What do you own?

Did you ever think you would own a property worth millions of dollars? Well you do - you own 1/22nd of Shannon Ridge Knoll! Think of yourself as a business partner in the Strata Corporation and your business happens to be where you live.

A Strata Development is a way of subdividing and owning portions of buildings and land. In a strata development, individuals can own separate parts of the property, but share common areas and their related expenses.

The part of the property that an individual owns is commonly referred to as a "strata lot" or "strata unit". Each strata corporation is legally broken down into strata lots, which are identified by individual lot numbers and registered within local land registry offices. The remainder of the property is called the "common property".

All strata corporations within British Columbia are developed under the guidelines and requirements of the Provincial legislation known as the Strata Property Act of British Columbia.

Strata Lot

The legal description of a strata unit is known as a strata lot, which together with all of the strata lots comprise the strata corporation. The boundaries of your strata lot are half way into the walls, floor and ceiling. Anything beyond these boundaries either form part of another strata lot or the common property.

As an owner, you will be responsible for maintaining and repairing your strata lot based on the strata corporation bylaws and requirements of the Strata Property Act of British Columbia.

Notes:

Typical examples of Strata Developments are:

• Apartments
• Townhouses
• Duplexes

The Strata concept can also be applied to non-residential properties such as:

• Stores
• Offices
• Warehouses and Industrial-use property
• Recreational Facilities

A "Bare Land Strata" is where there are no buildings, yet property owners share ownership of a common property.

A "Mixed Use" strata development is usually part residential and part commercial.