Strata renewal and collective sale explained — buying into a NSW scheme

The short version

Strata renewal is the legal process that lets the owners in a NSW strata scheme agree to sell the whole building to a developer (a collective sale) or to redevelop it, then wind the scheme up. It exists because a single owner used to be able to block a sale that everyone else wanted, leaving ageing blocks stuck. Since late 2016 a scheme can go ahead if owners of at least 75% of the lots support a formal plan — and the Land and Environment Court signs off that the terms are fair. For a buyer, the thing to understand is that if you buy into a building where this is under way, you may eventually be sold out of your home, even against your wishes — with compensation, but on the scheme's timeline, not yours.

Why the process exists

Under the old law, terminating a strata scheme needed every single owner to agree, so one holdout could stop a whole block being sold or rebuilt even when the great majority wanted to move on. The Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (NSW) introduced a renewal process, in force from late 2016, that replaced unanimity with a 75% threshold — balanced by court oversight so the minority isn't simply steamrolled.

How a renewal actually happens

The process runs in stages, and it's deliberately slow. In broad terms:

• A proposal comes in. Usually a developer approaches the owners corporation, or owners raise the idea themselves. Any owner or the developer can give the scheme a renewal proposal to consider.
• A strata renewal committee forms. If a general meeting decides the proposal is worth pursuing, owners establish a committee to investigate it and prepare a formal strata renewal plan — the detailed terms of the sale or redevelopment.
• The plan is put to owners. The plan is given to every owner, who has time to consider it and get their own advice. It only proceeds if owners of at least 75% of the lots give written support.
• The court checks it. The plan is then taken to the Land and Environment Court, which must be satisfied the process was followed properly and that the terms of settlement are just and equitable before it can be approved.

Each stage has its own notice periods and safeguards, so a renewal typically unfolds over many months or years — it isn't something that can happen quietly overnight.

What it means if you're the owner who doesn't want to sell

This is the part that worries buyers most, and it's worth being straight about: yes, a dissenting owner can ultimately be required to sell as part of an approved plan. That's the trade-off the 75% threshold makes. But the law builds in protections. A dissenting owner must be compensated at not less than the market value of their lot, assessed independently, and the court won't approve a plan unless it's satisfied the settlement terms are just and equitable for those who didn't agree. The safeguard isn't a veto — it's independent valuation plus judicial review of fairness.

Where it shows up before you buy

A renewal doesn't appear from nowhere. Because it starts with proposals, meetings and a committee, it leaves a trail in the scheme's paperwork long before anything is decided. A strata records inspection is where you'd catch it: minutes discussing a developer approach, a renewal committee being established, or a plan being circulated. The headline figures on the section 184 certificate won't show this on their own, which is one more reason to read the records behind them before you exchange — especially in an older, low-rise block on a large or well-located site, the kind developers most often target.

Renewal isn't automatically a bad thing

For some owners a collective sale is welcome — an ageing building with mounting repair bills can be worth more to a developer as a site than the sum of its tired apartments, so a renewal can pay out above an ordinary sale. The point isn't that renewal is a threat to run from; it's a possibility worth knowing about before you commit, rather than discovering after settlement.

What to check before you sign

1. The recent minutes. Look through the last few years of general meeting and committee minutes for any mention of a developer approach, a collective-sale proposal or a renewal committee.
2. Any strata renewal committee or plan. Ask the agent directly whether one exists or has been discussed — and if so, get the documents and read the terms.
3. The building and the site. Older blocks on large, well-located or higher-density-zoned land are the ones developers approach; that context tells you how live the possibility is.
4. The records, not just the certificate. A records inspection is where renewal activity surfaces; the section 184 certificate alone won't show it.
5. Your own advice. If any renewal is on foot, have your conveyancer or solicitor explain where the process has got to and what it would mean for you.

Common questions

Can I really be forced to sell my apartment?

Through an approved strata renewal plan, yes — that's the effect of the 75% threshold replacing the old requirement for everyone to agree. But it's a protected process: a dissenting owner must be paid at least the independently assessed market value of their lot, and the Land and Environment Court has to be satisfied the terms are just and equitable before the plan can proceed.

How likely is this to happen to a building I buy into?

For most schemes it never comes up. Renewals tend to concentrate on older, lower-rise buildings on land a developer can put to denser use. A modern high-rise on a fully built-out site is a far less likely candidate. The way to gauge it for a specific building is the records — see our strata title guide for how the scheme is structured and where these decisions get made.

Does the same process apply to apartments in Victoria?

Collectively selling or winding up a scheme exists in Victoria too, but the law and thresholds differ, and this guide covers the NSW process only. In Victoria the disclosure comes through the Section 32 vendor statement — see our Victorian owners corporation guide. For a full pre-signing run-through in NSW, the NSW contract review checklist pulls the strata checks together with everything else.