NSW: Q&A Is Living in a Garage Illegal? How Can We Stop This?

A lot owner from NSW is wondering is living in a garage illegal? Leanne Habib, Premium Strata provides the following responses.

Table of Contents:

• QUESTION: A resident uses their garage as an extra entertainment room and disturbs surrounding residents. Could we introduce a by-law to restrict this activity?


• QUESTION: How do we best address tenants using the garage as a spare bedroom? Is living in a garage illegal? Do we need a bylaw to stop this from happening again?

Question: A resident uses their garage as an extra entertainment room and disturbs surrounding residents. Could we introduce a by-law to restrict this activity?

Can we establish a by-law that restricts the use of the garage to the parking of cars?

Our strata block has garages between each villa. The villa’s garage adjoins the next villa’s bedrooms. All noise in the garage area can be heard in the bedrooms.

A resident uses their garage as an extra entertainment room with lounges, a coal-burning BBQ, TV, etc. The noise from this garage space disturbs the surrounding residents with smoke, smell, and noise.

Can we establish a by-law that restricts the use of the garage to the parking of cars?

Answer: This type of entertainment may be in breach of planning consents for the complex.

Garages are not considered “habitable” spaces, so this type of entertainment may be in breach of planning consents for the complex. It also appears that the entertainer is breaching a wide range of laws/by-laws including nuisance (smoke, smell, noise) and by-laws that regulate behaviour.

In our view, a garage by-law restricting use to car parking and/or limited storage would be reasonable. In our experience, this by-law is commonly used to preserve the “appearance and amenity” of the building and to ensure the area is used as per the approved purpose under the DA.

Leanne Habib Premium Strata E: info@premiumstrata.com.au P: 02 9281 6440

This post appears in the February 2025 edition of The NSW Strata Magazine.

Question: How do we best address tenants using the garage as a spare bedroom? Is living in a garage illegal? Do we need a bylaw to stop this from happening again?

We have tenants who have moved into a villa and are using the garage as a bedroom for family and visitors. The strata plan indicates 2 bedrooms per villa and the garage is identified as a garage. Is living in a garage illegal?

Would you be able to provide information on the best way to address this issue?

Is a separate bylaw required to ensure this activity is not repeated in the future?

Answer: A garage is not a “habitable” area and therefore, in all likelihood, the tenants are in breach of planning instruments, zoning etc., of local council.

A garage is not a “habitable” area and therefore, in all likelihood, the tenants are in breach of planning instruments, zoning etc., of local council.

A by-law might be a useful tool to highlight to such tenants that they are in breach of Council regulations (and that way you can enforce the by-law through a Notice of Breach and/or take action through Council to issue an order etc).

You should also carefully check the certificate of title to determine whether or not the garages are identified as a utility lot with the notation “PURSUANT TO S.63 STRATA SCHEMES DEVELOPMENT ACT 2015 THIS STRATA SCHEME CONTAINS UTILITY LOT(S)”. In this case, human occupation is illegal and orders may be obtained against the offending tenants:

235 Orders enforcing restrictions on uses of utility lots

1. The Tribunal may, on application by an owners corporation, the lessor under a leasehold strata scheme or an owner or occupier of a lot in a strata scheme, order the owner of a utility lot and any other person who received notice of the application to refrain from committing a breach of a restriction imposed under section 63 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 on the use of the utility lot.


2. The Tribunal may, on application by the local council, order the owner of a utility lot and any other person who received notice of the application to refrain from committing a breach of a restriction imposed under section 63 of the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 on the use of the utility lot.

It is also likely in breach of standard by-law 19 because human occupation is likely to be inherently dangerous and likely to “affect” the insurances of the Owners Corporation.

Leanne Habib Premium Strata E: info@premiumstrata.com.au P: 02 9281 6440

This article is not intended to be personal advice and you should not rely on it as a substitute for any form of advice.

This post appears in Strata News #163.

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