What resolution is needed for an improvement to the common property?
One of the owners wants to buy a portion of land from the Body Corporate to extend his section. The Trustees are saying that this is alienation of the common property and therefore a unanimous resolution is needed. Is this correct?
If you look at the STSM Act at the portion about alienation it states the following:
Section 5. (1) In addition to the body corporate’s main functions and powers under sections 3 and 4, the body corporate—
- may, upon unanimous resolution, on direction by the owners and with the written consent of any holder of a right of extension contemplated in section 25 of the Sectional Titles Act, alienate common property or any part thereof, or let the common property or any part thereof under a lease, and thereupon the body corporate may, subject to section 17(1) of the Sectional Titles Act, deal with such common property or such part thereof in accordance with the direction and may execute any deed required for this purpose, including any deed required under the Sectional Titles Act;
Extending your section onto common property is however not alienation of the common property as per the Act. Alienation of common property is when the portion of land is cut off from the scheme / removed from the scheme.
And example of alienation will be where there is a piece of vacant land at the side of the complex and the neighbour buys it from the Body Corporate to incorporate it into his land. It is then removed from the common property – the perimeter wall is moved to exclude this portion of land.