Published: 20 August 2026
Author: Ann-Maree Gladding – Director (Surveying) | Licensed Cadastral Surveyor

When most people think about freehold property, they picture a section of land with a house sitting on it.

But what happens when you want to create dozens of individually owned properties within one development, with apartments or homes sitting above, below or beside one another? How can each property have its own freehold title when the owners are sharing the same building, structure, accessways and services?

The answer can be found in Stratum Freehold subdivision.

At Tripp Andrews, we are involved with a number of Stratum Freehold developments which range in sizes from 3 lots up to 100 lots. These types of projects demonstrate that Stratum Freehold is not simply a solution for small or uncomplicated developments. With the right design and professional advice, it can provide a highly effective ownership structure for large and complex residential developments.

What is a Stratum Freehold title?

Let’s start with the simplest explanation.

A Stratum Freehold title is a freehold property where the boundaries are defined in three dimensions. Rather than having boundaries that only run across the ground, a Stratum Freehold title can have an upper and lower height limit. A useful way to visualise this is to imagine your property as a 3D box. You own the space within that box.

For example, an apartment might have boundaries defining its horizontal extent, together with a lower and upper height limit. In simple terms, you can think of it as owning your property from a defined level below you to a defined level above you. This is what makes it possible for freehold properties to be stacked vertically.

Imagine a building containing three properties:

Level 2
Freehold Property C

Level 1
Freehold Property B

Ground Level
Freehold Property A

Although the properties physically occupy the same footprint on the ground, each can be separately defined and owned. The survey plan establishes the three-dimensional extent of each title.

What does “stratum” mean?

The word stratum essentially means a layer. A Stratum Freehold title therefore allows us to define a freehold property as a particular three-dimensional layer or volume of space. This provides considerable flexibility for modern developments.

Properties can be:

• side by side;
• above and below each other;
• arranged over multiple levels; or
• configured in a combination of these ways.

This makes Stratum Freehold particularly useful for developments where the efficient use of land and building space is important.

What is a Unit Title?

A Unit Title can also be used to create separately owned properties within a multi-level development.

Unit Titles are created under the Unit Titles Act 2010. A Unit Title development generally consists of individually owned units together with common property. The Act describes the legal interest in a unit as a stratum estate.

In an apartment development, for example, individual apartments may be owned by separate purchasers, while areas such as driveways, lifts, entrances, corridors and other shared facilities form common property. The owners are members of a body corporate, which manages the common property and the development within the statutory framework of the Unit Titles Act.

Unit Title is a well established and effective form of ownership, particularly for apartment developments. However, it is not the only option anymore.

Stratum Freehold and Unit Title: two different approaches

Both structures can achieve the same basic physical outcome: multiple independently owned properties within a single development. The important difference is the legal framework used to establish and manage those properties.

With a Unit Title development, ownership and management operate under the Unit Titles Act, including its statutory body corporate framework.

With a Stratum Freehold development, individual properties can be created as separate freehold estates, with the relationships between those properties established through the title structure, easements, covenants and other appropriate legal arrangements.

This can provide developers with significant flexibility in how a development is structured.

Why consider Stratum Freehold for a larger development?

Our recent 50 lot residential development is a good example of why Stratum Freehold should not be viewed as being limited to small developments.

A well designed Stratum Freehold structure can work extremely effectively at scale.

Individual freehold ownership

One of the most significant benefits is that each property can be held as an individual freehold estate. For purchasers, this provides a familiar form of property ownership with an individual Record of Title. For a development containing dozens of homes, this can provide a very clear ownership structure.

Efficient use of land

Stratum Freehold can be particularly valuable where a developer is looking to maximise the use of a site. Instead of thinking only in terms of horizontal land parcels, the development can be considered vertically. A single building footprint can accommodate multiple separately owned properties. This can enable developments to make much more efficient use of land while still providing purchasers with individual freehold ownership.

It can work at scale

One of the misconceptions about Stratum Freehold is that it is primarily suited to a small development with two or three properties. With appropriate planning and coordination between the surveyor, developer, architect, engineers and legal advisers, a Stratum Freehold structure can be used for a substantial development containing numerous individually owned properties.

