Any insights on buying a house without approved plans?

T

TaLamia

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We are interested in a property that has had renovations done to it, mainly a 2 bedroom flatlet and a large garage built onto to it, but no updated approved building plans. They supposedly have all the plans drawn up - just not approved.

What we need to know, from those with more experience, is what are the unforeseen issues we may not be aware of if we bought such a property? How long or difficult is the process to get plans approved should we purchase this property for cash?

Am I right to assume that only cash buyers would be able to take this house off the seller's hands as no bank would lend money for a house without approved plans?

For more background, the seller is abroad now so I don't think they want to deal with the hassle of getting plans approved etc.
 
Until I saw your profile says Pretoors I was about to say, are you buying this monstrosity next door to me that was done without approved plans?
 
First you need to ascertain what state these altered house plans are in, and could they be submitted AS IS without any further fuss.
But if it turns out, that you will actually have to carry the burden of having the plans redrawn, that can add significant cost (anywhere from R20 to R60K) depending on the complexity. If these people are not willing to fulfill their government mandated responsibility, then they need to knock that amount (including all admin costs) off the purchase price. I'm thinking at least R100K to cover all eventualities.
And you need to speak to your bond holder and insurance company first, as they may not even approve of dealing with an assett that is not properly registered and certified.
 
LazyLion said:
And you need to speak to your bond holder and insurance company first, as they may not even approve of dealing with an assett that is not properly registered and certified.
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It would be cash purchase so no bond holder would be involved. But good point about the insurance, didn't think about that part. Further ammunition for us to use with price negotiation.
 
If they built over property lines or servitudes they might demand you break it down so get the plot information before signing anything.

Next the foundations and structure need to be according to code and you need to be able to prove it with engineer reports which are costly. Its not going to be easy otherwise they would have done it already.
 
RedViking said:
Don't do it. It is an expensive asset.
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Unfortunately the area is just too good for us to not consider it considering what else we are seeing in the market. Plus we need the existing additional rooms for multi-generational living and building from scratch would take too long and probably cost more than buying existing structure and then extending it.

B-1 said:
If they built over property lines or servitudes they might demand you break it down so get the plot information before signing anything.
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It's a wrap around garden so nothing should be over property lines but servitudes is a good point, thanks.

Thanks guys, these are all the right lingo and terms that I as a second time buyer are not well versed in so thanks for the insights, please keep them coming if there's any other considerations. I'm definitely the cooler head right now, my husband is feeling desperate to submit an OTP as we recently lost another property to buyers who beat us with their OTP by a few days.
 
Get a surveyor to confirm the site layout
Get a builder to examine the workmanship

I bought a house in Ottery that had a Vibracrete Garage on it. It turned out to have been placed over the building line. I had to get a portion transferred. The actual land cost was R1,00 but the legal fees were R7250,00
 
They apparently have the full plans and we will get to see them as soon as agent gets them. But where would we be able to see where servitudes run below? Would we have to go to the municipality in person to check this or is there another way?

Worst case scenario is alterations were done over servitudes etc and is obviously a problem, best case scenario is because the owner lives abroad now he's simply not interested in getting it sorted (his elderly mother lives at the property with a renter). Obviously seller won't help us understand the extent of why he didn't just get the plans approved, we will need to do our own investigation to be sure.

Trust me, I would walk away too from this but we are seriously interested in the property for all various reasons, including proximity for kiddo's future schools etc.
 
TaLamia said:
We are interested in a property that has had renovations done to it, mainly a 2 bedroom flatlet and a large garage built onto to it, but no updated approved building plans. They supposedly have all the plans drawn up - just not approved.

What we need to know, from those with more experience, is what are the unforeseen issues we may not be aware of if we bought such a property? How long or difficult is the process to get plans approved should we purchase this property for cash?

Am I right to assume that only cash buyers would be able to take this house off the seller's hands as no bank would lend money for a house without approved plans?

For more background, the seller is abroad now so I don't think they want to deal with the hassle of getting plans approved etc.
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Some zoning laws do not allow a second dwelling on the property without doing significant paperwork so I would recommend confirming that. We had to rip out the kitchen of the flat on our property and call it and office to get the CoC signed and the even did a spot check 6 months later to confirm that we didn't turn it back into a dwelling.
 
TaLamia said:
They apparently have the full plans and we will get to see them as soon as agent gets them. But where would we be able to see where servitudes run below? Would we have to go to the municipality in person to check this or is there another way?

Worst case scenario is alterations were done over servitudes etc and is obviously a problem, best case scenario is because the owner lives abroad now he's simply not interested in getting it sorted (his elderly mother lives at the property with a renter). Obviously seller won't help us understand the extent of why he didn't just get the plans approved, we will need to do our own investigation to be sure.

Trust me, I would walk away too from this but we are seriously interested in the property for all various reasons, including proximity for kiddo's future schools etc.
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Servitude get noted on the title deed itself.
I get the sense that this property is priced well for the area?
How long has it been in market? This will give you a sense of other buyer sentiments.

It could be a minor issue as you say, but will cost you extra. Keep R100k aside as per other post just for what ifs if you do sign OTP.
 
Blu82 said:
Some zoning laws do not allow a second dwelling on the property without doing significant paperwork so I would recommend confirming that.
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It's not a separate freestanding flatlet, it's fully attached to the main house if that makes a difference?

A3@MBB said:
I get the sense that this property is priced well for the area?
How long has it been in market? This will give you a sense of other buyer sentiments.
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Hmmm, I would say in my opinion it's overpriced for the amount of work that still needs to be done to it, including the updating of 2 old bathrooms and the moving of the kitchen to another section of the living area (I detest kitchens with little to no window view of greenery). But these are tasks I'm willing to take on, provided they are willing to negotiate.

It's newish on the market but I believe they're going to struggle with buyers because the current renter is unhappy with it being listed so is restricting viewing to only 1 hour a week in the middle of the week and day time.

Plus if there's no approved plans, am I right in saying that they would only be able to entertain cash offers as no bank would grant a bond to such a property right?
 
TaLamia said:
It's not a separate freestanding flatlet, it's fully attached to the main house if that makes a difference?
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You should be good to go according to the zoning law in my area. I would however recommend that you read up on the zoning laws for the area to get a better understanding.
 
TaLamia said:
How do you know they don't have approved plans?
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Because
1. Building was disruptive to us, and damaged part of our rental.
2. The building is too close to the boundary wall.
3. Landlord found out about the building and went to go check with the City of Cape Town. No plans were approved.
4. Ever since 3, there's been a legal case about it between the landlord and the owner of that property
5. Owner of the property is an arrogant piece of work that thinks they can do what they like.
 
EmmanuelGoldstein said:
Because
1. Building was disruptive to us, and damaged part of our rental.
2. The building is too close to the boundary wall.
3. Landlord found out about the building and went to go check with the City of Cape Town. No plans were approved.
4. Ever since 3, there's been a legal case about it between the landlord and the owner of that property
5. Owner of the property is an arrogant piece of work that thinks they can do what they like.
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Jeez, I really don't understand why one wouldn't just go through the process to do it right from the get go to avoid all this legal cr*p afterwards. It boggles me...
 
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