Sectional title ownership is the separate ownership of units or sections within an existing property / complex, or new development.
In England and Wales sectional title is known as commonhold. In Australia the term is strata title, whereas in Canada and the USA, it’s known as condominium.
Sectional title arises when a parcel of land / built space is split up into smaller parts. These smaller parts (of land or building) are deemed to be legally separate properties. A sectional scheme is registered, and these smaller parts are owned by way of sectional title.
It is a form of freehold title, and this video unpacks how freehold ownership differs.
When one buys into such a scheme, one purchases a section or sections of the development and an undivided share of the common property. (Collectively these parts are known as units.) A section is (usually) owned up to the middle (centre) lines of the outside walls, the floor and the ceiling.
Management
A body corporate administers and maintains the common property (e.g. communal/shared areas) in the sectional title scheme.
Another term for a body corporate is a homeowners association (HOA). As with the body corporate, its members are the unit owners, who manage the condominium through a board of directors elected by the membership. This body exists under various names depending on the jurisdiction, such as “unit title”, “sectional title”, “commonhold“, “strata council”, or “tenant-owner’s association“, “body corporate”, “Owners Corporation”, “condominium corporation” or “condominium association”
Owners in the scheme are required to pay levies, which are usually directly proportional to the size(s) of their units as a percentage of the total GLA or rentable area.
