Josh and Emily thought they were doing the smart thing by buying a small unit instead of renting. Seven years later they've been forced out - as shock trend hits hard-working Aussies

Sky-high strata fees have forced a young Australian couple out of their cherished apartment - in yet another hurdle to property ownership for those starting out.

Josh Stubing and Emily Abbey were 20 and 19 respectively when they brought their one-bedroom unit in the north-west Sydney suburb of Kellyville Ridge seven years ago and thought that was their first step onto the property ladder. 

However, having initially paid quarterly strata fees of $600 they are now being slugged a huge $3500 to fix defects and replace cladding now deemed illegal.

'We've been trying to keep up with it, but it's running us into the ground with the expense of the mortgage too,'  Mr Stubing told realestate.com.au.   

'It's so unmanageable... We bought when we were so young and thought strata fees were just about maintaining the cleanliness of the unit complex.'

Mr Stubing said the building has no amenities so the couple never saw the whopping increase coming.  

He said he considered the decision to buy the unit a bad one in retrospect because they were advised by the real estate of strata fees but didn't realise they could increase so dramatically.

A long list of defects have been discovered with the complex including that its external cladding has since been banned in NSW because of fire safety risks. 

Mr Stubing said they they are now trying to sell the unit after being unable to pay a  special $20,000 levy upfront with the money being recouped from rent they are charging on the unit.

However, the high strata fees are making it difficult to sell the unit.

He said their monthly expenses are now so high they may as well have a loan for a house worth $1million.

Mr Stubing and Ms Abbey's story is not unique with anecdotal evidence suggesting strata fees have increased 15 to 20 per cent on average over the past year but it has been as much as 40 per cent in some cases. 

Australian Apartment Advocacy director Samantha Reece said new owners needed to be better informed about strata fees and her group has prepared an education kit on them.

She said their research shows about 60 per cent of people who move into an apartment do so from a house so strata costs often catch them off-guard.

'It doesn't matter where you are in your life spectrum; if you're a professional couple, a single parent, a baby boomer or a retiree, if you're forced to pay $70,000 in six weeks – like a case recently in Melbourne – it's a shock that could cripple you financially.'

She called for government to make such costs more transparent on builders and developers to be more upfront.

The NSW state government has proposed a string of changes to strata laws, which manage key decision-making in shared property blocks.

The reforms followed 965 complaints about strata agents in the five years to 2023, with most revolving around rules of conduct or budgets, levies or finances.

Breaching existing disclosure requirements around commissions would be met with a harsher penalty, conflict-of-interest disclosure obligations would be stronger and agents would be banned from getting commission on insurance products if they don't find residents the best deal.

NSW Fair Trading will be granted better enforcement and compliance powers, with the government believing the changes will ensure residents no longer have to feel like their agents are ripping them off.

'We want to change the perception that strata managing agents easily, and readily, take advantage of owners by significantly increasing the consequences for those who do the wrong thing,' Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said.

'The new laws are designed to take immediate action to help restore confidence in living and investing in strata schemes, ensuring more people consider apartment living as a housing option.'

Apartment living will have a big role to play in solving the NSW housing crisis with higher-density living planned to curb considerable recent urban sprawl.

The government said it will bring its changes to parliament later this year, after it consults with key stakeholders like the Owners Corporation Network and Strata Community Association on draft laws.