You have a big block, a builder who says “two homes, easy”, and a conveyancer’s email that mentions community title. Before you spend a dollar on plans, you need to know which kind of title the new lots would carry. It changes the paperwork, the plan fees at Land Services SA, and who pays when the shared driveway needs resealing. This article covers community title SA in plain terms, and explains why “strata” is no longer on the menu for a new division.
Torrens Survey Co is an introduction site, not a surveying firm. If you’d rather skip the reading, tell us what the survey is for and we’ll put you in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor who quotes and contracts with you directly.
Community title SA in plain terms
Land division in South Australia is “the alteration of the boundaries of land”. It can be done under Part 19AB of the Real Property Act 1886 or under the Community Titles Act 1996. Those two Acts give you the two kinds of title you can create today.
A Torrens division creates at least two allotments, held independently of one another. There are generally no shared facilities. Each owner has their own title, their own boundaries and their own driveway, and no owners’ body exists.
A community title division creates at least two lots and an area of common property. Common property is land the lot owners share, often a driveway, a garden, a bin store or a visitor car park. By-laws are compulsory, and the lots are managed together through a community corporation. That last point is the one buyers tend to miss: with community title you’re not only buying a lot, you’re joining a small body that owns and looks after something jointly.
Neither type is better in general. Which one suits a block depends on the shape of the land, how the lots would be reached, what the council and the Planning and Design Code allow, and how the owners want to share costs. That decision belongs with a Licensed Surveyor, your conveyancer or lawyer, and the council, not with an article.
Why new strata is gone
If you own an older unit or flat, or you’re looking at one, you may have heard the word strata. In South Australia, strata title was the older way of dividing a building into separately owned units. The Land Services SA position today is blunt: “It is no longer possible to create new strata divisions.”
That matters in two situations. If a builder, agent or relative tells you a block can be “put on strata”, that is out of date for a new division. And if you own a building of flats and want to sell them off individually, the route you may hear about now is community title. Whether a particular building suits that route depends on the building, the council and the plan, so it’s a question for a Licensed Surveyor and a conveyancer before you assume anything.
This article is only about creating new titles. Existing strata titles, and what you owe as an owner in one, are a job for a conveyancer or lawyer with your actual documents in front of them.
Torrens title vs community title: the side-by-side
Here’s how the two compare on the points that usually decide things. Fees are the Land Services SA plan fees from 1 July 2026 (the 2026-27 year), and they change every 1 July.
| Point | Torrens title | Community title |
|---|---|---|
| What it creates | At least two allotments held independently | At least two lots plus an area of common property |
| Shared facilities | Generally none | Common property shared by the lot owners |
| Rules between owners | No by-laws from the division itself | By-laws are compulsory |
| Who lodges the plan | A surveyor, through Electronic Plan Lodgement | A surveyor, through Electronic Plan Lodgement |
| Plan examination fee, 2026-27 | $1,231.00 (surveyed plan) | $618.00 for 5 lots or less; $1,231.00 for 6 or more |
| Plan deposit fee, 2026-27 | $189.00 | $189.00 |
| Fee per new title, 2026-27 | $112.00 each | $112.00 per lot |
| Survey Act levy, 2026-27 | $188.00 | $188.00 |
| Extra | A document fee also applies | Check the Land Services SA fee schedule |
Those are the lodgement fees only. They sit alongside council and state fees, SA Water fees, your conveyancer or solicitor, and the surveyor’s own fee, which each surveyor quotes after looking at the title and the block. Don’t add the column up and call it the cost of a division. Which fees apply varies by application.
For the current schedule, see the Land Services SA fees page.
Three blocks, three different answers
These are anonymised, typical situations, not customer stories. Each one shows where the Torrens or community choice comes from in practice.
A 1960s brick home on a 900 m2 block in Campbelltown. The owners want to keep the house and sell a rear lot. The eastern suburbs have seen some infill in townhouse form, and this is the kind of block behind it. If the rear lot can have its own street frontage or a battleaxe handle it owns outright, a Torrens division is the natural fit: two independent titles, no common property, no corporation. If the plan is instead a shared driveway both owners must use, community title starts to make sense. For a two-lot Torrens division, one new allotment is created. The Greater Adelaide open space contribution for 2026-27 is $10,166.00 per new allotment (not exceeding 1 ha), and the Commission may require it for divisions of 20 allotments or less. Whether it applies to your application, and how the count works, is something to confirm with the council and the surveyor.
A rear-lot arrangement on a Marion block with one shared driveway. Two homes, one narrow access strip, and neither owner wants to give up half the strip. Inner South suburbs like Marion have seen most of their recent dwelling growth come from general infill, so this pattern is common. Community title puts the driveway in common property, and the by-laws and corporation set out who maintains it and who pays. The cost of that is a body to run, a by-law set to read before you buy, and a shared obligation that follows the lot to the next owner. A conveyancer should explain the corporation side before you sign anything.
A 1970s block of six flats in Glenelg held by one owner. The owner wants to sell the flats separately. This is where “just put them on strata” comes from, and it no longer works for a new division. The route that remains is a community plan, and whether the existing building, its services and its setbacks can be divided that way is something only the surveyor, the council and a conveyancer can tell you after seeing the actual building. For a community plan of five lots or less, the 2026-27 plan examination fee is $618.00, and it rises to $1,231.00 for six or more. This building has six, so the higher fee would apply on those numbers.
