selling a house

Tongs of Destiny

Tongs of Destiny

Expert Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Messages
4,852
Reaction score
5,048
We all know that in order to build something legally you need the relevant municipal approvals before you can start.

When you sell a property 50 years later that doesn't line up to your current approved plans, is the sale still legal and allowed to proceed?
If nothing on the OTP mentions that current plans must be approved by the municipality, can the buyer then turn around and say, "well sorry it's voetstoets I didn't do any building work"

Any lawyers here maybe know about this issue? And before anyone says you are not legally allowed to sell a house whos plans are not approved, well 70% of South African homes don't line up with their municipal plans, therefor the high majority of house sales wouldn't go through.
 
house can be sold without plans -- unless its stipulated in the OTP.



and just to add ... our local governmnet record keeping is up to the standard that you would expect.
you are unlikely to find any originals at their archives...
 
I went to see the municipal offices to find plans, it's like a mix between Aleppo and Baghdad during the war. I asked if they were kept on some computer in a head office for the whole of South Africa, they said no just in your paper file, I then asked what if someone misplaced it amongst another file or this office burnt down... the looks just faded away like a 1000 yard stare.
 
*SynergyX* said:
house can be sold without plans -- unless its stipulated in the OTP.



and just to add ... our local governmnet record keeping is up to the standard that you would expect.
you are unlikely to find any originals at their archives...
Click to expand...

But now when you sell a house an estate agent presents you with a disclosure form and you just tick the boxes willy nilly. How are you then supposed to know that the plans the municipality has aren't in line with your current property?

Does that disclosure form apply to the OTP as well and would that nail a seller for having a slightly different house to his approved plans?
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
When I bought my place 2 years back, FNB wouldn't finalise the sale until the seller had got new approved plans. It was a huge pain for the seller but as a buyer I was happy about it.
Click to expand...
Well I bought a house and the previous owner informed me that a certain section was never approved and therefor not on the plans... I got the house for a steal and proceeded with an offer to purchase and bought the house. Got a 100% bond and the finance company never asked for approved plans. Sale went through without a hitch.
 
Anti-Chris said:
Well I bought a house and the previous owner informed me that a certain section was never approved and therefor not on the plans... I got the house for a steal and proceeded with an offer to purchase and bought the house. Got a 100% bond and the finance company never asked for approved plans. Sale went through without a hitch.
Click to expand...
Which municipality?
 
Anti-Chris said:
Well I bought a house and the previous owner informed me that a certain section was never approved and therefor not on the plans... I got the house for a steal and proceeded with an offer to purchase and bought the house. Got a 100% bond and the finance company never asked for approved plans. Sale went through without a hitch.
Click to expand...
i went through similar not so long ago -- bought a house - no mention of plans was never requried by anyone
decided to extend and that where the fun started -- aske the old owner nothing, checked the archives in Braamfontein... nothing

in the end had to contact the original builder of the house who had some proof copies of the standard layouts - took that to an architect who then drew up new plans and got those approved by municipal (with a coke and some on the side)
 
Anti-Chris said:
Well I bought a house and the previous owner informed me that a certain section was never approved and therefor not on the plans... I got the house for a steal and proceeded with an offer to purchase and bought the house. Got a 100% bond and the finance company never asked for approved plans. Sale went through without a hitch.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how they get around selling it.

They simply say it's not on the plans and therefore not "included" in the sales price as such.
 
zerocool2009 said:
Do the right thing and update the plans. Karma is a bitch
Click to expand...
No one cares, the architect plans was not the best and we built an afdakkie which connected the new garage and the new braai area. Not on the plan. Building inspector laughed it off. New buyer was informed that it was not the plan. They did not care, since it was just an afdakkie. This was in COCT.
 
To OP, its legal to sell without plans. Only time I had plans was when I built on at my previous house and had to get whatever plans the muni had. My current home, no one ask for plans.
 
rh1 said:
No one cares, the architect plans was not the best and we built an afdakkie which connected the new garage and the new braai area. Not on the plan. Building inspector laughed it off. New buyer was informed that it was not the plan. They did not care, since it was just an afdakkie. This was in COCT.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think unless you’re got actual walls and foundations not on a plan you’ll not have much issue.
 
The usual way that plans not matching the actual building comes out of the wash is when the buyer's bank sends their evaluator to the property to evaluate it for the issuing of the bond. If it's a cash sale nobody will ever know, and quite frankly unless you've done something to piss off your neighbours with your illegal building work and they report you to the building inspectorate, it very seldom comes to the attention of the authorities.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rh1
rh1 said:
No one cares, the architect plans was not the best and we built an afdakkie which connected the new garage and the new braai area. Not on the plan. Building inspector laughed it off. New buyer was informed that it was not the plan. They did not care, since it was just an afdakkie. This was in COCT.
Click to expand...

The COCT has become ridiculous now with what requires building approval. It's no surprise that so many people don't bother. You can't even build a fence now around your property without requiring building permission.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rh1
*SynergyX* said:
i went through similar not so long ago -- bought a house - no mention of plans was never requried by anyone
decided to extend and that where the fun started -- aske the old owner nothing, checked the archives in Braamfontein... nothing

in the end had to contact the original builder of the house who had some proof copies of the standard layouts - took that to an architect who then drew up new plans and got those approved by municipal (with a coke and some on the side)
Click to expand...

This happens more than people realise. Even in the COCT, which prides itself on being the most efficient municipality in the country, I've heard of plenty of cases where the municipality has simply lost the registered plans for a property and nothing can be done about it. Sometimes you're lucky and you can contact the original architect who might still have the original plans, but otherwise you're looking at a very expensive exercise to get a draughtsman or architect to redraw the plans for a house which might have been built 60 years ago, and then resubmit them to the municipality. If that can happen in a relatively well-run municipality like COCT, you can only imagine the chaos in the building departments of other municipalities.
 
My son bought a house in Pretoria East last year August. FNB approved the bond with a very good interest rate. The property could not be registered in his name because previous owners did renovations and improvements without approved building plans. FNB insisted that the plans had to be updated and approved. Took forever because Tshwane had issues with the new plans the seller submitted. Property was registered in my sons name beginning of October this year.
 
rh1 said:
No one cares, the architect plans was not the best and we built an afdakkie which connected the new garage and the new braai area. Not on the plan. Building inspector laughed it off. New buyer was informed that it was not the plan. They did not care, since it was just an afdakkie. This was in COCT.
Click to expand...

The sad part, its laughed off, until you are required to update it as a buyer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X