A diversity of titles

Press, 22 December 1978, Page 8

A diversity of titles

“Home units,” whether in small or large groups or as apartments in high-rise buildings, have an appeal to those people who do not desire the responsibility of keeping gardens and grounds in order and giving attention to general maintenance. ! The main wish of those | purchase units is to live : comfortably and undisturbed within the four : walls. This applies to numbers of people with i many interests outside the ' home and to others who

are beginning to feel the years creeping on, With increasing popularity of unit purchase, questions have been put to the Real Estate Institute about the security an owner holds and the prospects of raising finance. One questioner asked for an explanation of the differences between a crosslease. a unit title and a stratum title, and we can best answer this by givi'r; a brief review on the development of the unit system of ownership as it

has unfolded over the past decade or so. When the home unit idea first became noticed in New Zealand units sold were often confined to small groups of two. three or four, usually in singlestorey buildings. These did not have a wide appeal at the start as finance organisations were often reluctant to provide mortgage finance when they were not happy about the system of unit ownership. One method at the time

became known as the “companies form of ownership” under the Companies Amendment Act, 1964. In some parts of New Zealand, notably in Auckland, the plan adopted was for each of the parties involved to have a composite share in ownership in the land plus a perpetual (or 999 years) lease, referred to as the crosslease method. Legislative action was studied for some time. The result was the passing n f the Unit Titles Act, 1972,

which among other matters provided trustee security j over units. either for . residential or business use. H One advantage of this legislation is that it gives effective legal provision for exclusive areas of garden or grounds for the particular use of unit ow'ners. This created a greater feeling of acceptability among both i owners and mortgagees.