NZ Building Answers

What is a unit title in NZ?

Updated June 2026

Short answer

A unit title is the ownership type behind most NZ apartments and many townhouses. You own your unit plus a share of the common property, and you automatically belong to the body corporate, which sets levies and manages shared areas under the Unit Titles Act 2010. Sellers must give you a pre-contract disclosure statement, and the body corporate's paperwork deserves as much attention as the unit itself.

Source: Unit Titles Act 2010. Updated June 2026.

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Key facts

Governed by the Unit Titles Act 2010
You own a defined unit plus an undivided share of common property
Body corporate membership is automatic and levies are not optional
Sellers must provide a pre-contract disclosure statement
Bodies corporate must keep a long-term maintenance plan

What you actually own

A unit title gives you ownership of a defined unit, often an apartment or townhouse, plus an undivided share of the common property: lifts, lobbies, driveways, gardens, sometimes the building structure itself. The split between unit and common property is set out on the unit plan, and it determines who pays when something needs fixing. Car parks and storage lockers are often separate parts of the title, so check the unit plan covers everything the agent says you are buying.

The body corporate comes with the deal

Every unit owner is automatically a member of the body corporate, the legal entity that manages the common property under the Unit Titles Act 2010. It sets annual levies, holds funds for maintenance, insures the building and makes the operational rules for the complex. You cannot opt out, and levies are payable whether or not you agree with how the money is spent. A committee usually handles day-to-day decisions between annual general meetings.

A well-run body corporate is a quiet asset. One that has deferred maintenance for years can cost owners serious money through special levies when the work finally cannot wait. Levy history is a useful signal here: levies that have barely moved for a decade while the building ages may simply mean the inevitable is being deferred.

Disclosure before you sign

Sellers of unit title properties must give buyers a pre-contract disclosure statement covering matters like levies, fund balances and known building issues, with further disclosure before settlement. Read these documents properly and ask your lawyer about anything that looks thin or vague.

Pay particular attention to any mention of weathertightness claims, remediation work or planned special levies. Those items change the real cost of ownership, and they rarely make it into the listing. Your lawyer can request further information from the body corporate if the statements leave questions open.

What to read beyond the disclosure

An hour with the body corporate's paperwork tells you more about a building than any listing photo. Ask for:

Minutes from the last few years, which show what owners actually worry about
The long-term maintenance plan and whether the fund behind it looks realistic
The building's insurance and any excesses owners must cover
Rules on pets, short-term rentals and alterations

Before you hire

Knowing the rules is half the job. The other half is knowing who you're hiring. Check any NZ builder against the public record: company status, licensing and insolvency notices, from the official NZ sources.

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