In the last parliamentary term, a series of laws with implications for property rights were either debated, passed or signed into law. Section 25 of the constitution, the property clause, protects existing property interests from unconstitutional interferences, while providing a basis for the state to embark on land and other related reforms. Using examples from some of these laws, it is worth showing a little more than passing concern on the general direction in which property rights are headed.
For the purposes of this section the public interest includes the nation's commitment to land reform, and to reforms to bring about equitable access to all South Africa's natural resources; and property is not limited to land.
Selling a home before finalising the purchase of a new one can lead to many problems. In the current residential property market’s high demand conditions, those planning to sell their homes may well find, especially if they are in popular suburban areas of South Africa’s big cities, that once it is known that the home is coming onto the market, potential buyers (and rival estate agents) may be at their door before they have had time to sort out their future moves.
This situation, says Tony Clarke, Managing Director of the Rawson Property Group, can lead to home owners selling before they have managed to buy a new home – and all his experience indicates that this can be highly disruptive to family life.
Rode-REIM Real Estate Conference 2014 to address opportunities and challenges facing the property market. With the month of August already underway, now is the time to note the following events which will be taking place in September 2014 in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Some amendments to the Rental Housing Act that are about to be passed by Parliament will make it all the more necessary for residential landlords to seek professional help to manage their properties. That’s the word from Andrew Schaefer, MD of leading national property management company Trafalgar, who says the amendments will mean, for example, that every property lease has to be in writing and has to be correctly drafted to comply with certain statutory requirements as regards landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities.
“This alone is a major departure from the current Act, which states that a lease only needs to be in writing if the tenant requires it and has led to many thousands of tenants and landlords, especially in informal housing settlements, living without any sort of legal document stipulating what their respective rights and responsibilities may be.
“However, most landlords do not have the know-how to draft a fully compliant lease themselves - nor the time to handle the many other administrative tasks imposed by the Rental Housing Act.
One of the mantras which I have lived by for the last 30 years is not to spend too much time thinking about what your competitors are doing but concentrate rather on your own plans and strategy.
However appealing it can sometimes be to second guess or comment on competitors I have avoided that temptation and over the years it has stood me well.
No one knows or understands your business model as well as yourself and therefore trying to work out why a competitor does this or does that is missing a vital ingredient - knowledge of the business.
That piece of advice may perhaps be heeded by my competitors in the conveyancing market - particularly Emma Coffey, business development manager of Blacks Connect, who has made specific comments in a recent article about capacity in the conveyancing market and particular reference to our recent decision to refocus our conveyancing business to lender introduced work only.