Consultation Paper on Complex Stratas

Strata-property legislation was originally conceived as a means to encourage the development of residential housing. But nothing in British Columbia’s three generations of strata-property acts has ever restricted the legislation to that one kind of development. Like other jurisdictions, since the 1960s there has been a rapid increase in strata properties that are used for industrial, commercial, office, and recreational purposes. In addition to the familiar condominiums, there are also strata-titled townhouses, even single family homes in strata subdivisions (bare-land strata developments). There has also been a proliferation of mixed-use stratas, which combine two or more of these purposes within a single strata property. The ever-growing diversity and sophistication of strata-property developments has brought many benefits to British Columbia’s real-estate sector. But there have been drawbacks too. The interests of residential and nonresidential strata-lot owners can sometimes be in conflict, particularly over the sharing of common expenses and the control of common property. Legislation and regulations have been developed to manage these issues and to facilitate ever-more-sophisticated strata properties. This consultation paper examines options for reforming the rules applicable to complex stratas. Its focus is on three devices found in the Strata Property Act and the Strata Property Regulation and used in connection with complex stratas: (1) sections, which allow for the creation of mini strata corporations; (2) types, which allow for the allocation, to specific strata lots, of expenses paid for out of a strata corporation’s operating fund; and (3) phases, which allow for the development of strata properties in segments over an extended period of time. The consultation paper sets out tentative recommendations for reform of the law in relation to these three topics, for readers to review and to provide their comments. The consultation is open until 15 January 2017.