Victorian strata news, October 2026: owners corporations get an easier path to VCAT

The first changes from the review of Victoria's owners corporation laws are now in force. Since 9 September, an owners corporation can take a rule breach to VCAT on an ordinary resolution instead of a special resolution. A hardship payment plan scheme is law too, though it hasn't started yet. In August a parliamentary committee asked for the vote needed to install solar to drop from 75% to 50%. In October, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) said OC manager conduct is one of its priorities for 2026-27. All of this comes as VCAT's owners corporation list is at its busiest since 2020-21.

News

Owners corporations can go to VCAT on a simple majority

The Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 received royal assent on 8 September 2026. It is the first law to come out of the review of the Owners Corporations Act 2006, and its proceedings changes started the next day.

Under section 18, an owners corporation normally needs a special resolution before it can start a proceeding in a court or tribunal. New section 18(2A) allows an ordinary resolution where the order sought is non-monetary, such as an order to stop a repeated noise, parking or pet breach. Money claims are unchanged. A claim worth up to twice the current annual fees still needs an ordinary resolution, and a larger one still needs a special resolution.

The same Act changes section 34D of the Subdivision Act 1988, which lets VCAT consent to a change to the plan of subdivision for owners who refuse. VCAT can now count owners who didn't vote, and it can approve the change where more than half of the members, holding more than half of the lot entitlement, agree and the benefits to the subdivision as a whole outweigh the disadvantages to the owners who didn't agree. The government says this makes it easier to alter a plan of subdivision, which used to need every owner to agree.

Hardship payment plans are law, but not started

The same Act adds new sections 32A to 32J, which give owners who receive a fee notice or final fee notice the right to ask for a payment plan. These parts start on a day to be proclaimed, and no later than 1 December 2027. Until then, nothing changes.

Once it starts, the scheme applies to every owners corporation except tier 5. The request has to be in writing on an approved form. The owners corporation has 28 days to accept or refuse, and if it doesn't answer, the request is generally taken to be accepted. It can't charge a fee for a plan. Owner-occupiers can only be refused on set grounds, such as a plan longer than 12 months, an existing plan, or a broken plan in the past 2 years. An owner who has applied and is waiting for an answer, or who is keeping to a plan, is not treated as in arrears for voting. Minutes must not name the owner, and the AGM gets a yearly report on how many plans were asked for, accepted and refused.

MPs want a 50% vote for solar on apartment buildings

On 12 August 2026 the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee tabled its report on renewable and affordable energy for apartments, with 52 findings and 25 recommendations. Its media release says the committee wants the vote needed for solar installations lowered from 75% of owners to 50%, owners corporations to consider sustainability at every AGM, and mandatory training for committee members. It also proposes an online strata hub with a registry of building and owners corporation records. The report is awaiting a government response, so none of this is law yet.

The money is already there. Solar Victoria's Solar for Apartments program has been extended to 30 June 2027 and offers rebates of up to $2,800 per apartment, or $140,000 per building. It covers buildings of up to eight storeys with 5 to 50 apartments, plus strata townhouses and units, that are controlled by an owners corporation and share a common property roof. Solar Victoria says more than $5.7 million has been paid to over 141 developments, covering more than 2,650 households.

CAV puts OC managers on its watch list

On 12 October CAV published its regulatory priorities for 2026-27. One of them is owners corporation managers who fail to meet their obligations or handle disputes properly. The full priorities say CAV will use the powers it already has to act where an OC manager presents financial, safety or governance risks.

Manager training rules are also on the way. Under the Owners Corporations (Education) Regulations 2026, CAV's timetable is:

Investor owners: rental reforms started on 13 October

If you rent out your apartment, new rental laws started on 13 October 2026. Every rental property now needs gas and electrical safety checks every 2 years. A rental provider has to show the renter evidence, such as invoices, receipts, quotes or photos, before making a bond claim. Fees for rental applications and rent payments are banned, and rental providers must keep records showing the property meets the minimum standards.

Selling a unit: sale price rules changed on 1 October

New property sales rules started on 1 October 2026. For auctions and fixed-date sales from 16 October, agents must publish the seller's reserve price at least 7 days before the sale, or the sale can't go ahead. A new Property Price Statement replaces the Statement of Information, with separate versions for multiple units. Agents must add the sale price 7 days after a sale becomes unconditional. From mid to late 2027, agents will also have to make the section 32 statement available at least 14 days before an auction or fixed-date sale, CAV says.

In the courts: who owns a balcony floor, and who pays for an OC manager

Balcony tiles and waterproofing can be common property. In Damjanovski v Owners Corporation 1 Plan No. PS503570D [2026] VSC 656 (8 October), the Supreme Court looked at a fifth-floor balcony in Maribyrnong whose tiles were letting water into the apartment below. The owners corporation had issued notices to repair under sections 48 and 49 of the Owners Corporations Act, and VCAT had found the balcony floor was the owner's lot. Justice Harris disagreed. Where the plan of subdivision puts the boundary at the "interior face", the screed, waterproof membrane and tiles on the balcony floor are common property. VCAT's finding that the owner breached his duty to maintain his lot under section 129 was set aside. Who pays for the repairs goes back to VCAT unless the parties settle first.

An OC manager's fees for running a VCAT case aren't "costs". In Ford v Owners Corporation SP 24717 & Ors (Costs) [2026] VCAT 611 (4 August), an owners corporation that won its case asked VCAT to make the losing owner pay what it had paid its OC manager to represent it. VCAT refused. A party can use a non-lawyer professional advocate under section 62 of the VCAT Act, but those fees can't be claimed from the other side as costs. The respondents who used lawyers did get their costs. If your owners corporation is weighing who should run a VCAT matter, factor that in.

The numbers

VCAT's Owners Corporation list grew 48% in 2024-25, the latest year VCAT has reported. VCAT says fee recovery claims drove it, up 51%. Before that, applications had fallen from 3,445 in 2019-20 to 1,642 in 2022-23.

Finalisations didn't keep up, so pending cases rose 51%. VCAT has added members and an on-the-papers process for fee recovery to deal with it.

Most matters are small: 1,776 of the 2,467 applications in 2024-25 were standard claims under $15,000.

New apartments, townhouses and units become new owners corporations. Victorian approvals for these dwellings swing widely from month to month. The figures below are the ABS original series, which is not seasonally adjusted.

Victoria has more strata schemes than any other state and almost as many lots as NSW.

At least 18% of Victorians live in strata. Only the ACT has a larger share.

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