A city average cannot tell you what one building actually charges. Body corporate, strata or owners corporation fees are set building by building, from that building's own budget and its own shared facilities, so two apartments a few streets apart can carry very different levies. The figure that matters for a property you are looking at is the one on its own levy notice or owners corporation certificate, not a metro-wide number.
What these fees pay for
Depending on the state, the entity that manages a building's shared areas is called an owners corporation (as in NSW and Victoria), a body corporate (as in Queensland) or an equivalent under that state's own strata or community titles legislation. Whatever it is called locally, it collects levies from every lot owner and splits the money into two kinds of fund:
- an administrative fund, which pays for the building's day-to-day running: insurance, common-area cleaning and gardening, minor repairs, utilities for shared areas and management fees; and
- a capital works fund, sometimes called a sinking fund, which pays for large, less frequent items such as repainting, lift replacement or roof repairs, planned and saved for over years.
A levy notice usually shows how much is going to each fund, which is worth checking before you treat the whole amount as recurring maintenance.
How the levy is set, and where special levies come from
Each year the owners corporation or body corporate adopts a budget, usually at its annual general meeting, estimating what the two funds will need for the year ahead. That total is then split between lots according to each lot's registered share of the scheme, commonly called unit entitlement in New South Wales or lot entitlement in Queensland, with an equivalent schedule elsewhere. A larger or higher-value lot generally carries a larger share. The split is set when the scheme is registered and does not change as values change; altering it takes a formal process under the state's legislation.
A special levy is raised outside that annual budget when an unplanned or urgent cost comes up: storm damage, a defect that needs rectifying, or a capital works fund that turns out to be short of what a planned project needs. It is put to the owners for approval and billed separately from the regular levy.
What pushes a building's fees higher or lower
None of this is a fixed rule, but these are the factors that generally explain why one building's fees differ from another's:
- shared facilities that need ongoing maintenance and staffing, such as lifts, pools, gyms, concierge or security;
- the building's age, which affects the maintenance a building needs and, for newer buildings, whether items are still under a builder's warranty;
- building insurance, priced on the building's construction, location and rebuild cost, and compulsory for the corporation to hold;
- how well the capital works fund has been managed, since a fund that has been under-funded for years tends to mean a special levy later; and
- the number of lots sharing the cost of common facilities, because the same lift or roof is cheaper per owner across a larger building.
A low fee is not automatically good news, and a high one is not automatically bad. Read what it funds before deciding either way.
Example: turning a quarterly levy into a weekly cost
Example: say a $650,000 unit rents for $600 a week, or $31,200 a year, and its levy notice shows a quarterly body corporate fee of $850.
- Annualised: $850 × 4 = $3,400 a year.
- Weekly: $3,400 ÷ 52 ≈ $65 a week.
- Share of rent: $65 ÷ $600 ≈ 11% of the weekly rent, before rates, insurance, management fees and any other running costs are taken out.
- Effect on yield: gross yield here is $31,200 ÷ $650,000 = 4.8%. Taking out the body corporate levy alone, before any other running cost, leaves $31,200 − $3,400 = $27,800, or $27,800 ÷ $650,000 ≈ 4.3%.
The arithmetic is the point, not this particular levy. Run the same steps with the figure from the property you are actually looking at, and the gap between the gross and net numbers stops being illustrative.
Where to find the real figure, and what to ask
The average you saw in a search result is not this property's fee. These are:
- the levy notice, showing the current amount and how it splits between funds;
- the owners corporation or body corporate records: minutes, the current budget, and any planned special levy;
- a certificate under the relevant state's strata or community titles legislation, usually obtained through a conveyancer or solicitor; and
- the selling agent, who can usually supply the current levy notice on request.
Before you buy, it is worth asking:
- What is the current levy, and how much of it goes to each fund?
- Has a special levy been raised recently, or is one planned?
- What does the latest budget or financial statement show for the capital works fund's balance?
- Is any major maintenance, defect or dispute recorded in the minutes?
- Which costs are the owner's alone, and which belong to the corporation?
A conveyancer or solicitor can tell you exactly which records to request for your state, and having them reviewed by a professional before you commit is worth the cost.
In Virtual Buyers Agent
Once you know the actual levy for a property, you record it as a running cost on that property's Finances area, alongside the price, rent and your other assumptions. Virtual Buyers Agent works out the yield and cash flow from those figures, with the formula shown, so a different levy changes the result straight away. It does not look up or estimate the fee for you: that number comes from the sources above. You can try the same arithmetic without signing in on the cash flow calculator.
Your state's rules
- NSW Government: buying a strata property
- Queensland Government: buying into a body corporate
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: owners corporation fees
For other states and territories, check with the state or territory's fair trading or consumer affairs regulator, and have the records reviewed by a professional before you commit.
Reviewed 28 September 2026.