PROPERTY NEWS - Rauch Gertenbach Attorneys gives the following advice regarding the building plans for buying or selling property:

 

Homeowners, both buying and selling, must ensure that the building plans of the property they are buying or selling, meet municipal regulations and that it has been properly approved.

 

Mr X buys a home from Mr Y and both are very excited to conclude the transaction. Mr Y is retiring and has already made an offer on another property in Glentana. Mr X plans to make improvements to the home he has just bought. After all the contracts have been signed, all transfer and registration costs settled and the purchase amount has been paid, the property is registered in record time. As soon as registration of transfer had taken place, Mr X duly appointed his architect to start the drafting of plans for the improvements that he plans to bring about, only to find out that the existing building plans for the property on record at the municipality do not correctly reflect the building/structure on the property. The seller added a garage and an outside kitchen without approved building plans and to make things worse, these structures are not in compliance with municipal regulations.

 

A number of problems are presented by the scenario above. All building activities and plans must be approved by the local authority and the municipality may even put a stop to any building activities and insist that illegal structures be taken down and/or that penalties or fines be instituted against offenders. In many cases, the current owner is not the offender that brought about the illegal structures however, the property was bought with the illegal structures already in place.

 

One can imagine the possible dispute that may follow in such instances. The buyer would want the seller to rectify the plans, together with the illegal structures.

 

If applicable the buyer will be able to call upon the Consumer Protection Act. From the seller's perspective, it could be argued that he is not liable for the defects, as the property was bought 'voetstoots', a standard clause in most contracts, especially in cases where the Consumer Protection Act is not applicable. The counter-argument by the buyer would be that it is a latent flaw or deficiency and should thus exclude the 'voetstoots' clause and so the arguments could carry on forever and a day.

 

Feel free to contact Jaco Fourie, Maryke Landman or Paul Delport at Rauch Gertenbach Attorneys, should you require advice regarding this topic, or any other property related matters. It is sure to prevent any unnecessary future costs and headaches!