Short answer
Strata is a form of property ownership where you individually own your lot (like an apartment or townhouse) and share ownership of the common property with all the other owners in the scheme. Buy a lot and you automatically become part of the owners corporation, which manages the shared parts.
How it’s different from owning a house
With a house you own the land and building outright. Strata splits a property into separately owned lots plus shared common property (external walls, roof, driveways, gardens). What’s yours and what’s shared is fixed by the registered strata plan. It’s the standard way apartments, townhouses and unit complexes are owned in NSW.
What comes with it
Being in strata means shared decisions and shared costs: levies fund the scheme, by-laws set the rules, and decisions are made at meetings — usually through an elected committee.
Running one
Every scheme has to be run — the levies, meetings, records and compliance happen whether or not there’s a paid manager. Many NSW schemes self-manage: a system such as Straita does that work and tells the committee what’s next, so the owners just approve the decisions.
Primary sources
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — how strata schemes are managed.
- NSW Government — Strata schemes (Fair Trading) — an introduction to strata living.