It shows up on listings as Bare Land Strata. Side-by-side duplexes and small groups of houses sometimes use it, and it changes the deal in ways a buyer should understand before making an offer.
The short version
- The Strata Property Act defines a bare land strata plan as one where lot boundaries are fixed by survey markers on the ground.
- The Province's guidance says the owner of a bare land strata lot insures, repairs and maintains the buildings on it.
- Standard Bylaw 8 makes the strata repair the outside of strata lots in every strata except a bare land strata.
- The strata still insures the common property and carries liability insurance, and you still pay a strata fee for what is shared.
- Ask your insurer about a bare land endorsement, which the Province names for bare land strata owners.
How a bare land strata differs from a regular strata
Section 1 of the Strata Property Act defines a bare land strata plan as a strata plan on which the boundaries of the strata lots are defined on a horizontal plane by reference to survey markers, and not by reference to the floors, walls or ceilings of a building. Section 68(4) adds that the boundaries must be shown on the plan by reference to those survey markers.
In a regular strata, which lawyers sometimes call a conventional strata, your lot is the space inside your home, bounded by the middle of its walls, floors and ceilings. The roof over you and the ground under you are common property. In a bare land strata, your lot is a piece of ground, drawn on the plan like a small property, and the home sits on it as part of your lot.
The Province's strata insurance page for owners says a bare land strata plan will usually be labelled as a bare land strata, and will not show the individual homes or other buildings on each lot, though it will show strata buildings such as a clubhouse or a pump house. If the plan you are reading shows rooms and walls, it is a regular strata.
| Regular strata | Bare land strata | |
|---|---|---|
| Your lot is | The space inside your home | A piece of land, with the home on it |
| Boundaries set by | Walls, floors and ceilings (section 68) | Survey markers on the ground (section 68(4)) |
| Building insurance | The strata, at full replacement value (section 149) | You, for the home on your lot |
| Outside repairs | The strata (Standard Bylaw 8) | You |
| Unit entitlement | Usually habitable area, or equal for all homes (section 246(3)) | Set by a different method; read the plan's schedule |
| Strata fee pays for | Insurance, repairs and the reserve for the whole building | Shared land, shared services and the reserve for them |
Strata Property Act and Standard Bylaws, read on BC Laws 23 October 2026; Province of BC strata insurance pages.
Insurance: your home is yours to cover
This is the difference with the most money attached. The Province's page on strata owner insurance says that in a bare land strata corporation, the owner of the strata lot is responsible for the insurance, repair and maintenance of buildings on the strata lot, such as a home and a garden shed. Its page for strata corporations says the individual homes are usually not shown on the strata plan and are not included in the strata corporation's property insurance, unless the strata has taken responsibility for all or part of the lots.
The Act says the same. Section 149(1) requires a strata to insure the buildings shown on the strata plan, and section 149(3) says the duty to insure fixtures installed on a lot during the original work does not apply to a bare land strata plan. The strata must still insure its common property and carry liability insurance under section 150.
So the buyer of a bare land strata home needs a policy that covers the whole home, inside and out, at its full replacement cost. The Province's owner page names a 'bare land endorsement' for the home owner package and suggests asking a broker about it. Get a quote before you remove the conditions on your offer, because the cost is part of what the home costs to own.
Check one more thing: whether the strata's own bylaws or policy take on any part of the lots. Some bare land stratas insure the homes as a group. The Province's page allows for that, and the strata's insurance summary will say which way yours works.
Repairs and the money to pay for them
Standard Bylaw 8 makes a strata repair and maintain the structure and outside of every strata lot, its doors and windows, its balconies and the fences around its yard, but only in a strata plan that is not a bare land strata plan. In a bare land strata using the Standard Bylaws, those repairs fall to the owner, under Standard Bylaw 2.
That changes the strata fee. A regular strata's fee pays for the building's insurance and saves for its roof, siding and windows in the contingency reserve fund. A bare land strata's fee pays for the shared land and services and saves for those. Your own roof is yours to save for.
In our view, buyers comparing a bare land strata home with a regular strata home should add their own repair savings to the bare land home's strata fee before comparing the two monthly costs. A low fee in a bare land strata often means the cost has moved to your own budget.
Some bare land stratas file bylaws that make the strata responsible for parts of each lot, such as the roofs or the outside walls, so that the homes stay alike. Section 72(3) of the Act lets a strata take responsibility for specified parts of a strata lot by bylaw. Read the filed bylaws to see what yours does.
Changing your home in a bare land strata
The Standard Bylaws treat changes to a bare land home differently. Standard Bylaw 5 requires a strata owner to get the strata's written approval before altering the structure, the outside, the doors and windows or the fences of their strata lot, and then Standard Bylaw 5(3) says that rule does not apply to a strata lot in a bare land strata plan.
Two limits remain. Standard Bylaw 6 still requires written approval before an owner alters common property, including limited common property, so a change that reaches the shared driveway or garden needs the strata's agreement. And a bare land strata can file its own bylaws on how homes may look or be changed, which replace the Standard Bylaws where they differ. If you plan to add a deck or change the colour of your home, read the filed bylaws first.
What the strata still does
A bare land strata is still a strata corporation under the Strata Property Act. It holds general meetings, keeps minutes and records, passes a budget, collects strata fees, keeps a contingency reserve fund, and follows the same voting rules. Since November 1, 2023, at least 10% of the yearly operating budget must go to the contingency reserve fund.
It repairs and maintains its common property and common assets under section 72, which in a bare land strata may be a private road, a shared driveway, paths, a garden, lighting, a gate or a water and sewer system. It enforces its bylaws, which can cover things like the look of the homes, pets, parking and noise.
Disputes go to the Civil Resolution Tribunal in the same way as in any strata. If your home is one of 4 or fewer lots, all the owners sit on council under Standard Bylaw 9(2), unless the strata's filed bylaws say otherwise.
What to check before you buy a bare land strata home
The papers are the same as for any strata, plus your own insurance quote. The order below is how we read them with buyers.
- The strata plan: confirm it is a bare land plan, find your lot's boundaries and see what is common property.
- The bylaws: what the strata repairs on each lot, if anything, and any rules on how homes may look or be changed.
- The insurance summary: what the strata insures, and whether any part of the homes is included.
- Your own insurance quote, with the bare land endorsement, for the full replacement cost of the home.
- The Form B and the budget: the fee, the reserve fund and any approved special levy.
- The minutes: what the owners have been discussing, and whether a shared repair is coming.
Questions buyers ask
More in Strata or Freehold
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Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page comes from the body that issues it. Rules and rates change, so each entry says when we checked it.
- Strata Property Act, Part 1: Definitions and interpretation (section 1). BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 20 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Strata Property Act, Part 5: Property (sections 66 to 82). BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 20 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Strata Property Act, Part 9: Insurance (sections 149 to 160). BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 20 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Strata Property Act, Schedule of Standard Bylaws (bylaws 2, 8, 9, 18 and 27). BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 20 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Strata owner and tenant insurance (including the bare land endorsement). Government of British Columbia. Published 23 July 2025, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Insurance for strata corporations (bare land strata and strata-titled duplexes). Government of British Columbia. Published 23 July 2025, accessed 23 October 2026.
- The contingency reserve fund (CRF) in strata corporations. Government of British Columbia. Published April 22, 2024, accessed October 8, 2026.
- Strata Property Act, Part 7: Bylaws and rules (sections 119 to 138). BC Laws. Current consolidation, accessed October 8, 2026.
- Strata Property Act, Part 14: Land titles (sections 239 to 266, including 242 and 246). BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 20 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
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