The ACT government has shelved plans to introduce a scheme which could have forced Canberra apartment owners to sell their properties against their will.
The decision was confirmed on the eve of the ACT Legislative Assembly's final sitting day of year, when the government was due to introduce a package of proposed new strata laws.
The Canberra Times revealed earlier this month that the government was looking to allow "mandatory collective sales" of apartment complexes in the ACT, as part of its wider strata reform agenda.
Under the NSW model, owners corporations can sell an entire building if they secure support from 75 per cent of owners.
Previously, all owners had to agree before a sale could go ahead. The same rule applies in the ACT.
Owners in NSW buildings who oppose a sale are forced out regardless.
The ACT government this month said the existing system opened the door for small groups of owners, or absentee landlords, to block the sale of a complex.
The government had promised further consultation on a forced sale scheme.
But in a statement to The Canberra Times on Wednesday, the government said it was no longer considering the idea.
A government spokesman said it was "not satisfied" that apartment owners, particularly vulnerable people, could be "sufficiently protected" if forced sales were allowed in the ACT.
The scheme was not being considered as part of the first wave of the government's proposed strata reforms, which will be presented to the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
The package includes a range of consumer rights measures, including provisions for owners to cancel contracts if they are unhappy with changes made to a development.
