A property title holds legal information about the piece of property, including details about the land, its legal ownership, its use, and its rights.
When it comes to doing your due diligence prior to purchasing a home, it’s important to understand the Title category your home falls under, as each have varying rights and ownership structures. Generally there are four categories that your home will fall into: Green Title, Purple Title, Strata, and Survey-Strata.
Green Title:
A Green Title Property refers to land with no common areas to be shared with neighbours (unless otherwise indicated on the certificate of title), and most commonly refers to a property that houses one single free-standing home. Traditionally the large majority of land in Australia were sold as Green Title. With this being said, as population growth continues to echo around us, so do the number of dwellings on each block, hence why Green Title blocks are becoming increasingly sought-after.
While Green Title is generally very desirable for homeowners, it can still encompass some restrictions or instructions on how the land is used. For example, the Water Corporation may have a right to install or access a sewer line, and depending on the location of this, it could potentially restrict your ability to install a pool or build an extension etc.
Purple Title:
Following the end of World War II an increase in the number of multi-storey residential properties was very evident, however at the time there was no legal system available to divide the building and create separate Titles.
To overcome this issue, the ownership of each Title was transferred to a company whose rules provided that the holders of company shares were entitled to occupy specific parts of the building. As opposed to ownership being secured by title to land, it was secured by relying on shareholding.
There are very few Purple Title properties remaining in Perth, but new developments such as retirement villages, are still being created under them.
Strata:
Following the creation of Purple Titles, the Strata Titles Act was created to obtain secure titles to parts of a building. Generally when purchasing a property within a Strata, the owner of the specific lot has sole ownership of the cubic space and common ownership of the land and buildings, where common property is allocated – these areas can be found in the Strata plan, and can be used by other property owners who have rights to the same space.
Common property generally includes:
- Communal laundries
- Swimming Pools
- Gymnasiums
- Communal barbecue areas
- Stairwells and lifts
- Driveways
- Gardens
Of all the types of Titles, Strata titles come with the most responsibility for buyers as there are normally a number of duties and restrictions that apply including:
- Subject to any by-laws or rules of the strata company
- Required to pay levies to the administer of the strata scheme, including insurance for common property, maintenance, and any repairs to the common property that are required
- Eligible to attend meetings to discuss and vote on issues, such as setting budgets for repairs and improvements to the complex
Survey-Strata
Generally used for single tier developments, survey-strata titles are subdivided lots with distinct boundaries. Typically these lots would have originally been Green Title, but have been formally surveyed and re-zoned to accommodate for further development.
The rights and obligations of a survey-strata title are essentially the same as Green Title, however some have commonly owned driveways and all owners in the survey scheme will contribute to the insurance and maintenance of that common property, which has a separate lot number.