Having just arrived back from a week in Surfers Paradise with family it’s nice to be sitting in a stable seat (rather than one attached to a very flimsy looking roller-coaster being powered by Superman). However, it was impressive to see the level of highrise development happening on the Gold Coast. There were cranes and workers all over the place. The $850m Soul Surfers residential complex was at about level 55 (it’s destined to have another 22 levels). The Hilton Surfers Paradise has recently reached its top level and is due for completion later this year, and there was plenty of other stuff going on too.
It wasn’t really a week for thinking about legal issues. To be frank most of the legal stuff I dealt with last week was about not running around the pool and not throwing stuff off the balcony. There were plenty of those sorts of rules though and it struck me that there is a balance to be reached in a residential complex between useful rules that ensure people are respectful of each other and making sure absolutely nobody ever gets offended. My kids thought it a bit tough not being allowed to jump, dive, throw a ball, splash or wear suntan lotion in the pool.
So what rules are you bound by as a unit owner? Body corporate rules must be passed by a resolution of the owners. Some rules can be changed by majority, some need a unanimous decision. They are not effective until they have been registered at LINZ. The unit titles act doesn’t bind you to any other rules.
As an owner you are bound by rules that have been properly made, and so is anyone in occupation of the unit. So if you (or a majority of your co-owners) agreed that there should be no splashing in the pool, then those are the rules.
This 32 Sqm Hong Kong apartment is equivalent to the size of an average studio apartment in Auckland City, by moving the walls along sliding tracks in the ceiling it is possible to change the single room into 24 different combinations!! Very creative.
As we are all aware, Auckland apartments can be very small, every central city apartment which I have lived in has had a shortage of storage space, and I for one, would love to see some creative use of existing spaces.
Here is a great example of a table which folds down from the wall and doubles as a picture frame when not in use. Visit Ivy Design for more details.
Recently I was asked whether a client could transfer a carpark they no longer needed. The carpark was an accessory unit in a unit title development, so the client owned the carpark and they owned an apartment, (which was a principal unit).
Unless there is something registered on the title preventing the transfer, an accessory unit can certainly be bought and sold. There’s a restriction though and it’s pretty significant.
An accesory unit can only be transferred to someone who also has a principal unit, so you can’t sell the carpark (or the broom cupboard) to someone who has no other interest in the apartment building. The LTO won’t issue a separate certificate of title for an accessory unit.
Sometimes car parks are created as principal units and that’s a different story. They can be transferred in the same way an apartment can be bought and sold.
Remember this is a blog, it’s for comment and discussion, not legal advice. See your lawyer for specific advice.
We have just completed the building profiling for Citta Apartments 184 Symonds St bringing the total apartment profiles in Auckland city to 17,001!. You can view the floor-plans for Citta apartments and browse by floor area in Sqm, number of beds, light direction, and number of car-parks each apartment has. Citta apartments has a large shared garden courtyard on the 1st floor featuring a fountain and pergola, nice seating and landscaping.
Many of Citta apartments car-parks are dual car-parks which means you can park two cars in line, one in front of the other. Bedroom layouts are either studio or two bedroom, studios ranging in size from 28 Sqm to 43Sqm and Two bedrooms from 52 – 77Sqm.
Citta is well positioned on the corner of Kyber pass road and Symonds St being close enough to walk into the city or Newmarket 10-15 mins each way, also on the major bus route leading into the city. It is over endowed with good places to eat and drink nearby. This is a great option if you are a couple with two cars as you effectively get two for the price of one because of their size.
How about some insight into some of the legal issues that arise with apartments, apartment buying, selling and management. There is plenty to talk about, especially with the massive change in unit titles law that is on the horizon.
If you want any comments made on particular legal issues, just send in your questions.
I thought I’d start with some of the fundamental stuff, the language. Words like stratum estate, unit title, common property, body corporate, unit entitlement; what do they actually mean?
Although “unit title” is a commonly used description of ownership of an apartment it isn’t a phrase that’s used in the legislation. The legal description is a “stratum estate”. That is ownership of the unit, but it includes more than that. It includes shared ownership of the common property and recognition of the notion that if the legal set up for the unit development is ever cancelled, a right to co-own the property remains.
Unit entitlements are calculated based on the value of your unit compared to the other units. They are only assessed once, when the development is first done, and then remain the basis on which your share of costs is calculated for the life of the building.
The “body corporate” is simply everyone who owns property in the development. When the titles first issue a legal entity is created and given a number, but all it is is the owners. The owners might in turn appoint a body corporate secretary or manager to help run the development.
Common property means any property in the development that is not a principal, accessory or future development unit. The definition gets a little more complicated in the new act, and the concept of “base land” is introduced, but more about that on another day.
Debra Dorrington
A big welcome to Debra Dorrington today, of Alexander Dorrington Law, Debra is a specialist in property law and our new blog author, she will be keeping you up to date with any changes which may effect apartment investors.
Debra is available to answer any questions you may have about structuring your property investment portfolio on the ‘Investment Q&A’ page of this blog.
We look forward to reading Debra’s posts and welcome the addition of more rich data for our property investor community.
The Metropolis apartments at 1 courthouse lane in Auckland is a great example of how architecture can enrich the life of a city, These days, developers are too concerned about making a quick buck that the quality of the buildings suffer and we all have to put up with eyesores that degrade the quality of life for everybody.
Just look at all the leaky buildings that have caused so many people to lose their life savings over the last 10 years…do any of these buildings have any architectural value? In 50 years will they be on the historic buildings register?
The Metropolis apartments will last a long time because it is made with good quality materials and is a real landmark in Auckland, I love it.
I have had a number of people requesting for Eclipse apartments to be added to highprofiles, it often takes some time for new buildings to make it to our site because the data is not available to us.
Of interest with Eclipse apartments is the use of instant hot water heating, every apartment has a little white box that provides instantaneous hot water to the shower, handbasin and kitchen sink. The advantage being that they don’t have a big hot water cylinder cupboard taking up valuable space and you only pay for the water which you use.
The building has 14 car parks, a pool, sauna, small gym, and live-in building management.
Wow! I love this apartment! This weeks property spotlight is in The Britomart apartments 14 Emily Pl, Auckland This apartment just shouts quality, built over 3 levels, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1 car-park and 203 Sq m excl decks! Here are a few of the photos.
Apartment 7C is zoned residential/commercial, so is quite a unique proposition in Aucklands’ apartment market. Located just behind the Scene apartments on the waterfront these apartments look out over the top of them and have great views of the harbour, this area has really improved over the last 4 years with many boutique shops and great places to eat between it and the short walk into the CBD.
