Guide · 5 min read · Alan Hunter, Class 1 Strata Manager · updated 15-09-2026

My neighbour won't cooperate — what can I do?

In a two-lot scheme every decision needs both owners. When your neighbour won't respond, won't pay or won't agree, here are the practical steps, from documenting the request to mediation and NCAT.

Two-lot strata has one structural weakness: there's no tie-breaker. If your neighbour won't respond, won't agree or won't pay, you can't outvote them. But you aren't powerless, and the law provides a ladder — the trick is to climb it in order.

Step 1 — put it in writing, once, clearly

Most "won't cooperate" situations are really "didn't reply to a text". Send a short written request: what needs doing, why (quote, photo, insurance renewal date), what you're asking them to agree to, and by when. Email is fine. Keep a copy. Under the new small-scheme rules the document you're asking them to sign is a written resolution — send the actual resolution, not a description of it.

Step 2 — separate the urgent from the optional

The owners corporation's duty to repair common property (s 106) is not optional and doesn't wait for agreement. If water is coming through a shared roof, get it made safe and keep the invoice — the cost is a common property expense shared by unit entitlement whether or not the other owner signed first, and the Tribunal takes a dim view of an owner who let damage worsen. Cosmetic works and improvements are different: those genuinely need both signatures.

Step 3 — mediation

Before NCAT will hear most strata disputes, the parties must have attempted mediation. NSW Fair Trading offers a free strata mediation service; alternatively a licensed strata manager can run a paid session. Duplex Strata offers a fixed-price mediation session ($330 + GST) so nobody's paying by the hour to keep the argument going.

Step 4 — the Tribunal

If mediation fails, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) can make orders — for example, requiring the owners corporation to carry out repairs (s 232), settling a dispute about contributions, or in an intractable case appointing a compulsory strata managing agent (s 237). Filing fees are modest and most owners represent themselves; the paperwork is where a manager earns their keep.

Unpaid contributions

If a contribution has been properly determined and levied and the other owner won't pay, it's a debt owed to the owners corporation, recoverable with interest at 10% per annum after one month (s 85) and, if necessary, through the Local Court. "Properly determined" is the key — a written budget resolution both owners signed at the start of the year makes this straightforward; a verbal arrangement makes it a fight.

Can I just do the repair and send them half the bill?

For urgent common property repairs, largely yes — the owners corporation must repair, and the cost is shared by unit entitlement. For anything discretionary, no: without the resolution you may be left carrying the cost.

The other lot is a rental and I can't reach the owner.

The strata roll should hold the owner's address for service. If yours doesn't, a title search ($20–40) will give the registered owner. Notices go to the owner, not the tenant.

Will Duplex Strata take my side?

No — we act for the owners corporation, which is both of you. What we will do is make sure the request is clear, the law is stated correctly and the record is kept, which is usually what breaks a stalemate.