Estate agents countrywide will these days tell you that buyers are now far more “savvy” and discerning, especially if they are investors (rather than owner buyers) in sectional title schemes.
 
“Ongoing publicity about the need to check the scheme’s accounts before buying into them has had a good effect and there is today less impetuous rush-IN buying,” says Lanice Steward, MD of Anne Porter Knight Frank, the Cape Peninsula estate agency.
 
But, says Steward, there are certain other aspects of sectional title which should also be investigated – and one is the insurance of the unit.
 
“It is accepted that the owner is responsible for the insurance of the interiors of his unit, measured from the median lines of the outside walls.  This is usually taken to mean that balcony’s insurance is the responsibility of the body corporate.  However if an owner encloses his balcony, many bodies corporate will transfer the insurance burden onto him and this will be recorded in their minutes.”
 
Recently, said Steward, an APKF client bought a Wynberg flat which had a balcony that had been enclosed.  When it leaked seriously, flooding the living room, a new expensive carpet was ruined – and there was no insurance cover for it.
 
“When an enclosed balcony is insured,” said Steward, “care should be taken to see that the policy covers damage to the units below.  Poorly maintained balconies have caused huge damage to units underneath them.  Owners must prevent themselves against this.”
 
For further information contact Lanice Steward on 021 671 9120 or email lanice@anneporter.co.za.