# What are sectional title levies and how do they affect your home loan? 1. [Home](https://bond.co.za/) 3. [Guides](https://bond.co.za/guides) 5. [Affordability & credit](https://bond.co.za/guides/affordability-and-credit) 7. Sectional title levies [Affordability & credit](https://bond.co.za/guides/affordability-and-credit) **Sectional title levies are each owner’s share of a scheme’s running costs, allocated by participation quota under the Sectional Titles Act. A statutory CSOS levy (capped at R40 a month) is added on top. Banks net levies and rates off your income when assessing affordability — so a high levy means a smaller bond.** Statutory formula, shown in fullEstimates only — no guaranteed outcomeLast verified 2026-10-07 [What could you afford?](https://bond.co.za/home-loan-affordability-calculator)[Total monthly cost checklist](#carrying-cost-checklist) Written 2026-10-15. Every figure on this page is dated and sourced — see [Sources](#sources). The basics ## What are sectional title levies? Your share of the scheme's running costs — the price of shared ownership. When you own a section in a sectional-title scheme, you automatically become a member of the body corporate — the collective of all owners in the scheme. The body corporate has to pay for the things one owner cannot pay for alone: building insurance, common-property maintenance, security, management and audit fees. Levies are how each owner pays their share, and the obligation is statutory — the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 requires the body corporate to fund two separate accounts (s 3(1)(a)\\u2013(b)). ### Administrative fund Day-to-day operating costs: routine maintenance of the common property, management and audit fees, insurance premiums, security and municipal services on the common property. ### Reserve fund Long-term maintenance, repair and replacement — painting, roofs, lifts, waterproofing — planned over at least a ten-year horizon. The regulations set minimum balance and contribution levels for this fund (see [below](#reserve-fund)). On top of the body corporate levy, every unit also pays the statutory CSOS levy, which funds the Community Schemes Ombud Service — see [the formula and table below](#csos-levy). The calculation ## How are sectional title levies calculated? Budget ÷ floor area. The participation quota decides your slice. The calculation has two halves: how much the scheme needs, and how the need is split. The split is fixed by statute. Each section's share — its **participation quota** — is the floor area of that section as a percentage of the total floor area of all sections in the scheme (Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986, s 32(1)). The quota can be adjusted only in limited circumstances (s 32(3)(c) and s 32(4)), and levies are allocated between owners under Prescribed Management Rule 21 of the STSMA Regulations. ### Worked example: participation quota A section measures 50 m² in a scheme with 1 000 m² of total floor area. Its participation quota is **5.0000%** — so if the approved budget is R100,000 a month, that unit's levy is R5,000. The formula is set in s 32(1) of the Act; the example assumes an unmodified quota allocated by floor area under PMR 21. The other half — how much the scheme needs — is decided by the owners themselves. The body corporate prepares a budget each year, and it is approved at the annual general meeting. That is why two similar schemes can charge very different levies: the formula is fixed, but the budget reflects each scheme's age, amenities, insurance and maintenance backlog. Statutory extra ## The CSOS levy: formula and amounts Every sectional-title unit pays it, on a sliding scale, capped at R40 a month. The Community Schemes Ombud Service resolves disputes in community schemes, and it is funded by a statutory levy on every unit. The formula is set in the CSOS Levies and Fees Regulations, 2016 (GN R.1232): **2% of the amount by which the unit's monthly levy exceeds R500**, subject to a maximum of **R40 per unit per month**. It is calculated on the admin-fund portion of the levy only, and the body corporate collects and remits it quarterly. | Monthly body corporate levy | CSOS levy per month | | --- | --- | | R 600 | R2 | | R 1 000 | R10 | | R 1 250 | R15 | | R 1 800 | R26 | | R 2 000 | R30 | | R 2 500 | R40 | Assumptions: the table applies the GN R.1232 formula to each example levy as a whole — treating it as the admin-fund portion, since the regulations calculate the CSOS levy on the admin-fund component only. The example levies are illustrative, not national averages; actual levies are set scheme by scheme at each AGM. When budgets fall short ## Special levies: can you refuse to pay one? No blanket right to refuse — but there is a dispute route. A **special levy** is raised when the scheme faces expenditure the annual budget did not cover — an unforeseen structural repair, a legal settlement, a replacement the reserve fund cannot yet fund. It is recovered from owners in the same proportions as ordinary levies, typically through their