Recently-released crime statistics by the South African Police Service, which show that robberies at residential premises are on the increase, are likely to fuel demand for communal living.

According to Mike Bester, CEO of Realty 1 International Property Group, rising crime is playing a significant role in stimulating the growth of communal living, which was once largely the domain of retirees, singles and young couples. As a result, it has become a major and growing trend among families in South Africa.

“There are many advantages to this kind of living, which has seen architects and developers focusing increasingly on innovative design and privacy, a far cry from some of the early row-house developments that defined communal living in the early days.”

While high walls and 24-hour guards have become a feature of modern communal living, in response to security taking its place as a primary buying consideration, the decision for families to sell their freestanding houses and buy into secured developments has been made a lot easier in recent years. “Larger gardens, a choice of unit design, greened parks, walking and bike tracks and even community centres and a range of sporting facilities in some instances, have done a lot to eradicate people’s fears of cheek-by-jowl living,” says Bester.

Russell Loftus, a director of STRB Attorneys, one of South Africa’s largest conveyance firms, says his company is processing an increasing number of sectional title development sales. “People like the convenience of the lock-up and go lifestyle that sectional title living generally offers. This sector of the market is also kept buoyant by the perception that sectional title living provides a more secure residential environment. This is particularly applicable to apartment living.”

Bester notes, however, that communal living, which includes sectional title ownership, can bring with it a separate set of problems if buyers fail to establish exactly what they own from the outset and familiarise themselves with the rules and regulations pertaining to the scheme.

“Many property buyers are not aware of what a sectional title scheme is and what it entails to become an owner in such a scheme,” agrees Nigel Petzer of Petzer, Du Toit & Ramulifho. Very different from freehold ownership, where a person owns the full title to an entire property, sectional title ownership entails buying a unit in a scheme. “The purchase consists of a section and an undivided share in the common property of the scheme. A section is either a specific portion of a building or a building in itself, of which you become the sole owner. The common property is that part of the scheme that does not form part of any section, such as driveways, gardens and swimming pools.”

All unit owners automatically become joint owners of the common property, although in many instances, certain areas that form part of the common property can be set aside for the exclusive use of the owner of a specific unit, he notes further. “The person buying the unit then also becomes entitled to the right of exclusive use of that specific area.”

Bester adds that sectional title buyers need to understand that they will be taking on an obligatory financial commitment known as a levy. Paid on a monthly basis into a central fund, the money is used to pay running and maintenance costs.

Another consideration for buyers is that in terms of the Municipal Property Rates Act Number Six, sectional title units now have to be individually valued and rated according to market value. “Applicable as of 1 July 2007, which heralded the start of the new municipal financial year, the new system differs from the past where a single value and rates bill applied to a sectional title scheme,” says Bester. “Now, unit owners are liable for the payment of their own rates.”