In each case the plan is prepared by a Licensed Surveyor. In South Australia, only licensed surveyors can undertake a boundary survey or place a survey mark that defines a property boundary, and Licensed Surveyors also prepare the plans for land subdivision and community titles. Before you engage one, you can check their licence with the Surveyors Board SA, which publishes guidance at surveyorsboardsa.org.au/public-info. There’s no searchable online register, so ask the Registrar (registrar@isasa.org.au, (08) 8212 0343) or check the Gazette list, updated each July and January.
What community title costs across the whole project
A plan-lodgement fee table is only a slice of the bill. One Adelaide surveying firm, Sawley Lock O’Callaghan, says a standard one-into-two land division in the Adelaide metropolitan area costs “in the order of $30,000 - $34,000” (page modified 12 May 2025, GST not stated). That figure includes state and council fees, Land Services SA plan fees, surveyor and consultancy fees, conveyancer or solicitor fees, and SA Water water and sewer fees.
The same firm adds an important warning: SA Water may charge non-standard costs for water and sewer extensions, deeper connection pits or dewatering, and “this could increase the costs significantly”. Power and NBN connections are extra. That figure is for a standard one-into-two division, and it doesn’t tell you what a community title division will cost on your block.
A few statutory fees for 2026-27 help you see where some of the money goes, without being a total:
- Land division authorisation, up to 4 additional allotments and no public road: $210.00
- Commission advice: $240.00
- Section 138 Certificate of Approval: $1,229.00
- SA Water assessment: $480.00
- Open space contribution in Greater Adelaide: $10,166.00 per new allotment
The open space contribution is the largest of these. The amount is the one in force when the application was made, so a division lodged this year is charged at this year’s rate.
Conveyancing Centre (SA) publishes a fee of $660.00 (including GST) to prepare and lodge the division forms, plus $88 for each consent arranged (including GST). A registered interest on the title, such as a mortgage, needs the mortgagee’s consent, and most lenders want the plan deposited before settlements.
For the survey and design fee itself, the answer is the same as everywhere in Adelaide: surveyors quote each job, and the price depends on the block, the evidence on site and the type of plan. For a deeper look at the numbers, see what it costs to subdivide land in Adelaide.
How to choose between Torrens and community title
Start with the access and the shared ground. If every lot can have its own frontage and nothing needs to be shared, Torrens is usually the simpler structure. If two or more lots depend on the same driveway, drainage or garden, community title is the structure built for that.
Then think about the people who will own the lots. A community corporation means meetings, levies and by-laws. Some buyers like a clear set of rules and shared upkeep. Others would rather own everything outright, and that can affect who wants to buy.
Land Services SA lists the steps in a division: a preliminary enquiry at council, contacting a land surveyor and a conveyancer or solicitor, lodgement and approval by the State Commission Assessment Panel, lodgement with Land Services SA, examination of the plan, examination of dealings, deposit of the plan and issue of title. Its own wording on the timeline is that “the division of land can take many months, sometimes even years.” There’s no official month figure, so treat any confident number as a guess.
Two things about size and rules. Minimum allotment sizes depend on the zone and any overlays in the Planning and Design Code, so ask the council or the surveyor rather than trusting a number from a friend. And Land Services SA strongly recommends engaging a professional licensed surveyor and a conveyancer or solicitor for a division. The Land Services SA guide to lodging plans lays out each step.
If you have a block in mind, tell us what the survey is for and describe the block and what you’d like to do with it. We put you in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor, who gives you a written quote and contracts with you directly. If you prefer to talk, you can also call (08) 5550 3814, though the form’s the faster path. For the survey side of a division, see our page on land division surveys, and for an overview of the whole process, read how to subdivide land in South Australia.
Before any of that, get the certificate of title for the block in front of you. It shows the registered interests that may need consent, and easements that can shape where a lot line or a driveway can go. See certificate of title in SA for what to look for. If you’re unsure whether you need a boundary survey first, our boundary surveys page explains what that involves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still create a strata title in South Australia?
No. Land Services SA states that it’s no longer possible to create new strata divisions. A new division today is either a Torrens division or a community title division. If someone offers you a new strata title, ask them to point to the plan type they mean.
Is community title always more expensive than Torrens title?
Not necessarily at the plan-lodgement end. For 2026-27, a community plan of five lots or less has a $618.00 examination fee, against $1,231.00 for a surveyed Torrens plan. But the whole project depends on the block, the services and the design, and no single figure covers all of it, so ask the surveyor to quote your block.
Do I have to have by-laws with a community title?
Yes. By-laws are compulsory for a community title, and a community corporation looks after the common property. Read the by-laws before you buy a lot, because they follow the lot to the next owner. A conveyancer or lawyer can explain how they affect you.
Who prepares the plan for a community title division?
A Licensed Surveyor prepares and lodges the plan, and a conveyancer or solicitor prepares the application. Check the surveyor’s licence with the Surveyors Board SA before you engage them. We don’t survey, lodge or arrange anything ourselves, and we put you in touch with an independent Licensed Surveyor who quotes and contracts with you directly.