The ADLS/SCA (NZ) Unit Titles Bodies Corporate half-day conference is back in 2022, in person and with a cornucopia of updates on topical issues.
Chaired by Liza Fry-Irvine, a recognised expert in unit titles and body corporate law, the conference will cover a lot of ground.
Of key interest to many practitioners – whether involved in property transactions, governance advice or litigation – is the Amendment Act. This was passed earlier this year and makes significant changes to the law around:
- disclosure in property sales;
- manager duties;
- how body corporate and committee decisions are made;
- conflicts of interests;
- improvement notices and penalties for managers and bodies corporate; and
- the Tenancy Tribunal’s role.
Many believe the Amendment Act will create a lot of new work for lawyers through the sheer force and level of detail in the new statutory provisions. More regulation means there is more to understand and advise on.
As usual, the conference will bring together perspectives from lawyers and managers to help ensure all those attending understand how better to work collaboratively and across different sectors of the industry. For this reason, both ADLS and the Strata Community Association (NZ) play a part in the conference.
Intensification is an important topic and intensification of our biggest cities is being pushed by central government. While there has been some uneconomic, minority relief, leasehold land and caveats. resistance from councils, it’s worth noting that unit titles play a critical role in this intensification. Understanding the intensification push will be a key part of development work for clients.
The conference will be also have dedicated sessions that will dig deeper into the Amendment Act than has been possible to date, with a particular focus on disclosure issues, managers and governance.
Even if you’ve already had some education on the Act, these sessions will go further and into more detail. They will be presented by experts who can tell you what to expect and what the changes mean in practice.
The case law update is a regular feature of the program. There has been something of a deluge of unit title cases in the past 12 months, covering a full range of unit title issues, from vendor warranties and disclosure through to management agreements, how to deal with remediation when it becomes uneconomic, minority relief, leasehold land and caveats.
These cases state and sometimes change the law so it’s important to be up-to-speed with them.
The afternoon also features a session on wellness, resilience and bullying in the body corporate context. Whether a lawyer, manager or other professional, it’s not enough to just “know the law”: it’s also important to understand and have the tools to deal with difficult interpersonal issues.
The day will conclude with a panel discussion of experts on topical issues, highlighting matters arising from the presentations as well as allowing an opportunity for questions.
Thomas Gibbons is a specialist property and land development lawyer and a director of Thomas Gibbons Law.
0 Comments