INDUSTRY
OVERVIEW
Yes, we are an industry – and a powerful one at that. Residential communities are in most
cases companies and have to comply with the Companies Act. Other communities, while also
not-for-profit, are common law associations. ARC research shows that there are around 4 000
free title developments governed by a homeowners’ association (HOA) and 56 000 sectional
title schemes governed by bodies corporate.
Our industry houses around six million people and occupies about 9% of developed land in
South Africa. Recent research shows that the total property value within organised communities
is R1 trillion, which is about a third of the country’s total residential property value.
The industry collects around R12 billion annually in levies that are paid by every member of
an HOA. Of particular interest are the average monthly levies collected per home, and the
percentage split in expenditure on security, landscaping and salaries. The ARC 2016 annual
survey conducted on over a hundred estates (below) gives these figures.
average monthly levies and budget spend split
r 2 500 q
R 2 219,47
R 2 158,18
r 2 000 q
r 1 963,81
R 2 310
R 1 846,30
R 1 634,99
R 1 500 q
R 1 000 q
R 500 q
R0q
National
Gauteng
Western Cape
Average monthly levy (R)
KwaZulu-Natal
Security spend
North West
Landscaping spend
Mpumalanga
Salary spend