Buying an apartment or townhouse usually means buying a unit title. It's a bit different from a standalone house, because you're not just buying a home, you're buying into a small, shared organisation that manages the building around it. Here's what that actually involves.
What a unit title is
A unit title gives you a registered, freehold-style title to your specific unit, plus an ownership share in the property's common property: the driveways, lawns, foyer, shared walls, roof, and lifts, depending on the building. Every owner in the development is automatically a member of the body corporate, the entity legally responsible for managing and maintaining all of that shared property.
You don't get to opt out of the body corporate, and its decisions (and its bills) affect you whether you attend meetings or not. That's the trade-off for living somewhere shared infrastructure gets looked after collectively rather than being every owner's individual problem.
What the body corporate actually does
- Maintains common property. Roofs, cladding, lifts, driveways, gardens, whatever's shared rather than exclusively yours.
- Collects levies. Regular payments from every owner to fund maintenance, insurance, and admin. These are ongoing, separate from your mortgage.
- Holds a long-term maintenance plan and fund, at least in theory, for the big-ticket items (a new roof, repainting, remediation) that come up every decade or two.
- Makes rules about things like pets, noise, parking, and renovations to individual units.
- Insures the building, typically as a whole, with the cost shared through levies.
The disclosure statements you're legally entitled to
Since a change to the Unit Titles Act 2010 that came into effect on 9 May 2023, sellers of unit title properties have specific, mandatory disclosure obligations to buyers. These aren't optional extras a good seller might provide, they're required by law.
- Pre-contract disclosure. Before you sign, the seller must give you a disclosure statement covering things like the levies, the body corporate's financial position, and any known upcoming costs. This is what your conveyancer reviews as part of your due diligence.
- Pre-settlement disclosure. At least five working days before settlement, the seller must give you an updated disclosure statement confirming the position is still accurate.
- Additional disclosure, on request, going into more detail if you or your conveyancer want it, such as the full body corporate meeting minutes or the long-term maintenance plan.
Here's the part that matters most for you: if the pre-settlement disclosure is late, missing, or materially wrong, you can have grounds to cancel the agreement. This is a genuine legal protection specific to unit titles, and it's exactly why these documents need to be read properly, not filed.
What to actually look for
A body corporate disclosure statement is dense. The things worth your attention:
- How much are the levies, and are they likely to rise? A body corporate that's been under-charging to keep levies low can mean a nasty catch-up bill later.
- Is there a healthy long-term maintenance fund, or is a big repair looming with no money set aside for it?
- Any known or likely large costs, like weathertightness issues, a lift replacement, or remediation work. This is the single biggest financial risk in a unit title purchase.
- Are there any disputes or unresolved issues within the body corporate that could affect you as an owner.
This isn't a document to skim. It's genuinely one of the more important pieces of paper in a unit title purchase, on par with the title search itself.
How this fits with the rest of your purchase
Unit title disclosure sits alongside, not instead of, the usual checks: your title search, LIM, and any building report. See our guides on LIM reports and on cross-lease and other title types for how unit titles compare. If you're making an offer on a unit title property, your conveyancer can also make the agreement conditional on satisfactory review of the disclosure, the same way you'd make it conditional on a LIM. More on how conditions work in our Sale & Purchase Agreement guide.
How Kemba helps
We read the disclosure statement properly, chase it if it's late or incomplete, and tell you in plain English whether the body corporate looks financially healthy or like it's storing up a problem. You shouldn't need to decode a stack of meeting minutes to buy an apartment with confidence. Fixed $2,500 + GST, disbursements included, NZ-qualified people doing the work.
Frequently asked questions
What is a body corporate disclosure statement?
It's a legally required document a unit title seller must give a buyer, covering the body corporate's finances, levies, and any known upcoming costs. There's a pre-contract version before you sign and a pre-settlement version at least five working days before settlement.
What happens if the disclosure statement is late or wrong?
You can have grounds to cancel the sale agreement if the pre-settlement disclosure statement isn't provided on time, or is materially inaccurate. This is a specific legal protection for unit title buyers under the Unit Titles Act 2010.
What should I check in a body corporate disclosure statement?
Focus on the levy amount and whether it's likely to increase, the health of the long-term maintenance fund, and any known or expected large costs like weathertightness issues or major repairs. These are the things most likely to affect you financially down the track.
Do I have to pay body corporate levies?
Yes. Every owner in a unit title development is automatically a member of the body corporate and required to pay levies, regardless of whether they use the shared facilities or attend meetings.
Is a unit title the same as an apartment?
Most apartments are unit titles, but not all unit titles are apartments. Townhouses and some other multi-dwelling developments are also commonly unit title. The key feature is a registered individual title plus shared ownership of common property through a body corporate.