participation quotas. Owners have **no blanket right to refuse** a properly raised special levy. Withholding payment puts you in arrears, with all the consequences set out [below](#non-payment) — including the levy clearance certificate that stands between you and any sale. If you believe a special levy was raised improperly — without the required meeting or approval, or for a purpose outside the body corporate's powers — the correct route is an application to the Community Schemes Ombud Service for dispute resolution, not unilateral non-payment. Long-term maintenance ## Reserve fund minimums: the three tiers How much your scheme must hold — and budget — depends on its current balance. The STSMA Regulations, 2016 (Regulation 2) set minimum reserve fund levels. Which minimum applies depends on the fund's current balance measured against the prior year's administrative fund budget: | Reserve fund balance vs prior year admin budget | Minimum budgeted contribution | | --- | --- | | Below 25% | At least 15% of the prior year's admin-fund budget (the top-up tier) | | 25% up to (but below) 100% | At least the amount budgeted for repairs and maintenance in the current year | | 100% or more | No statutory minimum contribution — the fund is considered sufficient | For buyers, a thin reserve fund is a signal: a scheme below the minimums has to top up, which usually means levy increases. Ask for the latest financials and AGM minutes before you sign an offer. Arrears ## What happens if you don't pay levies? Interest, judgment — and a clearance certificate that stops any sale. - The body corporate can charge interest on arrears, as its rules provide. - Unpaid levies are recoverable as a debt: the body corporate can hand the account over to attorneys and take judgment against you. - Before a unit in a sectional-title scheme can be transferred to a buyer, a levy clearance certificate must be issued — and the body corporate will not issue one while levies are in arrears. In practice this means you cannot complete a sale until every cent of arrears is settled. If you genuinely dispute a levy, escalate it to the CSOS early rather than letting arrears build — the dispute route exists precisely so that a disagreement does not have to become a debt. The part buyers miss ## How levies change what a bank will lend you Banks assess the instalment plus your monthly obligations — levies included. When a bank assesses your bond application it looks at more than the instalment. Under its affordability-assessment duty (National Credit Act 34 of 2005, s 81, with the National Credit Regulations, 2015), a credit provider must take your financial means, indebtedness and monthly obligations into account — and on a sectional-title purchase that includes the body corporate levy, municipal rates and the CSOS levy. Those amounts are effectively netted off your income before the bank decides what instalment you can carry. A common guideline some lenders use keeps total instalments around 30% of gross income — treat it as an illustration, not a rule: every bank runs its own assessment, case by case. ### Worked example: the same buyer, two properties Same buyer, same income, similar units at a similar price. On the **freehold** unit the bank sees a bond repayment of R 9 400 plus municipal rates of R 400 — a total monthly carrying cost of **R 9 800**. On the **sectional** unit at the same price, the buyer borrows slightly less (a repayment of R 9 000), but the bank also sees the body corporate levy of R 1 800, municipal rates of R 400 and the statutory CSOS levy of R26. Total carrying cost: **R 11 226** — about R 1 426 a month more, of which R 2 226 is not the bond at all. That is the mechanism: the non-bond costs come off your affordability first, so every rand of levy is a rand the bank will not lend against an instalment. Check the levy before you fall in love with the unit. Use the checklist below to add up the full monthly cost of a unit you are considering — then run the number through our [bond affordability calculator](https://bond.co.za/home-loan-affordability-calculator). Free checklist ## Add up the real monthly cost Bond repayment, body corporate levy, municipal rates and the statutory CSOS levy — the full carrying cost a bank sees. Estimates only; nothing here guarantees what a bank will lend. ### What does a sectional-title unit really cost per month? Add up the monthly commitments a bank sees alongside your bond instalment: the repayment, the body corporate levy, municipal rates and the statutory CSOS levy. Nothing is stored or sent. Monthly bond repayment Monthly body corporate levy Municipal rates (optional) Gross monthly income (optional) Estimate only — levies are set per scheme at each AGM and your bank makes the final call. Nothing here guarantees what you will qualify for. Free for you: the bank that grants a home loan arranged through bond.co.za pays us a once-off commission when the bond registers — it is not added to your loan amount. [How we make money](https://bond.co.za/how-we-make-money). FAQ ## Sectional title levies — straight answers How are sectional title levies calculated?