SECTIONAL
Sectional Title is slowly and surely becoming a way of life
in Botswana with respect to property investment.
Basically you are now able to purchase and then secure
title of a portion of a building or of a freestanding building
that is part of a development. What in fact you are doing
is investing into a Sectional Title Scheme together with
a community that is bound by rules under the Sectional
Titles Act.
When buying into a Sectional Title Scheme you secure
freehold ownership of a SECTION of the building in
terms of the agreement of sale and an undivided share in
the COMMON PROPERTY. In other words a SECTION
can be an apartment, flat, townhouse, office, simplex or
duplex and COMMON PROPERTY is the outside walls
of the building, the lift wells, staircases, reception areas,
roads, car parks, gardens, swimming pools, boundary walls,
paved areas, tool sheds, rubbish collection areas and roofs
- in other words it is everything tangible which is part of
the scheme outside the sections.
The community is compelled to form a BODY
CORPORATE that governs the affairs of the scheme and
depending on the area of your section; a participation
quota determines the proportional levy you are required
to pay for the upkeep of the common property. The
participation quota is a percentage of your area divided by
the total area of all the sections together.
Sectional Title schemes have become very popular and
one reason has been that it offers entry-level investment
buying prices with a far reduced risk factor as many costs
are shared between the owners in proportion to their
participation quota. The costs of maintaining the units
are also lowered because exterior maintenance work is
budgeted for and future expensive repairs are decided
and planned for well in advance.
TITLE
area that you own and you are responsible for this whilst
everything on the other side of the median line falls under
the Body Corporate. For example if your window breaks
then it must be clear in the rules as to whose responsibility
is the repair thereof as median lines might fall either inside
or outside the section.
Now should a section require exclusive use rights to
the common property, then these Exclusive Use Areas
(EUA) can be surveyed as well and registered. The EUAs
are generally car parks and private gardens. Otherwise
without registration all section owners together have the
exclusive right to use, for example – the swimming pool
or gym room.
We, as Land Surveyors, are required to submit Draft
Sectional Plans to the Director of Surveys and Mapping for
approval and our functions are governed by the Sectional
Titles Act and Regulations. Thereafter, on approval, the
plans are registered at the Deeds Office (see article on
‘Introduction to Sectional Titles’ by Pauline Mabelebele of
Armstrong’s in Issue 12)
Our functions are basically the following
1. Survey of the outside limits of buildings and common
property in relation to the beacons and boundaries of
the parent property that also need to be relocated.
2. Physical measurements of each sect