Body Corporates & Pets (Dogs)

[Matt Mc]

Is it possible to have dogs within a body corporate structure? I.e Townhouses or Units? I have seen some circumstances where people were
able to have a smaller dog in a duplex style, however i am looking at the possibility of getting approval for a labrador? Has anyone had any success with this at all? In particular in the Brisbane area?

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I would consider the paracticality of owning a lab and living in a townhouse. Labs are reasonably large dogs and they generally need quite a bit of space and exercise. Talk to your local RSPCA about the requirements of this type of dog. They're very good with this sort of information, because they don't want to end up getting the dog because you can't cope with it.

 

[JoannaK]

In NSW (i'm not sure about other states) when a strata plan is registered with the Land Titles Office the animal option is registered at the same time. Generally the options are:

animals are OK
no animals at all
no animals unless permission is granted in writing

Now, at the inaugral AGM held by the Body Corporate the decision registered at the LTO will be discussed and if desired by the body corporate it will be changed.

At the end of the day, there are no hard and fast policies regarding animals in a Strata complex, it is up to each body corporate and the by-laws they have registered. If you have a look at the registered strata plan (a copy of which will have been in your contract when you purchased) it should say on the front page what sort of by-law has been registered with regard to animals.

Hope this helps.

 

[Simon H]

In NSW (i'm not sure about other states) when a strata plan is registered with the Land Titles Office the animal option is registered at the same time. Generally the options are:

animals are OK
no animals at all
no animals unless permission is granted in writing

Now, at the inaugral AGM held by the Body Corporate the decision registered at the LTO will be discussed and if desired by the body corporate it will be changed.

At the end of the day, there are no hard and fast policies regarding animals in a Strata complex, it is up to each body corporate and the by-laws they have registered. If you have a look at the registered strata plan (a copy of which will have been in your contract when you purchased) it should say on the front page what sort of by-law has been registered with regard to animals.

Hope this helps.

Just like to add that that in NSW a "Change of By-laws" can be registered with the Strata Plan or anytime (years later) after that.

This means that a good contract for sale should show the changes made (copy of the Dealing attached). but in the cases I have seen, copies of the new By-Laws would need to be ordered before purchase.

Hope this helps
Simon H

 

[XBenX]

I vaguely remember reading something stating it is virtually impossible to stop tenants from keeping a pet, can anyone recall reading this?

 

[JoannaK]

I don't know that that is correct XBenX. A body corporate has the power these days to seek orders against the tenant and even instigate the eviction of tenants for breaking bylaws, including those involving pets.

 

[Alan H]

I have a Villa where I'm currently seeking permission from the Body Corporate for the tenants to keep a small dog in the backyard.

A formal request is certainly required. The managing agent sent out a voting paper with mostly quite reasonable conditions quoting things like Dog Handling Acts, Noise etc. One condition that seemed rather strange was that they required the dog to be de-sexed though? That surprised me.

I forget the exact wording but while Body Corporate appoval is normally required, I think the term is something like "permission should not be unreasonably denied".

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I went to a BC meeting once where an owner was keeping a cat and another owners in the block mentioned it. The BC manager said that they're not allowed pets, but is it really worth the hastle over a cat which is rairly outside of the persons unit.

I think if it had of been a large dog it would have been another story, but in this case, no one wanted to go through the hastle over a pet which made no difference to them anyway, except the owner who tended to complain about almost everything.