Reviewed and updated 14-10-2026. We confirmed the Bill is still not law, aligned the list of changes with the Bill, and noted that 2-lot schemes stopped lodging the Strata Hub annual return from 01-10-2026 under a separate change to the Regulation that is already in force.
If you own in a 2-lot strata scheme — a duplex, dual occupancy or two-villa development — a Bill before the NSW Parliament would make life simpler. It would make every 2-lot scheme a "small strata scheme" and remove most of the formal meeting and committee requirements.
Already in force: no Strata Hub annual return
Separately from the Bill, a change to the Regulation took effect on 1 October 2026: 2-lot schemes no longer lodge the Strata Hub annual return (Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 cl 43(1)). Members of 2-lot scheme committees are also exempt from the new committee training requirement under the Secretary's published requirements.
What the Bill would change
Under the proposed section 7A, these requirements would stop applying to a 2-lot scheme:
- Special resolutions
- Annual general meetings (sections 14 and 18)
- Other general meetings (section 19)
- Constituting a strata committee (section 29)
- The 10-year capital works fund plan (section 80)
- Strata Hub reporting
- Anything else prescribed by regulation
Things that only exist because of those requirements — officers, meeting notices, quorums, voting procedures — would fall away too.
How decisions would be made instead
Every decision that would otherwise be made at a general meeting, by the committee or by an officer would be made by a written resolution approved in writing by the owners of both lots. A copy of each written resolution would have to be kept in the owners corporation's records.
In plain English: both owners sign off in writing — that's the decision. If one owner doesn't agree, there is no decision.
Other related changes in the Bill
- A decision not to keep a capital works fund (s74(5)(a)) and a decision not to insure jointly (s160(4)(a)) would be made by section 7A written resolution.
- Section 5(2A) would be rewritten so that the original owner's vote reduction no longer excludes 2-lot schemes.
- Section 30(3) would be repealed.
- Regulations could add rules (for example, about mortgagee consent) or put back particular requirements.
What wouldn't change
The Bill simplifies how decisions are made — it doesn't remove the underlying obligations. A 2-lot scheme would still have to:
- Maintain and repair common property (s106)
- Insure the building, unless the owners validly decide not to insure jointly
- Pay levies and keep the scheme's funds
- Comply with its by-laws
NSW Fair Trading's enforcement powers over the repair duty would continue to apply.
What this means for your scheme
This would be a sensible reform. Anyone who's been through a formal AGM for a 2-lot scheme knows the process is heavy for two owners who probably speak every week anyway.
But it isn't law yet. Until it is, 2-lot schemes still hold AGMs, keep a 10-year plan and follow the current rules — except the Strata Hub annual return, which stopped on 1 October 2026.
The flip side once it does start: every decision needs both owners. The signed written resolution becomes the only paper trail, so good record-keeping matters more, not less — and keeping the building insured and repaired stays non-negotiable.
Sources
Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2025 (NSW Parliament — not yet passed). Bill text and current status: parliament.nsw.gov.au
Strata Schemes Management Amendment Regulation 2026 (2026 No 449): legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/sl-2026-449