If you are considering buying a property, make sure you know the zoning rights and what they entitle you to, particularly if you plan on renovating.
If you are considering buying a property, make sure you know the zoning rights and what they entitle you to, particularly if you plan on renovating.
Lanice Steward, managing director of Knight Frank Anne Porter, explains that there are changes that will be made to the City of Cape Town’s zoning and planning approvals system that will soon be implemented.
When these changes come into effect, would-be buyers must be sure they will not have “lost” rights on the property, although in some cases one may have gained.
In the greater Cape Town area there are currently 27 different zoning systems being used, each applying to that area and having different rules and regulations, she says.
The City of Cape Town will be bringing in a new zoning system that will replace the existing 27 with one single updated and modernised scheme, which will apply the same rules to the entire city.
The standardised system, it is thought, will bring in consistency and efficiency in the future.
At the moment rules vary greatly - what you can do on a property in certain parts of Claremont, for example, is quite different to what is allowed in Llandudno, even if they are both single residential properties.
Click here for zoning areas.
Steward explains that from this information, one can see that the ‘single residential’ allowances in some areas allow the owner to go up three storeys where in other areas heights are restricted.
“The new system, it seems, will bring in changes where objections to zoning plans will be prevented, thereby helping developers get their planning approvals through quicker.”
The City’s densification strategy is driven by this new regulatory system so there will be restricted heights within units, for example, you can have more storeys but the ceilings will be restricted to a certain height to get more units in.
There will also be increased bulk in mixed use areas.
As mentioned above, those areas where it was allowed to go up three storeys (14.4 metres) will find they are now restricted as the new height restriction is 9 metres in total, she says.
She adds that one might find that the actual regulations promulgated might differ (see proposed draft) and this is something to be aware of and that buyers should check the zoning rights carefully before putting in an offer to purchase.
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