SCA (NZ) President’s Message (April 2022)

SCA (NZ) has kicked off the year with a strong focus on advocacy, continuing to foster the significant changes currently being undertaken to the unit titles environment in New Zealand, to ensure positive and long-lasting future outcomes for strata industry stakeholders.

New Zealand is situated as one of the most urbanised nations in the world, and as a result, continues to see substantial growth in the strata sector, with almost 10 per cent of the population now residing in a strata title. It is therefore imperative that the legislative framework that governs this rapidly changing environment is responsive to the adjustments of the priorities of the sector.

Correspondingly, the main piece of legislation that governs strata in New Zealand, the Unit Titles Act 2010 is currently undergoing considerable reform, through the introduction of the Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. The core amendments to the act within the bill are mainly focused on improving disclosure to potential purchasers, strengthening the body corporate governance framework and increasing the professionalism and standards of the overall strata management industry. 

As the peak professional association for the New Zealand Body Corporate and Community Title Management industry, SCA (NZ) has been a consistent contributor throughout this process, though ongoing collaboration with the New Zealand Parliament, including the provision of a comprehensive submission in April of last year that best represented the needs of our members. SCA (NZ) has seen a multitude of positive outcomes as a result of our continuing advocacy, with many of our key priorities being acknowledged and met by the government in the drafting of the bill.

As it stands, the bill underwent a successful second reading on 6 April 2022. MPs will now consider the bill in detail, and after a final reading we expect the bill will be passed into legislation in the near future. SCA (NZ) will continue to diligently work alongside government representatives and ministers within the Parliament, taking advantage of the relationships we have formed to facilitate the passing of the bill, ensuring that our desire that the bill be finalised and enacted as soon as possible is met.