01/09/2026
𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑻𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒗𝒔 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒗𝒔 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒚-𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 — 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆?
Three title types come up constantly in WA property conversations, and they’re often confused with each other.
🏡 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑻𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆
You own the land and the improvements on it under your own freehold title.
There is no strata company and no strata common property. This is the title structure most people associate with a traditional standalone house.
🏢 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝑻𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 (𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂)
You own an individual lot within a strata scheme. The lot boundaries are defined by reference to the building and the strata plan.
Depending on the scheme, common property can include areas such as driveways, lobbies, gardens, lifts and shared facilities.
All owners automatically form the strata company, which is responsible for things such as managing common property, finances, insurance and scheme by-laws.
📐 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒚-𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒂
Survey-strata is also governed by the Strata Titles Act 1985, but the key difference is how the lot boundaries are defined.
The boundaries are surveyed and shown on the survey-strata plan rather than being defined by reference to the building.
A survey-strata scheme may or may not have common property. Where it does, this could be something relatively simple such as a shared driveway.
Importantly, a survey-strata scheme still has a strata company, even if there is no common property.
𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓?
Because it can affect:
• ongoing levies and shared costs
• by-laws and renovation requirements
• responsibility for maintenance and insurance
• common property obligations
• how much control you have over your property
So when comparing two properties that look almost identical, don’t just look at the building — check the title and scheme plan as well.
𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦.
