straita

Owners Rights

Can strata stop me having visitors or guests?

Short answer

A scheme generally can’t ban you from having ordinary visitors or guests in your home. What by-laws can do is set reasonable rules around common areas — such as visitor parking, keeping shared spaces clear, and holding you responsible for your guests following the by-laws. A by-law also has to be reasonable to stand, so one that unreasonably restricted ordinary visitors could be challenged.

What a scheme can regulate

By-laws are about the shared parts and shared living, so they can reasonably touch how visitors interact with common property:

  • Visitor parking — limits, permits or designated spaces.
  • Common areas — keeping lobbies, corridors and shared facilities clear and used properly.
  • Guest behaviour — you can be made responsible for ensuring your visitors follow the by-laws (noise, parking and the rest).

These are rules about conduct on common property, not a bar on you having people over.

What it generally can’t do

Your ability to have guests in your own lot is part of using and enjoying your home. A by-law can’t be harsh, unconscionable or oppressive, and one that effectively prevented you having ordinary visitors would be vulnerable to challenge on that basis. Short-term commercial letting (paying guests, holiday stays) is a different question with its own rules — that’s not the same as having friends or family to stay.

If a rule goes too far

If you think a visitor by-law is unreasonable — or is being applied unfairly — you can raise it with the committee, use Fair Trading’s mediation, and ultimately ask NCAT to review the by-law. Because whether a rule is “reasonable” turns on the detail, these cases are decided on their facts.

Keeping the rules clear for everyone

Most visitor friction comes from unclear or half-remembered rules about parking and common areas. In a self-managed scheme run on Straita, the current by-laws are kept in one accessible place, so owners, residents and their guests can all see the actual rules — and the committee applies the same ones consistently.

Primary sources