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Act · 2010 · Tier 2

Unit Titles Act 2010

Also known as: UTA, the Unit Titles Act

Last verified against legislation.govt.nz on 17 April 2026. Substantive disclosure amendments came into force on 9 May 2023.

What it is

The Unit Titles Act 2010 is the New Zealand statute that governs unit title properties — apartments, townhouses, and other stratified developments where individual units are held on separate titles but share common property. It replaced the Unit Titles Act 1972, strengthening consumer protections and modernising body corporate governance.

Significant amendments came into force on 9 May 2023, expanding the disclosure statements vendors must provide and tightening body corporate obligations. Any sale of a unit title property on or after that date is governed by the expanded regime.

For sellers of unit title property, the most consequential feature of the Act is the mandatory disclosure regime — pre-contract and pre-settlement statements that the vendor must provide, with prescribed content and timing. These are statutory disclosure statements, distinct from the discretionary agent-drafted disclosure documents used for standalone houses.

What it covers

  • The creation and continuation of unit title developments — how units and common property are defined, surveyed, and titled.
  • Body corporate governance — membership, committees, meetings, voting, minutes, and decision-making.
  • Levies and financial management — operational levies, long-term maintenance plan (LTMP) contributions, and special levies.
  • The long-term maintenance plan (LTMP) — mandatory forward-looking plan covering common property maintenance over a minimum 10-year horizon.
  • Operational rules — rules governing use of units and common property.
  • Disclosure on sale — the pre-contract and pre-settlement disclosure statements vendors must provide (Part 4 of the Act).
  • Dispute resolution — the Tenancy Tribunal has jurisdiction over unit title disputes up to prescribed limits.

What it gives you

If you are selling a unit title property:

  • A prescribed disclosure framework that defines exactly what must be provided and when. No guesswork about what the buyer is entitled to see.
  • Body corporate obligations to provide you with the information you need to complete the statements.

If you are buying a unit title property:

  • A statutory entitlement to the pre-contract disclosure statement before you sign, so you can assess the body corporate and the unit.
  • A statutory entitlement to the pre-settlement disclosure statement no later than the fifth working day before settlement, confirming levies, proceedings, and operational-rule changes.
  • Remedies including the right to delay or cancel settlement if disclosure is not made or is materially inaccurate.

Key sections and how they work

Section 146 — Pre-contract disclosure statement

"Before a buyer enters into an agreement for sale and purchase of a unit, the seller must provide a disclosure statement (a pre-contract disclosure statement) to the buyer."

Our reading: This is the document that must exist before the agreement is signed. It is the buyer's first statutory window into the unit, the body corporate, and the levies. From 9 May 2023, the content required has expanded significantly and now includes:

  • Body corporate financial statements and minutes from the past three years.
  • Disclosure of weathertightness issues affecting the unit or common property.
  • Any legal proceedings involving the body corporate.
  • Details of the long-term maintenance plan and its funding.
  • Information about any planned or contemplated special levies.
  • The operational rules.
  • A summary of the body corporate insurance arrangements.

The expanded content means the pre-contract disclosure statement is a substantial document, and preparing it accurately requires the body corporate's cooperation. Vendors should request the body corporate's information well in advance of marketing the unit.

Section 147 — Pre-settlement disclosure statement

After the agreement is signed but before settlement, the vendor must provide an updated pre-settlement disclosure statement no later than the fifth working day before settlement. The statement confirms:

  • Current fees and charges owing to the body corporate.
  • Any legal proceedings pending against the body corporate.
  • Any changes to the body corporate operational rules since the pre-contract statement.
  • Any material changes affecting the unit.

The pre-settlement statement is the purchaser's last statutory checkpoint. If the statement reveals material adverse information not in the pre-contract statement, the purchaser may have grounds to adjust the purchase price, delay settlement, or in some cases cancel.

Section 148 — Additional disclosure statement (repealed)

Important: Section 148 was repealed on 9 May 2023 by the Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2022. The stand-alone "additional disclosure on request" mechanism no longer exists. The information that was formerly obtainable under s.148 is now generally captured in the strengthened pre-contract (s.146) and pre-settlement (s.147) disclosure regimes. Purchasers of unit title properties rely on those expanded statements instead.

Sections 149–151 — Vendor liability and purchaser remedies

Where a vendor fails to provide a required disclosure statement, or provides one that is materially inaccurate, the purchaser has remedies that can include:

  • Delay of settlement until disclosure is made.
  • Compensation for loss arising from the inaccuracy.
  • In material cases, cancellation of the agreement.

The remedies operate automatically — they do not require a CAC or Tribunal finding. The mechanisms are in the Act itself and can be invoked by solicitor's letter.

How the Act is applied in practice

For a typical unit title sale:

  • The vendor requests body corporate information well in advance of listing.
  • The vendor's solicitor (not the agent) typically prepares the pre-contract disclosure statement, drawing on body corporate records.
  • The statement is provided to the purchaser before the agreement is signed. In practice, it is often attached to the draft agreement during negotiation.
  • After the contract is signed, the vendor's solicitor prepares the pre-settlement disclosure statement for delivery at least five working days before settlement.
  • Where further detail is required — for example about specific body corporate disputes or financials — it is typically folded into the s.146 pre-contract statement or obtained separately via the body corporate records under the general provisions of the Act (s.148 itself was repealed in May 2023).

The agency's role in this process is usually limited to coordinating timing. Unlike the discretionary disclosure document for standalone houses, the unit title statutory disclosures should not be drafted by the agent. The content is prescribed; the source is body corporate records; the liability sits with the vendor. Solicitor involvement is standard practice.

MBIE's Unit Titles Services site publishes templates and guidance. The Real Estate Authority publishes unit title guidance for licensees.

Common misuses

"The agent can prepare the disclosure statement for you"

Agents are licensed for real estate agency work under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008. They are generally not lawyers, and the unit title disclosure statements are legal documents with specific statutory content requirements and vendor-liability consequences. Agency-prepared unit title disclosure statements risk material inaccuracy. The right path is vendor's solicitor plus body corporate information.

"The pre-settlement statement is just a formality"

The pre-settlement statement is a statutory checkpoint with real legal weight. Inaccurate pre-settlement disclosure can support purchaser remedies including compensation or cancellation. "Formality" characterisations are misleading.

"The body corporate can't give me the information in time"

Body corporates have statutory obligations to provide the vendor with information required for disclosure. If a body corporate is not meeting its obligations, the vendor's solicitor can escalate, and in material cases the Tenancy Tribunal has jurisdiction. The information is not discretionary on the body corporate's part.

When you might cite this Act

  • Selling a unit title property. The Act governs what you must disclose. Working with your solicitor from before listing is standard.
  • Buying a unit title property. The pre-contract and pre-settlement statements are your statutory entitlements. If they are not provided or are materially inaccurate, you have remedies.
  • Where an agent proposes to prepare unit title disclosure without solicitor involvement. The statutory nature of the disclosure makes solicitor-led preparation appropriate.
  • Where a body corporate is not cooperating with disclosure information requests. The vendor's obligations under the Act flow through body corporate obligations; non-cooperation is actionable.

Related rules

Authoritative sources

Our guides that use this Act