Questions & Answers

 

Question: Can my tenant put the spare bedroom on Airbnb?

Landlord
I have a tenant who is renting a 2 bedroom apartment. He has decided to rent the spare bedroom out on Airbnb. His lease is for one person.

What are the owner’s legal rights?
What are the tenant’s legal rights?

Cordato
This situation came up in the Supreme Court of Victoria last year. The court decided that the tenant was sub-leasing the bedroom, as opposed to giving a licence to occupy.

The tenant needed the landlord’s consent to sub-lease. The landlord did not consent, and so was justified in terminating the lease.

Landlord
Much appreciated. Matter sorted. No more Airbnb

 

Question: Water Leak – Strata Apartment

An investment property that I purchased at Botany in ~May 2015 has incurred internal water damages due to inadequate flashing being installed when the building was constructed in 2001 - certified Engineer report supports this.

I have been advised by the strata committee that apparently the builder conveniently filed for bankruptcy following completion of construction so it seems we don't have any channel of recourse there... Though I do not know who built the property and I do not know whether this is actually true.

After reading the PDS of both the strata insurance and my landlord insurance it seems we are not covered for either the internal damages or the external structural remedial works required under either of these policies.

Answer:

Leaky buildings are probably the number one source of complaints in a strata scheme - so you are in good company.

It is the responsibility of the owners corporation to keep the building watertight under its general obligation to keep the building in good repair under section 106 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 -

Duty of owners corporation to maintain and repair property

An owners corporation for a strata scheme must properly maintain and keep in a state of good and serviceable repair the common property and any personal property vested in the owners corporation.

It is not your concern as to whether or not the owners corporation has a claim upon the builder or anyone else - in your case it has no claim (a) because the builder is bankrupt; and in any case, (b) because after 10 years from the date the building was completed, claims are excluded by law.

Your reading of the insurance policies is correct - their coverage is restricted to water leaks which occur because of an event, such as storm and tempest has removed roofing material. They exclude cover for water entry such as seeping through a wall or floor.

Strata insurance and landlords insurance exclude damage arising out of maintenance and repair issues.

The strata sinking fund is there to cover maintenance, repair and replacements in the building.

Therefore, the owners corporation not only has the responsibility to repair the leak, but also the funds available to pay for the repair.

My recommendation is to request the owners corporation to acknowledge its responsibility and to issue a work order to a roofer / builder to repair the leak.

Failing that, you have the right to obtain an order requiring the owners corporation to do so from the Tribunal.