Your festive season strata living checklist for entertaining guests

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but being considerate of your neighbours is paramount when planning gatherings at your strata property during the festive season

Now that the end-of-year holidays are right around the corner, it’s time to start planning the parties and gatherings you’ll be hosting in your strata property during the festive season. While it’s essential your guests have a good time, your plans should not negatively impact your strata community.

In this light, we’ve created a festive season strata living checklist that may help you plan your holiday get-togethers.Here’s a checklist of things to keep in mind when hosting friends and family at your strata property during the festive season:

1. Respect capacity limits set for common property amenities
2. Be conscious of pool and tennis court etiquette
3. Keep noise levels down to respect your neighbours
4. Clean up after yourself and your guests

Respect capacity limits set for common property amenities

It’s typical for strata amenities such as pools, BBQ areas, rooftop gardens and tennis courts to have capacity limits to limit overcrowding and keep shared amenities safe for all owners and residents.

If you’re hosting festive season gatherings in your strata property’s shared amenities, we recommend following capacity limit rules in place. It’s wise to check your property’s by-laws or building rules for capacity limits before hosting any gatherings. Also, don’t forget to book your shared amenities ahead of time if there is a booking system.

Be conscious of pool and tennis court etiquette

It’s important always to be conscious of pool and tennis court etiquette when using these shared amenities.

Are you a member of your strata committee? If so, you and your committee could consider some festive season strata living house rules for owners and residents who want to invite guests to use shared amenities.

These could include the following:

• No smoking at or around the shared amenities
• Keep noise to a minimum
• Ensure children are supervised at all times
• No glass, food or drinks on the tennis courts or near the pool
• All festive decorations are to be removed immediately after your gathering
• All rubbish is to be disposed of immediately after your gathering.

All rules should take safety and the property’s peacefulness into consideration. However, they should not be too restrictive or oppressive.

You may feel your property’s by-laws or building rules governing shared amenities might benefit from being updated. If so, we recommend contacting a strata by-law or building rule specialist like Kemps Peterson Legal to assist with this.

3. Keep noise levels down to respect your neighbours

Don’t forget to be considerate of your neighbours when hosting festive season strata property gatherings. This includes keeping your music to an acceptable level, so your party doesn’t impact your neighbours’ peaceful enjoyment of their home.

Here are a few of our recommendations:

• Look up and abide by local noise pollution rules
• Keep windows and doors closed to limit sound travelling
• Limit the number of guests using your balcony or courtyard
• Ensure your guests do not loiter in common property hallways and foyers
• Give your guests a heads-up about noise-related house rules before your gathering.

Clean up after yourself and your guests

No one likes a mess. Also, your neighbours should be able to enjoy a peaceful, tidy strata living experience all year round.

We recommend the following when it comes to dealing with rubbish accumulated due to festive season parties at your strata property:

• Follow your strata property’s garbage and recycling rules, and dispose of your rubbish accordingly
• Make sure all common areas you and your guests use are left spotless
• Schedule a garbage pick-up with your local council if you feel your gathering will result in a large amount of rubbish or large items that don’t belong in the regular bins.

It’s never too early to start planning for the festive season in your strata property. Following this checklist may help you ensure your holiday season plans do not affect your strata community’s enjoyment of the property too.

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