Report on Common Property, Land Titles, and Fundamental Changes for Stratas
BCLI Report no. 87 June 2019
178 Pages Posted: 25 Jun 2019
Date Written: June 18, 2019
Abstract
The British Columbia Law Institute's Report on Common Property, Land Titles, and Fundamental Changes for Stratas covers three subjects that each have a major bearing on the nature of strata properties (as condominiums are known in British Columbia) as interests in land. The report’s subjects crop up at crucial moments in a strata property’s life cycle. A strata property is created by deposit of a strata plan in the land title office. From this first interaction with the land-title system, it is important that provisions for strata properties and land titles are symbiotic and mutually supporting. Common property is an essential element in the unique strata-property conception of land ownership. Among other legal issues, many operational concerns for strata properties turn on an understanding of common property. Finally, some mature strata properties find themselves at a crossroads, where rewriting the legal or financial makeup of the strata property becomes an option to consider. These strata properties must engage with the legislation’s system for managing fundamental changes.
This report contains recommendations to amend the Strata Property Act and the Strata Property Regulation that address the definition of common property, transactions involving common property, parking stalls as common property, emerging issues in subdivision control, amendments to the strata plan and its accompanying documents, and amalgamation of strata corporations. The report also contains draft legislation and regulations, illustrating how these recommendations could be implemented.
Keywords: strata property, condominium, common property, land titles, parking stalls, leases, subdivision, strata plan, unit entitlement, amalgamation
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