NSW: Q&A When Your Apartment Comes With a Marina

This article is about marina insurance for strata lots.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: We are looking at an apartment that has a marina. Who owns it? Can I sell it? Can I rent it out?
• QUESTION: Do you have information on Marina insurance attached to strata lots?

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Question: We are looking at an apartment that has a marina. Who owns it? Can I sell it? Can I rent it out?

Answer: The answers to your questions lie in the title arrangements for the marina and the apartments.

The answers to your questions lie in the title arrangements for the marina and the apartments. These should be attached to the sale contract.

Water areas containing marinas and jetties are generally owned by Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) and leased to the associated waterfront property owner, Council or to a commercial operator. Sometimes, they are included in a leasehold strata scheme. The title arrangements may include restrictions on ownership (for example, that the owner or occupier of the marina birth must be the same as the owner or occupier an apartment). These restrictions may be in the management documents for the properties, a lease, planning restrictions or restrictions on title.

You will need to examine the title and management documents for the apartment and marina (and may need to seek further information from the strata manager or owners corporation) to determine what rights you will have to use and deal with the marina. For example, the marina may:

• be leased from RMS to a commercial operator, in which case you will need to enter into a commercial agreement with that operator to use the marina;
• be leased by RMS to the owners corporation for the apartment building, in which case you will need to review the lease and any relevant by-laws to determine what usage rights you will have as an owner in the strata scheme;
• be leased directly to the apartment owner by RMS, in which case you will need to liaise with RMS to take a transfer of the lease from the current apartment owner or enter into a new lease; or
• be included as a leasehold lot in a strata scheme separate to the apartment strata scheme.

You should obtain legal advice about your rights and obligations in relation to the marina.

Emma Smythies
Bugden Allen Graham Lawyers
E: emma@bagl.com.au
P: 0412 046 966

This post appears in Strata News #437.

Question: Do you have information on Marina insurance attached to strata lots?

Answer: If the marina is for personal and private use, then it falls under the strata policy generally.

Yes, marinas are covered by strata insurance, but some insurers will have exclusions around commercial use for marinas.

If you use the marina for private use and for example the storage of private boats, then generally you’ll find that under both the property insurance and liability insurance sections of a strata policy there will be cover for the marina.

When you start to become commercial, it is something the body corporate should speak to their insurance broker about because they may need to look at specific marine insurance and speaking to marine insurers about a policy for that marina separate to your strata insurance.

If the marina is for personal and private use, then it falls under the strata policy generally. If it’s for commercial use, that’s something that the broker should look at and provide a solution for the Owners Corporation.

Tyrone Shandiman
Strata Insurance Solutions
T: 07 3899 5129
E: tshandiman@iaa.net.au

This post appears in Strata News #385.

This information is of a general nature only and neither represents nor is intended to be personal advice on any particular matter. Shandit Pty Ltd T/as Strata Insurance Solutions strongly suggests that no person should act specifically on the basis of the information in this document, but should obtain appropriate professional advice based on their own personal circumstances. Shandit Pty Ltd T/As Strata Insurance Solutions is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 404246) of Insurance Advisernet Australia AFSL No 240549, ABN 15 003 886 687.

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