Can a strata rent or lease common property?

When someone rents or leases common property, they normally obtain the exclusive right to use that property. Since all owners have proportionate tenant-in-common ownership of the common property, the Strata Property Act places limitations on how a strata corporation can rent or lease out common.

Under section 76 of the Strata Property Act, a strata corporation may grant an owner or tenant the exclusive right to use common property for up to one year at a time. This right cannot extend for more than one year, but it can be renewed annually and the strata corporation can attach conditions.

Note that under previous legislation, a strata corporation was permitted to lease common property to owners for longer periods of time if specific conditions were met. If a lease was entered into prior to the Strata Property Act coming into force, consult with a lawyer to determine whether the lease is enforceable.

 

 

 

Oscar Miklos
Oscar Miklos is the founder and principal lawyer at Refresh Law in Burnaby and the founder of HousingGuide.ca. He regularly advises residential and commercial landlords and tenants, strata owners, strata corporations, property managers and insurance providers in all aspects of housing disputes.