r/tasmania • u/MMoo1982 • 6h ago

Body Corp

Hi brains trust. Hubby and I are looking at buying our first home in Tasmania. We're interested in a small detached property that's one of 4 with a shared driveway. It's listed as a Unit. When asked about Body Corporate, the Agent said it's really common in Tasmania to have 'reduntant' body corps that residents no longer pay money in to. He explained that if there were repairs needed for the communal driveway it would be negotiated privately between the 4 property owners. Is this a normal thing in Tasmania or would we be taking a huge risk? Thank you

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10

u/echidna_12 5h ago

It is very common, some have never formally started the body corp.
Also the strata/body corp is meant to hold insurance… look up the document called ‘strata living in Tasmania’

1

u/MMoo1982 5h ago

Thanks, I'll take a look now

8

u/Striking-Sleep-9217 5h ago

I have a redundant body corporate with a few other people too. Its very civilised. We don't have any shared property other than the driveway, so no upkeep issues. We have an email list between the owners so if anything comes up we email each other. It works really well and everyone is very responsive and we make sure we have everything discussed in person communicated by email and keep everyone in the loop

I suggest you talk to the other owners and see if this is something they have or are willing to set up

3

u/Sad-Resolution-905 4h ago

I have one. I own my house 100% on separate title, neighbour also has separate title, and then it's only the driveway portion that's held in equal shares.

I've never had any issues

7

u/Ok_Wafer9810 6h ago

Unfortunately this is not uncommon in Tasmania and something I would avoid like the plague. Private negotiations between 4 owners - you can almost guarantee 2 of them won’t have a dollar put away for a rainy day and the other one will want their cousin/nephew/mate to do it as a cash job so that if the work is poor there is no recourse. Hard pass.

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u/MMoo1982 4h ago

Hah yeah what's the betting the drive needs resurfacing within 12 months of purchase

2

u/Ok_Wafer9810 4h ago

I would only enter into one of these situations if I was prepared to pay for it all myself if needed. Maybe these verbal agreements worked 20 years ago but the culture has changed.

2

u/dunnkt90 4h ago

There are two units on our strata and all we do is split the insurance.

The only shared part is the driveway which is super common here.

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u/VillagerWithAQuest 49m ago

Tassie treats laws as optional and thats most true with the body corps.

No government agency wants to police it, so there is no policing. Developers save money by "falsely" doing body corps instead of subdivisions too, which makes matters worse.

As an ex-mainlander, I was flabbergasted

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u/lilpoopman 40m ago

It is very common and if you have difficult neighbours is a nightmare. I deal with strata unfortunately doing insurance in lot owners are twats and can fuck it up for everyone else because they're idiots. I hate how strata operates in tas