This is often referred to as the 3 P’s - People, Pets and Parking.

People

In a community scheme you will find many different people from all walks of life, each with their own way of living and different working schedules. Living in such high density requires a heightened sense of neighbourliness and consideration towards surrounding units. Noise can often seem amplified as the sound reverberates throughout the complex. All community schemes are governed by conduct rules but it must be kept in mind that people’s behaviour cannot be controlled, and at times conflict could arise between neighbours’ or even visitors to the complex.

Pets

A scheme will most likely have a certain policy on keeping pets and any rules around pet keeping will be contained in the conduct rules and/or pet application. The rules might determine that any pets are to be approved by the trustees of the scheme, prior to anyone keeping pets. Should this be the case, the trustees may impose certain conditions for keeping pets and often there are restrictions on the type of breed or height of the pet (mostly dogs). Prospective buyers or tenants are not always made aware of the pet approval process by the estate/letting agent and without due diligence, they move in with all their pets just to find out later that there are certain consequences for not following the process.

Parking

It seems there is never sufficient parking in community schemes. This is mainly due to the high density living and smaller amount of space to build the required number of apartments/houses and other amenities. Residents often assume that they are free to use visitors parking or that it can be re-allocated, however, the use of visitor bays are stipulated in the rules and a certain amount of visitors parking is usually a town planning requirement. It is important to remember that you buy into the scheme or rent “as it is” and the onus is on you as prospective buyer or tenant to determine beforehand whether there will be sufficient parking for your vehicles.