Adapting strata and community title buildings for climate change
Authors: Chris Guilding, Jan Warnken, Francesco Andreone and Dawne Lamminmaki
Year: 2013
It has been estimated that around three million people live in strata or community titled (S&CT) properties in Australia. Strata title is a property ownership model that enables people to acquire a registered title for an individual residential unit within a complex of units and to share in the communal ownership of the common property in the complex. The challenge in preparing for climate change is complicated in the context of S&CT buildings, as it is an ownership model that involves unit owners with rights to individually registered property titles tied together in a legally binding relationship requiring communal upkeep of infrastructure that they collectively own. The research identified six thematic issues that should be considered when seeking to better prepare strata titled communities for a world of climate change: 1) Facilitating unit owner awareness of climate change implications; 2) Facilitating information availability to key decision makers; 3) Facilitating strata and community title complex decision making; 4) Funding building adaptation work; 5) Weather event emergency management; and 6) Insurance as risk management.This report develops and analyses 24recommendations designed to advance the capacity of strata titled communities to cope with climate change. The range of issues addressed in the recommendations include factors relating to building construction and resilience rating, improved climate change education of strata title stakeholders, insurance, emergency management, building decision making issues, and bank lending. The recommendations are directed to a broad range of strata title stakeholders that include unit owners, strata managers, resident managers, state and federal governments, insurance companies, sinking fund forecasters and banks. A ‘Stakeholder Action List manual’ generated from this study can be found at https://www.nccarf.edu.au/sites/default/files/attached_files_publications/Guilding_2013_Adapting_strata_and_community_title_Manual.pdf
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