When adding a lapa is not so “lekker”

Why is the above a very important question?

Well quite simply because this will affect the Participation Quota (PQ) of your Unit and will cause a delay if you want to sell your Property and you did not attend to this timeously.

What do I need to do to legalise any extension to my Unit or close to my Unit in terms of Sectional Titles Act, Act 95 of 1986 and Sectional Schemes Management Act, Act) 81 of 2011?

1. Appoint an Architect or Draughtsman to prepare new “as built” building plans and approve this with Local Municipality. Read more about building plans here.

2. After approval of the Building Plans – Appoint a Surveyor to measure and prepare new amended Sectional Plans and lodge it, together with a copy of the newly approved Building Plans, with the Surveyor General for approval;
3. On receipt of draft Sectional Plans your Specialist Conveyancer can start with the process of obtaining consents and Resolutions from the Body Corporate. The Surveyor will calculate the increase in floor area, and based on this calculation, the Conveyancer will need to follow certain processes, being:

• • Less than 10% increase – then the Body Corporate must provide a Resolution herein and the Surveyor will provide a letter to this effect;
  • More than 10% increase – your Conveyancer will have to certify that every mortgagee of each section in the scheme has been informed and consented to registration of the sectional plan of extension, and that the Body Corporate consented thereto by means of a special resolution.

The above is a costly and timeous process, and would be in the best interest if a scheme can combine their efforts and attend to this together and share costs of these processes;

4. On approval of the Sectional Plans, the Conveyancer can proceed to draft and sign the required documents for the registration of the Sectional Plan o

What will happen if I added a lapa next to my unit?

It may be that you have added this to Common Property belonging to all owners of the scheme, and can it be costly to obtain the exclusive use to this lapa. And should you have added a pool in similar fashion, you and your neighbours will be responsible for any safety measures, and your neighbour can come and enjoy your pool, should you not have registered it as an exclusive use area. Therefore, you must be careful what you add to your sectional unit and remember that your Duet is also a Sectional Unit and falls under the same legislation.

Beware as a Trustee of the Body Corporate before you allow any changes, without doing your homework, because you should ascertain if the proposed extension will not maybe affect the “Bulk” or “floor area ratio” coverage that is allowed for the scheme by the Local Municipality’s Town Planning Scheme and By-Laws. Should it exceed the coverage, it may necessitate a land use application such as a Rezoning at very high costs and time.

At Fuchs Roux Inc, we have a multi-professional and multi-disciplinary team ready to assist you will all your above needs and questions.

Reach out to us today for more legal or property advice on info@frlaw.co.za

HANNELIE VAN TONDER

FUCHS ROUX INC