Being a property manager – or more accurately a portfolio manager – can be a thankless job. The reality is that most of our calls involve clients complaining about something that is wrong at their building but this is our job: we have to serve our clients with patience, humility and compassion. We accept that our role is essentially to...

The new Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 2011 and the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 2011 have just been released. These amendments will have important implications to the management of sectional title schemes. On 1 October 2016 the long-awaited Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 2011 and the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 2011 were signed by the President of South...

Property in sectional title schemes and homeowners' associations (HOA) are the two fastest growing homeowner sectors in South Africa. The need for security, urbanisation and smaller space living are some of the factors driving this trend. Sectional title scheme The Sectional Title Act (replaced by the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act on 1 October 2016) governs the manner in which a sectional...

One of the many benefits of living in a sectional title scheme is the advantage of seeing maintenance and repairs being done without you needing to organise it yourself or even knowing what is being done and why. Most owners in sectional title schemes purchase their units and know that they will be paying a levy every month to the body...

There are a number of differences between normal levies and special levies, especially with regards to raising each kind of levy. Normal levies All owners in a scheme are liable to pay their share of the normal levies. Levies are calculated and raised based on the budgeted expenditure for each financial year of the scheme. The levy contributions are used for the...