Papua New Guinea's Strata Title Regime Update

By Angela Ipara

Key takeaways

• Papua New Guinea's strata title regime has moved from legislative reform to practical implementation, with the first reported digital strata title issued for the Constantinou Group's Jacksons Heights development on 26 March 2026.

• The regime creates new opportunities for developers to market and sell individual units under separate titles, while providing purchasers and lenders with greater certainty of ownership, transferability and financing arrangements.

• As adoption increases, developers and owners of existing apartment, residential and mixed-use developments may begin exploring whether strata title offers a more attractive ownership and financing framework than traditional company-shareholding structures.

In our 2023 article, Papua New Guinea Strata Title Legislation Overview, we examined the newly enacted Strata Title Act 2022 and Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 and the opportunities those reforms presented for Papua New Guinea's property sector. At the time, the legislation provided the legal foundations for strata title ownership, but the regime remained largely untested in practice.[1]

It was recently reported that the Port Moresby-based fintech NiuPay, in collaboration with the Department of Lands and Physical Planning (DLPP), facilitated the issuance of Papua New Guinea's first digital strata title through its Digital Strata Title Platform. The title was issued on 26 March 2026 for the Constantinou Group's Jacksons Heights development, marking what appears to be the first practical implementation of Papua New Guinea's strata title framework. [2] 

This milestone is significant not only for the Constantinou Group and NiuPay, but for Papua New Guinea's property sector more broadly. It demonstrates that the legislative framework introduced in 2022 is now capable of operating in practice and provides a glimpse of how strata ownership may reshape the country's residential and mixed-use property market.

Why was strata title introduced?

As we noted in our earlier article, one of the principal objectives of the reforms was to provide greater certainty of ownership and facilitate investment in higher-density developments.[3]

Prior to the introduction of the strata title regime, ownership of apartments and similar developments was often structured through companies that owned the underlying land and improvements, with purchasers acquiring shares in the owning entity rather than direct ownership of a specific apartment or unit.[4]

While workable, this model often created practical difficulties in relation to financing, title security and transfers. Lenders were commonly asked to take security over shareholdings and contractual occupancy rights rather than a registered interest in a specific property. Similarly, transfers frequently involved share transfers and associated corporate documentation rather than a straightforward transfer of title.

Previous system vs Strata title regime 

The strata title regime changes that position by enabling individual units within a development to be separately owned, separately transferred and separately mortgaged.[5] The table below highlights some of the key differences between the traditional ownership model and the new strata title regime.

Issue	Previous system	Strata Title regime
Ownership	Purchasers commonly acquired shares in a company owning the development.	Purchasers can own an individual unit under a separate registered title.[6]
Financing	Financing often relied on security over shares or contractual rights.	Mortgages and other encumbrances can be registered against individual strata titles.[7]
Transferability	Transfers typically involved share transfers and associated corporate documentation.	Individual units can be bought, sold and transferred independently.[8]
Title Security	Rights were linked to company ownership structures and occupation arrangements.	Registered unit titles provide greater certainty of ownership.[9]
Common Property	Managed through company structures or contractual arrangements.	Common property is managed through an owners' corporation.[10]
Governance	Governed by company constitutions and shareholder arrangements.	Governed through an owners' corporation and executive committee under the Strata Title (Management) Act 2022.[11]
Maintenance Funding	Funding arrangements determined privately between owners.	Administrative funds and sinking funds funded through owner contributions.⁸
Insurance	Insurance arrangements determined privately.	Building and public liability insurance obligations imposed by statute.[12]
Dispute Resolution	Primarily contractual and court-based remedies.	Dedicated statutory dispute resolution framework.[13]

Why the first title matters

The issue of Papua New Guinea's first digital strata title is significant not simply because it creates a new type of property title.

Rather, it demonstrates that the legislative framework introduced in 2022 is now capable of operating in practice. The registration of the first strata title suggests that the regulatory, administrative and technological infrastructure required to support strata ownership is beginning to function as intended.