The complexity does not necessarily mean that a Unit Title is the only option.

No statutory body corporate

A Stratum Freehold development does not require the statutory body corporate structure that applies to Unit Titles.

Instead of having the development automatically governed through the Unit Titles Act framework, the relationships between the different owners can be specifically established to suit the development. It is important to understand that this does not mean owners have no shared responsibilities. A large development may still have shared roads, services, structures, accessways, landscaping or other facilities.

The difference is that these matters can be deliberately designed and documented as part of the development structure.

Flexible ownership and management arrangements

Every development is different. A 50 lot development can have very different requirements from a conventional apartment building. There may be shared accessways, parking areas, services, retaining structures, landscaping and other infrastructure, while individual properties may have their own private outdoor areas and building components.

A Stratum Freehold structure allows the survey and associated legal arrangements to be developed around these specific characteristics. Depending on the development, this may involve easements, covenants and other legal instruments dealing with:

• access;
• parking;
• stormwater and wastewater;
• water and other services;
• structural walls;
• foundations;
• roofs;
• maintenance and repairs;
• shared facilities; and
• access rights for maintenance or repair.

The result can be a bespoke ownership structure designed specifically for the development.

The importance of three dimensional surveying

A Stratum Freehold development requires the surveyor to think about the building in three dimensions. We need to understand not only where the horizontal boundaries sit, but also the vertical relationship between the properties.

The survey plan can use height-limited boundaries to establish the upper and lower extent of each parcel. Cross-sections and other survey information can then demonstrate how the individual titles relate to the building and to one another. For a large development, this requires careful coordination between the survey information and the architectural and engineering design.

Getting this right early is critical.

Stratum Freehold does not mean compromising on ownership

For a purchaser, one of the most appealing aspects of Stratum Freehold is that the property can still be freehold, even though it may be physically located above another property. This is a powerful concept: it allows the traditional idea of freehold ownership to be applied vertically, with your own Record of Title regardless of what sits above or below you.

Is Stratum Freehold better than Unit Title?

It is not a question of one being universally better than the other. Both are valuable tools, and the appropriate structure depends on the particular development. What is important is that developers understand that Stratum Freehold can be a viable and highly effective option for large developments, not simply a solution for small projects.

For the right development, it can provide:

• Individual freehold ownership – Each property can have its own Record of Title.
• Vertical flexibility – Properties can be stacked above and below one another.
• Efficient land use – Multiple freehold properties can be created within a relatively small footprint.
• No statutory body corporate – The development does not need to operate under the Unit Titles Act body corporate structure.
• Bespoke arrangements – Shared access, services, maintenance and other matters can be specifically designed around the development.
• Scalability – With careful planning and professional coordination, the structure can be used for substantial developments containing many individual properties.

Consider the title structure early

One of the biggest lessons from working on complex developments is that the title structure should be considered at the beginning of the project, not at the end.

The proposed ownership structure can influence the building design, access arrangements, services, parking, structural elements and legal documentation. Early involvement of the cadastral surveyor allows these matters to be considered together.

At Tripp Andrews, we specialise in complex cadastral subdivision and title structures, including developments where properties need to be defined vertically. As a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor and Director, I work closely with developers, architects, engineers and legal advisers to turn complex building designs into practical and clearly defined property titles.

If you are considering a multi-level or high-density development, Stratum Freehold is worth considering from the outset. It may provide the flexibility to create individual freehold properties while making efficient use of the site and avoiding the need for a statutory Unit Title body corporate.

Most importantly, it demonstrates that freehold ownership does not have to be limited to properties sitting side by side on the ground. Freehold properties can be stacked.

And with the right survey and legal structure, even a large and complex development can be divided into clearly defined, independently owned freehold properties.

About Ann-Maree Gladding

Ann-Maree Gladding is a Director and Licensed Cadastral Surveyor at Tripp Andrews with 19 years of surveying experience across New Zealand and the UK, specialising in land development and land transfer surveying throughout Auckland. Her expertise spans complex urban and rural cadastral subdivisions, with particular strength in stratum subdivisions, and she represents the Auckland Survey Institute Branch in collaboration meetings with Auckland Council, giving clients confidence that even the most technically demanding subdivisions are managed with precision.