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You spend months choosing the perfect home, negotiating the purchase price, securing financing, reviewing survey diagrams, inspecting finishes, imagining what life will be like after collecting the keys.

Then, almost overnight, you discover something few purchasers truly understand: you didn’t just buy a home. You joined a government. Not Parliament. Not your Municipal Corporation. But a much smaller institution that has the power to collect fees, enforce rules, manage millions of dollars in assets, enter into contracts, maintain common property, and make decisions that directly affect the value of your investment. That institution is your strata corporation.

Despite the rapid growth of gated communities, townhouses and apartment developments across Jamaica, remarkably few homeowners understand either the powers or the limits of the body elected to govern them. That should concern us all. As a real estate investor and developer who understands the enormous responsibility that comes with creating communities, not simply buildings, I have become convinced that Jamaica’s next great housing challenge will not be construction. It will be governance.

Jamaica’s Housing Boom Has Created a Governance Boom

Over the last two decades, Jamaica has experienced an unprecedented shift toward shared residential developments. Rising land prices, urbanisation, and demand for secure communities have made strata living the preferred model for thousands of families.

Today, Jamaica has approximately 1,788 registered strata corporations, each responsible for administering the affairs of its development.¹ Collectively, these corporations manage hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance contributions annually. They insure buildings. Maintain roads. Manage water systems. Oversee security. Administer reserve funds. Enter legal contracts. Enforce by-laws. In many respects, they operate as small democratic institutions.

Yet governance standards have not evolved at the same pace as development itself. In 2023, the Commission of Strata Corporations warned that compliance with statutory governance obligations remains worryingly low. Many strata corporations were failing to file annual returns, financial statements, reports of activities, AGM minutes and other documents required under Jamaica’s Registration (Strata Titles) Act. The Commission has even taken legal action against non-compliant corporations to compel compliance.¹ That should not simply concern regulators. It should concern every homeowner.

Your Executive Committee Is Not the Corporation

One of the greatest misconceptions in strata living is that once an Executive Committee is elected, it becomes the governing authority in its own right. It does not. Under Jamaica’s Registration (Strata Titles) Act, the strata corporation is the collective body of proprietors. The Executive Committee exists to administer the corporation’s affairs on behalf of those proprietors, not to replace them. The Commission of Strata Corporations exists to oversee compliance with that statutory framework.²

That distinction may appear technical. It is not. It is the difference between representation and control. Executive Committees exercise delegated authority. They do not own the corporation, nor should they ever become insulated from the proprietors they were elected to serve. Healthy governance requires continuous engagement, transparent communication, not periodic elections followed by years of silence.

Transparency Is Not Optional

Trust is the currency of every successful residential community. Without transparency, suspicion grows. Questions become disputes. Disputes become litigation. Jamaica’s legal framework recognises this. Annual returns filed with the Commission are not mere administrative paperwork. They are intended to provide insight into how a corporation has been managed, including its financial statements, reports of activities, AGM and extraordinary meeting minutes, executive appointments, resolutions adopting budgets and insurance information.³

Why? Because transparency protects everyone, prospective purchasers, mortgage lenders, existing proprietors, and Executive Committees themselves. Good governance is impossible without good information. Owners should not have to guess how decisions were made, how and why legal costs were incurred, whether budgets were properly adopted, or what strategy exists for managing significant issues affecting the development. Questions should not be interpreted as hostility. They are a hallmark of responsible ownership.

Leadership Is Not the Same as Authority

Every Executive Committee will eventually face difficult decisions. Budgets will be challenged. Neighbours will disagree. Rules will require enforcement. Developers will sometimes fail to meet obligations. Leadership is measured not by whether those challenges arise, but by how they are handled. Good leadership communicates early, explains decisions, invites participation, and seeks compromise where possible, recognising that disagreement is an inevitable feature of democratic governance. Authority can compel compliance. Leadership earns confidence. The two are not the same.

Due Process Protects Everyone

Shared communities require rules. No reasonable homeowner disputes that. But rules should never become substitutes for process. The principles of natural justice remain relevant even in private communities. Allegations should be investigated objectively. Affected parties should have an opportunity to respond. Evidence should guide outcomes. Where disputes arise between neighbours, reasonable efforts should first be made to resolve them through discussion or mediation before positions become entrenched. Litigation has its place. But it should rarely become the first conversation. Communities are strengthened when disputes are resolved, not simply won.

The Forgotten Phase of Development

Developers spend years designing buildings. Far less attention is given to what happens after the ribbon is cut. Yet the transition from developer control to owner governance is arguably the most important stage in the life of any residential community. Incomplete infrastructure. Outstanding defects. Unfinished common areas. Contractor disputes. Budget uncertainty. These are not unusual. What determines whether a development succeeds is not whether problems arise; it is whether the governance structure responds transparently, collaboratively and strategically. Developers must appreciate that handover is not the end of their responsibility. Executive Committees must recognise that assuming control requires more than enthusiasm. It requires governance competence.

Technology Can Close the Trust Gap

Many of today’s governance disputes are not created by bad intentions. They are created by poor information. Modern property management platforms now allow owners to access financial reports, budgets, maintenance requests, insurance certificates, governing documents, meeting minutes, notices, outstanding balances and reserve fund information from a single secure portal. Transparency should no longer depend on who asks the loudest question. It should be built into the system. Technology cannot replace integrity. But it can make integrity visible.

Before You Buy, Ask Better Questions

When purchasing into a strata development, buyers understandably focus on square footage, finishes and amenities. Those questions matter. But ask these as well:

• How often are Annual General Meetings held?
• Are minutes circulated?
• Are annual returns filed with the Commission?
• Are financial statements available?
• How are budgets adopted?
• How are legal expenses approved?
• What process exists for resolving disputes?

These questions may ultimately have a greater impact on your quality of life than the view from your balcony.

Building Communities That Last

As homeowners, we often celebrate the visible achievements: beautiful architecture, landscaped gardens, elegant clubhouses and modern amenities. Those things undoubtedly matter. But communities are not sustained by concrete alone. They are sustained by trust. Trust in leadership. Trust in process. Trust that rules will be applied consistently. Trust that questions will be welcomed rather than discouraged. Trust that every proprietor, regardless of influence or opinion, will be treated fairly. The Registration (Strata Titles) Act provides the legal framework for that trust.² The responsibility for bringing it to life rests with every Executive Committee, every proprietor, every managing agent and every developer.

Jamaica’s housing sector has matured dramatically over the past generation. Perhaps it is now time for our governance to mature with it. Because long after the paint fades and the landscaping changes, one truth remains: the quality of a community is determined not only by the homes we build, but by the institutions we leave behind.

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Kemal Brown is the Chief Executive Officer of Digita Properties Ltd, an international property holding and investment company with operations across five jurisdictions. With expertise spanning real estate investment, development, technology, and corporate strategy, he focuses on acquiring, developing, and managing assets while advancing innovative approaches to property ownership and community development. Brown is a frequent commentator on real estate, and economic development, advocating for stronger institutional frameworks that create sustainable value.

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Sources

1. Jamaica Gleaner, “Stratas falter on financial reporting,” June 4, 2023: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20230604/stratas-falter-financial-reporting
2. The Registration (Strata Titles) Act, Laws of Jamaica: https://laws.moj.gov.jm/legislation/statutes/R/The%20Registration%20(Strata%20Titles)%20Act.pdf
3. Real Estate Board / Commission of Strata Corporations, “Submitting Annual Returns”: https://reb.gov.jm/submitting-annual-returns/