Falling behind on strata levies happens: a lost job, an illness, a separation. Since 27 October 2025, New South Wales has given owners in that position clearer options. Owners corporations now have firmer rules for answering them.
This post covers both sides: what an owner can ask for, and what the owners corporation has to do. It is the third in our series on recent NSW strata changes, after what changed on 1 October and committee training.
A hardship statement with every levy notice
Every levy notice has to be accompanied by "the information approved by the Secretary" (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, s 83(1A)). That information is NSW Fair Trading's Financial Hardship Information Statement, a short page telling an owner who is struggling:
- to contact the strata manager or committee as soon as possible
- what options there may be, such as a payment plan, waived interest or more time to pay
- that free, confidential financial counselling is available from the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007
- where to find translated copies, and free mediation if there is a dispute.
A scheme can include the statement itself, or the information from it. Community land associations have the same requirement under the Community Land Management Act 2021, s 88(1A).
A levy notice also has to give at least 30 days to pay, or 14 days for a levy raised for emergency repairs (s 83(3A)).
Asking for a payment plan
An owner who owes levies can ask the owners corporation to let them pay what is overdue in instalments. A plan can run for up to 12 months, and a further plan can be agreed after it ends (s 85(5AA)).
A plan covers overdue levies only. New levies still have to be paid on time as they fall due, so the instalments need to be affordable on top of them.
The request goes in on Fair Trading's standard form, Request for payment plan for overdue contributions. The owners corporation can't ask for anything that isn't on the form, including proof of the owner's finances (Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016, reg 17K). The same form lets the owner ask for interest on the overdue levies to be waived, and it is worth asking. A levy that isn't paid within a month of falling due bears simple interest at 10% a year from the day it fell due, unless the owners corporation has resolved not to charge it (s 85(1) to (3)).
The owners corporation can't charge a fee for a request, for entering into a plan, or for taking part in one (reg 18A).
How the owners corporation decides
The owners corporation or the strata committee decides at a meeting, by a simple majority. Fair Trading says the decision can't be handed to the strata manager. Within 28 days of receiving a completed request, the owner must get a written answer (reg 18B).
The owners corporation can't adopt a policy of refusing payment plans (s 85(5AB)). Each request is decided on its merits. The Regulation says a refusal is reasonable where agreeing to the plan would leave the administrative fund or the capital works fund short. That means a fund in deficit, or not enough money to pay expenses, to maintain and repair the common property, or to comply with an order, a compliance notice or an undertaking given to Fair Trading (reg 17J). A refusal has to give its reasons in writing, with how they apply to this owner (reg 18B).
An approved plan is put in writing, with the amount owing, any interest and how it is calculated, the payment schedule, how to pay, and who on the committee or at the strata manager to contact (reg 18). The owner can ask for a statement each month of what they have paid and what they still owe.
While a plan is in place
An owners corporation can't take recovery action, through the Tribunal or a court, for levies covered by a plan the owner is keeping to (s 86(6)). Payments go first to the overdue levies, oldest first, then to interest, then to the costs of recovery (s 86(7)).
An owner whose levies are overdue is still unfinancial, plan or not. Until the levies are paid, they can't vote at meetings or serve on the strata committee.
If a request is refused
An owner who thinks a refusal was unreasonable can apply to NSW Fair Trading for free mediation. If that doesn't settle it, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal can order the owners corporation to agree to the plan (s 85(9)).
Fair Trading's guidance for owners is at help if you can't pay your strata levies. Its guidance for committees is at supporting strata owners in financial hardship.
Where Quarter fits
Every levy notice Quarter issues for a New South Wales scheme ends with Fair Trading's statement, word for word. It appears on the notice's page in Quarter and on its PDF, and the email that delivers the notice attaches that PDF. A community land association's notices carry it too.
When a levy falls overdue, Quarter's arrears letters tell the owner they can ask for a payment plan. The second letter tells them the owners corporation can't take recovery action while a plan is in place and being kept to. Quarter doesn't keep a record of payment plans themselves, so record each plan in the committee's minutes as the decision is made.