This Q&A about whether a lot owner can convert their garage into a bedroom or living space in QLD has been answered by Hayley Gath, Mathews Hunt Legal.
Table of Contents:
- QUESTION: A rented lot in our small building has people living in the garage. Is this legal?
- QUESTION: A lot owner would like to remove a bylaw so they can convert their garage into a warehouse set up for a home occupation. Is this possible?
- QUESTION: A lot owner in our building has converted their garage into a bedroom and a child is living in it. Although I’ve reported this to the body corporate, they will not take any action.
Question: A rented lot in our small building has people living in the garage. Is this legal?
I am the owner of a unit in a block of four lots.
One of the lots is rented. That lot has people living in the garage. Is this legal?
There are no facilities in the garage. The tenants living in the garage do not have access to the residential lot upstairs associated with the garage.
Answer: The problem should be reported to your local council.
If the unit is not used for its designated purpose, the problem should be reported to your local council, and they can investigate.
The body corporate legislation doesn’t really cover issues like this. Still, overcrowding of units does happen from time to time and sometimes the body corporate might contact the owner or agent to make them aware of the situation. If you felt it was appropriate, you could do the same.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
This post appears in Strata News #662.
Question: A lot owner would like to remove a bylaw so they can convert their garage into a warehouse set up for a home occupation. Is this possible?
There is a motion being put forward at our upcoming AGM by an owner wanting to remove the following bylaw: “Where a lot includes an area designed for the parking of cars, the Owner or Occupier of the lot must only use this part of the lot for car parking purposes.”
They are using their garage as a warehouse set up for a home occupation.
In our complex, our council development plan states “Except for visitors car parking generally must be provided undercover and within the main building envelope.”
And our approved Development Application with council states “Each unit is required to have a minimum of one enclosed car park.”
Do both these requirements negate the ability to remove the by-law and hence enable us to enforce the following by law “All lots must be used only for residential purposes.”
Answer: The lot owner cannot do something which council conditions restrict.
The body corporate can approve the removal of the by-law if the council conditions do not actually require such a by-law to be imposed.
However, that does not mean that if and when the by-law is removed, the lot owner is authorised to do something which the council conditions restrict. The council can still take action and there may be other by-laws that are relevant which the committee could enforce (such as a use of lot by-law or a by-law requiring lots to be used for lawful purposes).
Todd Garsden
Mahoneys
E: tgarsden@mahoneys.com.au
P: 07 3007 3753
This post appears in Strata News #503.
Question: A lot owner in our building has converted their garage into a bedroom and a child is living in it. Although I’ve reported this to the body corporate, they will not take any action.
A lot owner in our complex has converted their garage into a children’s bedroom.
I’ve reported this to the body corporate about 30 times over the past 3 years. The owner is not concerned and the body corporate just ignores my messages.
This has become quite an issue in our scheme. What can I do about this? Surely it is not right.
Answer: Contact your local council to determine whether approval is required
I assume that the garage is located within the lot. Accordingly, you can:
- review the scheme’s by-laws to determine whether any by-laws are being contravened; and
- if this is a contravention of the Scheme’s by-laws, you can complete a ‘BCCM form 1 – notice to body corporate of contravention to the body corporate’ and send it to the body corporate.
Additionally, you can contact your local council to determine whether approval is required for the occupation of the garage and whether the required approval has been obtained (if any). If the required approval has not been obtained, the council may take steps to address this issue.
Hayley Gath
Mathews Hunt Legal
E: hayley.gath@mathewshuntlegal.com.au
P: 07 5555 8000
This post appears in Strata News #340.
If you have a question or something to add to the article, please leave a comment below.
Read More:
- NSW: Q&A Is Living in a Garage Illegal? How Can We Stop This?
- QLD: Q&A Can I Rent Out My Car Space or Storage Space?
- QLD: Q&As Keys, fobs, swipe cards, security access and issues
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About 34 years ago the then-Caretaker at our complex expanded his 120m2 unit by converting his 4om2 patio (adjacent to his unit and open to the air but with a height limit of 2.4m) into another set of rooms, with walls, windows, 12-tonne concrete roof, etc. The roof also intrudes into common property airspace, which raises Qs of unlawful exclusive use.
No one seems to have picked up that there is no record of this construction being approved either by the body corporate or the local council. Consequently, there is no entry in our s.197 Register for Improvements to Common Property By an Owner For an Owner. There also is no record of any of the subsequent caretakers meeting the costs of maintenance of these improvements, especially replacement of the windows doors etc – or of the extra costs for insurance. Committee is reluctant to do anything about it, even though their Body Corporate Manager has confirmed it is a serious issue.
Hi Ross
The following response has been provided by Hayley Gath, Mathews Hunt Legal:
This is a complex situation. You have correctly raised that there are numerous areas of concern, including:
1. occupation of common property airspace without an allocation of exclusive use, a lease or a licence;
2. the responsibility for maintenance and any increased cost of insurance;
3. the implications for the Body Corporate of the improvement not being contained in the improvements register; and
4. the implications of the structure being built without Council approval.
Given the significant length of time that has elapsed since the improvements were made, acquiescence is also a relevant consideration.
We recommend that legal advice is retained in respect of the improvement.
Let me tell you, if that was happening at my complex there would be hell to pay.
People need to show some respect for others who co share residential space.
Hi Allan
The following response has been provided by Chris Irons, Hynes Legal:
Thanks for your comment. It is a great reminder that not absolutely everything which occurs in a body corporate is a body corporate issue.
Yes, you must realise by now why your complaint has been ignored so many times by your contemporaries.
Amazing resilience- 30 complaints on the same subject.
Perhaps a different path to follow is to observe where the conversion of the garage means that one or more cars is being parked on common property, and whether that is illegal for your property.
Ditto – is the garage-dweller causing any other form of nuisance eg noise, rubbish etc?