyway and a more efficient solution might be to install a completely new one in the alternative location, then just wire it up when it’s ready to go. Minimum disruption, maximum benefit.
What does anyone else think?
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
I think the OP will find out what an “Implied Easement” means on Victorian Plans of Subdivision (strata plans).
It’s one of the quirks, if you like, of strata. At the time the strata plan is registered both the OC/BC and the lots have automatic implied easements over each other for the supply of their services.
So the other lots (and the OC/BC) will basically owe the OP nothing. They have the easement already. And if it’s not in their interests they need not change the current arrangement.
The OP, on the other hand, could pay to alter the arrangement and win back the space for their lot. That would need OC/BC approval of course.
Wow! I had no idea and have never heard of such a thing before. Is it the same in NSW? I suppose it then becomes a cost-benefit equation. Is it worth the cost and hassle of having the power board moved?
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by .
Yes, can you lock the room and charge any one who needs to access it? It seems very unfair that it is space you paid/ pay for, yet common access is expected.
Can you get a quote for moving it or having a new board put in? What does an electrician say about the safety of the current one?
Also, I’d ask all owners, not just the committee.
Yes, can you lock the room and charge any one who needs to access it?
See previous responses. Look like he’s stuck with it unless he’s prepared to take on the owners corp and pay to shift it himself.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
We have a similar situation. The electricity meters etc were not installed where intended by the plans but instead on the side wall of a neighbouring townhouse, but wholly inside our courtyard lot space.
For meter reading and any other purpose, someone has to traipse through our courtyard. One solution proposed but never actioned was for us to give up a metre-wide strip of courtyard alongside the neighbouring wall and in return receive the same area added to the courtyard from common property elsewhere.
Given the likely costs of surveyors, solicitors and changing boundaries on strata plans with the Land Titles Office, I expect simply moving the meters may well be less expensive?
Agree that nothing will change unless the other owners can be convinced to care!
Ah, that’s so weird. Yeh, is there anything like that (easements) in NSW strata?
Re “Implied Easements”. I think we have a similar arrangement in Queensland, called “Statutory Easements” which arise under our Land Titles Act and the BCCM legn. Very invasive and preemptory, and often encourages the Committees to feel they can do anything they like. There may be a requirement of ‘reasonable’ notice being given to an owner before the service provider comes onto your property or exclusive use area, but failure to do so does not prohibit the access and installation…so guess what happens, no notice.
i had a similar problem. there was an old disused mechanical ventilation system – fan in my garage and smoke stack in my courtyard. Hadn’t been used for 40 years. the OC don’t like me and refuse to communicate with me and eventually it cost me $150,000 in legal fees to have it removed. there’s a law that a resident can’t spoil quiet enjoyment of a property but no law that an OC can’t. basically if an OC wants to they can make your life hell for no reason. TIME TO CHANGE THE LAWS
In VIC stratas, there are implied easements for common and lot services due to the Subdivisions Act 1988, particularly s.12(2).
It means that the common property and the lots have easements over each other for the supply of their services. A lot’s service infrastructure can cross both common property and another lot property. The same with common service infrastructure. In VIC, lots are responsible for their services once they exclusively service the lot – regardless of their location. So the lot needs the easement in order to maintain their service. The implied easements are created when the strata plan is first registered. The lots and the OC don’t get to automatically add new implied easements however and existing implied easements will probably be difficult to remove.
A service provider can require that some or all of its service supply infrastructure is placed on common property. That’s the case today for electricity meters. But it might not have been the case decades ago. In any event, it seems the electricity distributor is OK with the present arrangement.
To get it changed at OC expense, the OP would probably have to challenge the fairness of the implied easement. That I think would be difficult to do if the easement has existed for decades.
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