For developers, this provides a pathway for the sale of individual units within larger developments. For lenders, it creates a framework capable of supporting financing secured against specific units. For purchasers, it offers greater certainty regarding ownership, financing and transferability.

Importantly, Jacksons Heights appears to be the first publicly reported development to utilise the regime. As the first project through the system, it may provide valuable insight into how the framework operates in practice and whether any refinements are required as adoption increases.

What about conversion opportunities?

An interesting question moving forward is whether developments currently operating under traditional company ownership or shareholding arrangements will seek to transition to the new strata title regime.[14] The strata title regime offers an alternative model based on individual ownership, separate title and independent financing arrangements.[15]

As the regime becomes more established, it will be interesting to see whether developers, owners and lenders view strata conversion as an attractive alternative to existing ownership structures. If so, the long term impact of the reforms may extend well beyond new developments and influence how existing apartment and mixed-use projects are owned, financed and managed.[16]

The importance of the Strata Title (Management) Act

While much of the attention has focused on title creation, the Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 may ultimately prove just as significant.

The Act establishes owners' corporations on registration of a strata plan and introduces a governance framework for the ongoing management and operation of strata developments. Key features include:

• establishment of owners' corporations to manage common property[17];

• executive committees responsible for the day-to-day governance of the development[18];

• administrative funds and sinking funds to meet ongoing maintenance and capital expenditure requirements[19];

• statutory building and public liability insurance requirements[20]; and

• dispute resolution mechanisms for disputes involving owners, occupiers and owners' corporations.[21]

These concepts are familiar in jurisdictions such as Australia and New Zealand but represent a significant evolution in the management of multi-unit developments in Papua New Guinea.

For developers and long-term project owners, the success of a strata development will depend not only on creating individual titles, but also on the effectiveness of the governance and management framework that supports them. As more developments adopt the regime, practical issues concerning governance, maintenance obligations, levy collection and dispute resolution are likely to emerge and test the framework in practice.

Looking ahead

When we first examined Papua New Guinea's strata title legislation in 2023, the focus was on the opportunities that the reforms might create. At that stage, the framework existed largely on paper.

In 2026, the conversation is beginning to change.

The issue of the first digital strata title for the Constantinou Group's Jacksons Heights development demonstrates that the regime is beginning to move from legislative reform to practical implementation. While it remains to be seen how quickly the framework will be adopted across the market, the milestone provides an encouraging indication that strata title ownership is becoming a reality in Papua New Guinea.

The coming years will likely determine the extent to which developers, lenders, investors and purchasers embrace the new framework. If adoption continues, the Strata Title Act 2022 and Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 may prove to be among the most significant property law reforms undertaken in Papua New Guinea in recent decades.

[1] Andrew Kidu and Tara Vele, Papua New Guinea Strata Title Legislation Overview (Pacific Legal Network, 2 August 2023). 

[2] Nadav Shemer Shlezinger, How a local fintech solved two "serious" problems with land management (Business Advantage PNG, 7 July 2026).

[3] Andrew Kidu and Tara Vele, Papua New Guinea Strata Title Legislation Overview (Pacific Legal Network, 2 August 2023).

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] Strata Title Act 2022 (PNG), ss 14, 33-34

[7] Land Registration (Amendment) Act 2022 (PNG), s 41F.

[8] Strata Title Act 2022 (PNG), Part IV

[9] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), ss 4-6, 16.

[10] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), Part IV (ss 30-44)

[11] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), Part V (ss 68-87).

[12] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), ss 95-100

[13] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), ss 120-121

[14] Ibid

[15] Ibid

[16] Ibid

[17] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), ss 4-6, 1

[18] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), Part IV (ss 30-44).

[19] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), Part V (ss 68-87).

[20] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), ss 95-100.

[21] Strata Title (Management) Act 2022 (PNG), ss 120-121.