Own a Sydney CBD apartment and your tenant is renting two things: your apartment and the building’s rules. That second part is Sydney CBD apartment strata, and it is what most CBD tenancy problems come down to: a landlord in a strata building is standing in the middle of two sets of obligations at once. Here is what strata means for you as a CBD landlord, what sits with you rather than your tenant, and how a good property manager keeps the tenancy and the building in step.
Sydney CBD apartment strata: the two sets of rules your tenant lives by
A tenancy agreement sets out the rent, the term and the condition of the apartment. The building’s by-laws set out everything else that matters day to day: noise, parking, moving in and out, what can go on the balcony, where the bins go, and how pets are kept. Those by-laws are generally taken to apply to everyone living in the building, tenants included, so your tenant should have a copy of them alongside the lease. In our experience a lot of the “problem tenant” calls that come from owners corporations are about tenants who were never told the rules. NSW Fair Trading publishes the current requirements for what a landlord has to give a tenant at the start of a tenancy, and a good manager hands over the by-laws as a matter of course.
What stays with you as the owner
Some things stay with you as the owner, however the lease is written. As a rule, strata levies are the owner’s to pay, not the tenant’s. The building’s insurance is arranged through the owners corporation at the building level, which is separate from your own landlord insurance. Repairs to common property, typically the lifts, the lobby, the roof and the shared services, usually sit with the owners corporation, and your job is to report them and chase them; where the line between your lot and common property falls depends on your scheme, so check it with your strata manager or NSW Fair Trading. Voting at owners corporation meetings and dealing with the strata manager sit with you, not your tenant. A CBD apartment is easy to manage from a distance only if someone is actually doing these things, which is a large part of what managing your property properly means in a strata building.
Rather have someone track the dates and obligations for you? That is what property management done properly looks like. Start with a free rental appraisal.
Approvals that run through strata as well as the lease
This is where CBD landlords get caught. A tenant’s request for a pet, a minor alteration, or anything that touches common property can need two answers: yours under the tenancy law, and the building’s under the by-laws. The pet example is the clearest. Since 19 May 2025 you have 21 days to respond in writing to a pet request. Since 2 October 2026, a tenant who moves in with a pet can also keep it while the request is considered, as long as they apply within 7 days of the tenancy starting. Breaching the by-laws is one of the grounds you can rely on, but NSW strata law no longer allows a by-law to unreasonably ban pets, so a blanket ban is unlikely to be enough on its own, and both processes have to run together, on time, in writing. The detail is in our guide to the NSW rental law changes and its companion on pets in rentals NSW, and the current position on any specific by-law is one to confirm with NSW Fair Trading before an answer goes back.
Why presentation matters more in the CBD than almost anywhere
In a CBD building your apartment competes with near-identical neighbours, sometimes on the same floor. The tenants are professionals, corporate relocations and people who want to walk to work, and they decide quickly. The reality is presentation, the building’s condition and the price together decide it, and a tired apartment in a well-run building still loses to a fresh one next door. Our guide to renting out an inner-city Sydney apartment covers the leasing side in detail, and for premium apartments aimed at corporate tenants there is our executive leasing service.
A four-point checklist for CBD landlords
- Step 1: by-laws at signing. Your tenant gets the current by-laws with the lease, and knows who to call about the building versus who to call about the apartment.
- Step 2: one channel for building issues. Lifts, security, parcels, leaks from above: reported to the owners corporation promptly and chased until they are fixed, because a tenant who has to chase the building themselves is a tenant who leaves.
- Step 3: two-track approvals. Pets, alterations and anything touching common property answered under the tenancy law and the by-laws together, inside the timeframes.
- Step 4: levies and insurance on the calendar. Paid on time, reviewed when the building’s budget changes, and your own landlord insurance kept separate from the building’s cover.
What this looks like across the CBD and the inner city
Across the apartments we manage in the CBD, Barangaroo, Pyrmont, Ultimo and the inner east, the pattern is consistent: the tenancies that run quietly are the ones where the building side was handled from day one. If you own an apartment in the city and would like an honest read on how it should be performing, our CBD property management page is the place to start, or go straight to a CBD rental appraisal.
This article is general information only, not legal advice, and the rules can change. Last reviewed October 2026. Confirm the current detail for your situation with NSW Fair Trading before you act.
Frequently asked questions
Do strata by-laws apply to my tenant?
Generally, yes: strata by-laws are taken to apply to everyone living in the building, tenants included, so a CBD landlord should give the tenant a copy of the current by-laws alongside the lease and make clear who to contact about the building as opposed to the apartment. Confirm what must be given to a tenant at the start of a tenancy with NSW Fair Trading.
Who pays strata levies, the landlord or the tenant?
As a rule, strata levies are the owner’s responsibility, not the tenant’s, as are the owners corporation’s building insurance and common-property repairs, while the tenant pays the rent set out in the tenancy agreement and looks after the apartment as the lease requires. A landlord’s own insurance is separate from the building’s cover and worth keeping in place. Confirm how responsibilities are split in your scheme with NSW Fair Trading.
Does my tenant’s request need the owners corporation’s approval as well as mine?
Often, yes: a request for a pet, a minor alteration or anything that touches common property can need two answers, yours under the tenancy law and the building’s under the by-laws, so a CBD landlord should run both processes together, in writing and inside the timeframes. Confirm the current position on any specific by-law with NSW Fair Trading before an answer goes back.
Who fixes building problems in a strata apartment, the owners corporation or the landlord?
Repairs to common property, typically the lifts, the lobby, the roof and the shared services, usually sit with the owners corporation, and the landlord’s job, or the property manager’s on their behalf, is to report them and chase them until they are fixed, while where the line between your lot and common property falls depends on your scheme. Check that line with your strata manager or NSW Fair Trading, and make sure your tenant knows who to call about the building as opposed to the apartment.
Talk to Dylan Henry
Dylan Henry is Business Development Manager at Lifestyle Property Agency. For a straight, no-obligation conversation about your property — how it is performing and how to get more from it — call Dylan on 0498 498 344 or email dh@lifestylepropertyagency.com.