+ The body corporate budgets the scheme’s running costs for the year at each annual general meeting, and each owner pays a share allocated by participation quota — the floor area of your section as a percentage of the total floor area of all sections (Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986, s 32(1)), distributed under Prescribed Management Rule 21. On top of the body corporate levy, every unit pays the statutory CSOS levy: 2% of the portion of the monthly levy above R500, capped at R40 per unit per month. What happens if I don’t pay levies?+ Arrears levies can attract interest, and the body corporate can hand the debt over to attorneys and take judgment against you. The step that blocks most sales: the body corporate must issue a levy clearance certificate before a unit can be transferred, and it will not issue one while levies are in arrears — so you cannot register the sale until the arrears are settled. Can I refuse to pay a special levy?+ There is no blanket right to refuse. A special levy raised properly — for unforeseen or non-budgeted expenditure, approved as the rules require — is recoverable like any other levy. If you believe it was raised improperly (for example, without the required approval or for the wrong purpose), the route is a dispute through the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS), not simply withholding payment, which puts you in arrears. Who pays the CSOS levy?+ The unit owner pays it. The CSOS levy is collected by the body corporate together with your monthly levy and remitted to the Community Schemes Ombud Service. Under the CSOS Levies and Fees Regulations, 2016, it is calculated on the monthly admin-fund portion of the levy: units levied at or below R500 a month pay nothing, and the amount is capped at R40 per unit per month. Are sectional title levies compulsory?+ Yes. Owning a section makes you automatically a member of the body corporate, and contributing to its administrative and reserve funds is a statutory obligation under the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 (s 3(1)(a)–(b)). You cannot opt out, and buying a sectional-title unit means accepting the levy that comes with it. What is the current CSOS levy rate?+ The CSOS levy is 2% of the amount by which the unit’s monthly levy exceeds R500, subject to a maximum of R40 per unit per month (CSOS Levies and Fees Regulations, 2016, GN R.1232 — checked 2026-10-07). For example, on a R1,800 monthly levy the CSOS levy is 2% of R1,300, which is R26. ## Sources - CSOS Levies and Fees Regulations, 2016 (GN R.1232, GG 40335, 7 October 2016)CSOS levy formula (2% of the levy above R500), exemption threshold, R40 monthly cap per unit, calculation on the admin-fund portion only, and quarterly remittance by the body corporate. Checked 7 October 2026. - Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011, s 3(1)(a)–(b)Duty of the body corporate to establish and maintain an administrative fund and a reserve fund; the statutory basis for levies. Checked 7 October 2026. - STSMA Regulations, 2016, Regulation 2 (GN R.1231)Minimum reserve-fund levels and minimum budgeted contributions (the 25%/100% tiers and the 15% top-up share). Checked 7 October 2026. - Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986, s 32(1), s 32(3)(c) and s 32(4)Participation quota formula (floor area of the section as a percentage of total floor area) and the limited circumstances in which it can be adjusted. Checked 7 October 2026. - STSMA Prescribed Management Rule 21How levies are calculated, allocated and recovered between owners under the participation quota. Checked 7 October 2026. - National Credit Act 34 of 2005, s 81; National Credit Regulations, 2015Affordability assessment duty: credit providers must take the consumer’s financial means, indebtedness and monthly obligations into account — the basis on which banks net levies and rates off affordability. Checked 7 October 2026. ## Informational disclaimer This guide is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Levy amounts, reserve fund minimums and the CSOS levy formula are set by statute and by each scheme's own budget and rules, and are subject to change. Nothing on this page guarantees what you will be charged or what a bank will lend. Confirm current levies with the scheme's managing agent and your affordability assessment with a lender before acting. Figures verified and dated as at 2026-10-07. ## Related guides and tools [ Bond affordability calculatorWhat you could borrow once levies and rates are netted off your income. ](https://bond.co.za/home-loan-affordability-calculator)[ How much home loan can I get?How banks calculate your affordability cap — and what shrinks it. ](https://bond.co.za/guides/how-much-home-loan-can-i-get) Keep reading ## More in affordability & credit The most recently updated guides in this category. [Affordability & credit](https://bond.co.za/guides/affordability-and-credit) [Home loan declined? 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