Strata Title & Apartment Ownership in WA
How strata companies, levies and by-laws work in WA — increasingly relevant now that apartments and units are the most FIRB-compliant path for foreign buyers.
General information, not advice. Foreign investment rules, duties and taxes change and depend on your personal circumstances (visa status, entity structure, property type). Always confirm current requirements with FIRB, RevenueWA, and a licensed conveyancer, migration agent, or tax adviser before acting.
Apartments, townhouses and villas are usually held under strata title, and since new and off-the-plan apartments are now one of the main FIRB-compliant options for foreign buyers (see our FIRB guide), understanding strata ownership matters more than it used to.
What strata title actually means
You own your individual lot (your apartment or unit) outright, and you jointly own the common property — foyers, lifts, gardens, shared facilities — with every other owner in the scheme, through a strata company that every owner is automatically a member of. In WA, strata schemes are governed by the Strata Titles Act 1985, administered by Landgate, with a significant round of reforms that took effect on 1 May 2020.
Who runs the building
- Strata company — the legal entity made up of all lot owners, responsible for managing and maintaining common property
- Strata council — a smaller elected group of owners who make day-to-day decisions on the strata company’s behalf
- Strata manager — often a professional firm engaged to handle administration, finances and compliance, particularly in larger schemes
By-laws
Every scheme has by-laws, split into two types:
- Governance by-laws — how the strata company operates, meetings, voting
- Conduct by-laws — rules for owners and tenants, covering things like pets, noise, renovations, and sometimes restrictions on short-term letting
Read the by-laws before you buy, not after — they can materially affect how you’re able to use or rent out the property.
Levies — a real ongoing cost
Owners pay regular levies into two funds:
- Administrative fund — day-to-day running costs (cleaning, insurance, gardening, minor repairs)
- Reserve fund — long-term capital works (roof replacement, major maintenance, big-ticket items)
These are a genuine ongoing holding cost on top of council rates and any land tax — factor them into your budget alongside the costs in our financing guide. A scheme with an underfunded reserve fund can hit owners with a large one-off special levy with little notice, so this is worth checking before you buy, not after.
Due diligence before buying into a strata scheme
- Request recent strata company meeting minutes and financial statements — look for disputes, deferred maintenance, or a thin reserve fund
- Ask whether any special levies are planned or under discussion
- Check the by-laws for restrictions relevant to you — pets, renovations, and (if you’re planning to rent it out short-term) any letting restrictions
- If it’s an off-the-plan purchase, understand that the strata scheme itself won’t formally exist until the building is complete and titles are issued — see our off-the-plan guide
Disputes
Strata disputes in WA (disagreements between owners, or between an owner and the strata company) are generally heard by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT), rather than going through the general court system.