When you buy a strata unit, you own your own unit outright and hold a share of everything else in the development in common with the other owners. That share is measured by your unit's share value, which sets your contribution to the estate's running costs and your weight in certain votes. It applies equally to a condominium apartment, a strata office or shop, and a strata industrial unit.
Your unit and the common property
The strata title plan divides a development into lots: the individual units, sometimes with accessory areas such as a private enclosed space or a roof terrace. Everything outside the lots is common property: the land, the structure, lifts, corridors, car parks, landscaping, pools and facilities.
You may alter the inside of your unit within the rules, but the external walls, windows facing outward and structural elements belong to the common property and usually need approval before they are changed.
Share value: your stake in the whole
Each lot is given a share value when the developer applies for the strata plan, following guidelines set by the Commissioner of Buildings. The value is based on the unit's size and type, with bands that give larger units more shares, and commercial units in a mixed development different weightings from homes.
Share value matters in three ways:
1. **Running costs.** Maintenance contributions and sinking fund contributions are generally charged in proportion to share value. 2. **Voting.** Some resolutions at general meetings are decided by share value rather than by one vote per unit. 3. **Collective sale proceeds.** If the estate is sold collectively, proceeds are usually apportioned using share value, strata area or a combination.
The management corporation
Once the strata title plan is registered, the owners together form a management corporation strata title, usually shortened to MCST. Until then, the developer manages the estate. The MCST is a legal body that holds the common property for all owners, collects contributions, maintains the estate, insures the building and enforces the by-laws.
Owners elect a council at the annual general meeting to run the MCST day to day, and most councils appoint a professional managing agent. Every owner can attend general meetings, vote, stand for the council and inspect the MCST's records.
Maintenance fund and sinking fund
Each owner pays into two funds, usually quarterly:
- **The maintenance fund** covers the estate's regular costs: cleaning, security, landscaping, utilities for common areas, insurance and the managing agent.
- **The sinking fund** builds up savings for larger, less frequent work such as repainting, lift replacement, waterproofing and upgrading facilities.
A healthy sinking fund means fewer special levies later. When you buy a completed unit, it is worth asking for the latest accounts and the minutes of recent meetings, which show the fund's balance and any major works planned. For a new launch, the developer sets the first budget, and the MCST reviews it after handover.
By-laws and everyday rules
Every strata development operates under by-laws covering matters such as renovation hours, pets, use of facilities, parking and the use of units. Mixed developments and commercial buildings often add rules on trade use, signage, loading bays and operating hours. Read the by-laws before you buy, especially if you plan to run a business, keep a pet or renovate significantly.
Strata beyond homes
Strata ownership is common across the commercial and industrial projects in this guide. One Sophia on Sophia Road offers 122 strata offices with 127 strata retail units in its podium; Harrison Food Building sells individually titled food-factory units on freehold land; and Space Nova is a freehold B1 clean industrial development. In these buildings, the by-laws and the share-value split between different unit types can matter as much as in any condominium.
The commercial property guide and the industrial property guide cover the financing and tax side of those purchases.
Collective sales
Under the Land Titles (Strata) Act, owners can sell an entire estate to a developer without every owner's agreement. For a development under ten years old, owners holding at least 90% of the share values and 90% of the total strata area must agree; for one ten years or older, the threshold is 80% of each (as at November 2026). Proceeds are then divided among all owners under an agreed method.
How share value shows up in your bill
Because contributions follow share value, a larger unit pays more each quarter than a small one in the same estate. In a mixed development, commercial units carry their own share values, so the split between homes and shops depends on how the shares were allocated at the start.
The total amount collected depends on the estate's budget, which the management corporation sets each year. A large estate with many facilities may have a high total budget but spread it across many owners, while a small boutique development with a pool and a gym may have a lower total but fewer owners to share it. That is one reason contributions per unit vary so much between developments that look alike on paper.
What to check as a buyer
Before committing to a strata unit, ask for:
- the share value of the unit and the total share value of the development;
- the current maintenance and sinking fund contributions, and for a completed estate, the latest accounts;
- the by-laws, especially any on renovation, pets, trade use or short-term letting;
- for a completed estate, recent general meeting minutes and any planned special levies.
These details rarely appear in a brochure, yet they shape the cost and experience of owning the unit for as long as you hold it.
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