Just purchased a lot for the first time in a body corporate scheme? Here are some basics of body corporate to help get your started.
A body corporate is a legal entity which is created automatically when a community titles scheme (CTS) is created. A body corporate is the legal structure that allows individual owners in a development to jointly own, manage and pay for the shared areas of the development.
A body corporate is similar to a company, where the owner of each lot in the body corporate is like a shareholder. The body corporate’s sole purpose is to manage and operate the development for which it was created.
All lot owners in the development are automatically members of the body corporate. In a townhouse development with 100 lots, there would be 100 members of the body corporate.
Membership of the body corporate is not optional and all members have some obligations.
While all members have some obligations (e.g. paying levies), participation in the democratic decision-making processes is optional.
A community titles scheme (CTS) is a type of development under which multiple lots and common property can be created on a single piece of land. This structure allows individual people to buy the separate lots and jointly own and manage the shared areas on the land.
This type of scheme is very common for duplexes, residential units and high-rise, townhouses, commercial office parks and other developments.
On 24 April 2024, the Queensland Government announced more changes to the legislation regarding pets. Taking effect from 1 May 2024 these will impact nearly all body corporate communities in Queensland. This article touches on those changes, how they compare to the previous legislation, and what it means for body corporate committees.
Like any communal living arrangement, disagreements can and do arise amongst residents. This article looks at the process of self-resolution and resolving disputes with other residents in a body corporate scheme.
