Strata Hub Annual Return — What Every NSW Scheme Must Lodge

Every NSW strata scheme — including the smallest 2-lot duplex — must lodge an annual return on the NSW Government's Strata Hub. It's not optional. Penalties apply if you don't. Here's what's required, who's responsible, and how it works for the schemes we manage.

What is Strata Hub?

Strata Hub is the NSW Government's public register of strata schemes. It was introduced to give NSW Fair Trading a clear picture of every scheme in the state — who's managing it, how it's run, what insurance it has, and where to send official notices.

It's also a useful resource for buyers, lenders and government agencies who want to verify the basic details of a scheme.

The annual return — what's reported

Each year, every NSW strata scheme must lodge a return that includes (broadly):

• The scheme's address and number of lots
• Year the scheme was registered
• Name of the managing agent (if any) and their licence number
• Name of the building manager (if any)
• Name and contact details of the secretary and chairperson of the strata committee
• Insurance details — insurer, policy number, sum insured, expiry date
• Capital works fund and administrative fund balances
• Levy contribution rates
• Whether an Annual Fire Safety Statement has been lodged (for relevant buildings)

It's not the full financials — just the headline information.

Who lodges the return?

The Act sets out a clear order of responsibility:

1. If the scheme has a strata managing agent appointed — the agent lodges it on behalf of the owners corporation.
2. If there's no strata managing agent — the secretary (or chairperson) of the strata committee lodges it.

For every scheme we manage at Townhouse Strata, we lodge the return on behalf of the owners corporation. That's part of our standard service. You don't have to think about it — but we'll always show you the return before lodgement so you can verify the details are correct.

When is it due?

The return must be lodged within 3 months of the scheme's Annual General Meeting (AGM). The Strata Hub system tracks the AGM date you've registered, and the clock starts from there.

If your AGM is in March, the return is due by the end of June. If your AGM is in October, the return is due by the end of January.

The fee

There's a per-lot fee payable when the return is lodged. The fee is set by NSW Fair Trading and reviewed periodically. For current fee amounts, check the Strata Hub website directly — we've avoided publishing a figure here because it changes.

The fee is paid by the owners corporation, not by the managing agent personally. For schemes we manage, we coordinate payment from the admin fund as part of the lodgement.

What happens if you miss the deadline?

It's not a soft requirement. Missing the annual return can result in penalty infringement notices from NSW Fair Trading. Penalty amounts apply per breach, and there are higher amounts for owners corporations as bodies corporate than for individuals.

More practically, a scheme with no annual return on record looks neglected when a buyer's conveyancer checks Strata Hub during due diligence. That can affect property values and slow down sales.

Cross-checks for new buyers

When you're buying into a strata scheme, the Strata Hub entry is one of three documents we'd always recommend looking at:

1. The Section 184 Certificate (formal information certificate provided by the OC)
2. The strata search records (full inspection of records and minutes)
3. The Strata Hub entry (free public register check)

The Strata Hub entry won't replace the others — but inconsistencies between them are an early warning sign.