RenovatinginSA

Providing expert guidance to South African homeowners, builders, and property investors. Unlock your property's true potential with our comprehensive website.

[RenovatinginSA @RenovatinginSA]

Planning on building your dream home? Choosing the right builder is crucial. Here are 5 tips to help you make the right decision 🏠👇

1/ Reputation matters.
Check out the builder’s reputation online. Read reviews on sites like Google, and ask for references from the builder

[Our City News @OurCityNews]

JMPD officers scale a wall to gain access to a property during the City of Joburg's ongoing revenue collection operation. Officials are targeting properties with outstanding municipal debt as the City intensifies efforts to claim unpaid fees and enforce compliance #joburgupdates

[GP_HumanSettlements @GP_DHS]

🏡 Rental dispute?

The Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal helps tenants and landlords find fair solutions.

⚖️ Know your rights. Protect your home.

📍4th Floor, Ikusasa House, 129 Fox Street, Johannesburg Central

📩NEW complaints:
[email protected]
📧Enquiries:
[email protected]

#RentalHousingTribunal #HousingRights #GGT2030

[RenovatinginSA @RenovatinginSA]

More interest rate hikes could be on the cards: SARB warns of three possible scenarios https://t.co/f8aDkXZD4q

[RenovatinginSA @RenovatinginSA]

Reserve Bank hikes key interest rate to 7% as inflation risks intensify https://t.co/TdC0PCnleJ

[Plumbing Africa Publication @plumbingonline]

🔧 SA is searching for its best artisan business owners, celebrating skills & entrepreneurship in the trade sector.

🔗 Read more:
https://t.co/pUy2vnHFAN
#Plumbing #Artisans #SmallBusiness

[Koshiek Karan @iamkoshiek]

arrest everyone

[Aaron @LibertarianZA]

A hard lesson from administering my late mother's estate: read the fine print on life rights before your parents sign one.

For those unfamiliar: a life right is a popular retirement-village model in South Africa. You don't buy the property. You pay a large lump sum (often R2m+) for the right to occupy a unit for the rest of your life. The operator retains ownership and the title.

When the holder dies, here is what nobody really explains up front.

1. The operator takes a fixed chunk regardless of how long you lived there. Typical contracts deduct around 40 percent of a notional "Listing Consideration" as the operator's effective fee, amortised over five years. If your loved one lives in the unit for two years, three years, or even just under five, that 40 percent disappears anyway. My mother paid R2 million in 2021. Five years later, the estate stands to receive less than half of it back.

2. The estate keeps paying levies after death. Indefinitely. The contract terminates automatically when the holder dies. But you, as the estate, remain liable for the full monthly levy, rates, and consumption charges until the operator finds a new buyer. There is no deadline. No reasonable-time obligation written in. We are six weeks past hand-over and the invoices keep arriving.

3. The estate cannot use, let, or even allow family to enter the unit. The right to occupy was "personal in nature." It died with the holder. The estate cannot put a tenant in, cannot let it on Airbnb, cannot even allow family to stay there without the operator's written consent. Every mitigation lever sits with the operator at their sole discretion.

4. The operator has zero incentive to re-sell quickly. They hold your capital interest-free until a buyer is found. They earn the levy every month you wait. They earn a remarketing fee on re-sale. The longer they take, the better for them. The worse for you.

5. The contract usually contains a CPA exemption-by-design. Most of these schemes acknowledge the Consumer Protection Act on paper, then carve themselves into clauses that allow exactly the kind of one-sided continuation of obligations the CPA was meant to police. Sections 48 and 52 of the CPA, and the Constitutional Court line on fairness in contract (Barkhuizen, Beadica), give real grounds to push back. But you have to know to push.

If you or a family member is considering a life right, please:

- Read the full agreement including every annexure, not just the marketing brochure.
- Model the worst case: holder dies within 3 to 5 years of taking occupation.
- Calculate the estate's expected net return, including post-death levy bleed if re-sale takes 6 to 12 months.
- Get independent legal advice before signing. Not advice from the village's referred attorneys.
- Ask explicitly: what is the operator's contractual obligation to re-sell within a reasonable time? If the answer is "none," walk away.

There are genuinely good retirement villages and well-structured life rights out there. But the structural risk to the estate is rarely disclosed up front.

If you've been through this and want to compare notes, please reach out.

[RenovatinginSA @RenovatinginSA]

Top estates in South Africa where average house prices increased up to R3.2 million in 5 years https://t.co/REpfXzwifq

[eNCA @eNCA]

Why must property owners spend thousands of rands to remove illegal occupiers from their own property? Government has introduced a new Bill and is tightening the law on illegal land and property occupation, but critics say the system still places the burden on ordinary citizens.

Tune in to #WeTheNation with @BraDanTMoyane at 8pm tonight on #eNCA #DStv403.

[IOL News @IOL]

A Pretoria luxury home is set to be sold after a court ordered the property auction due to R681,000 in unpaid estate levies. The ruling underscores the consequences of defaulting on levies in exclusive estates and highlights accountability in property management.
Read on https://t.co/fw6V5iKISw
#PretoriaLuxuryHome #EstateLevies #PropertyAccountability
#SouthAfricaProperty

[RenovatinginSA @RenovatinginSA]

Government coming after one group of homeowners in South Africa https://t.co/r4Y25xehzx

[Community scheme Ombud Service @CSOS_SA]

You're invited to join us for a webinar focusing on rules and compliance.

📅 Wednesday, 27 May 2026
⏰ 11h00 – 12h00
💻 MS Teams

Register and be part of the conversation: https://t.co/caufHQkSWX

#CSOS #LegislativeReview #StakeholderEngagement #CommunitySchemes #Webinar #EducationAndTraining

[RenovatinginSA @RenovatinginSA]

https://t.co/AY1tKa47O1

[FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment) @FFE_only]

One spin, a whole new look!

[Yusuf Abramjee @Abramjee]

Damage…

[Department Of Public Works and Infrastructure @DepartmentPWI]

STATEMENT
Issued 6 May 2026

MINISTER @DeanMacpherson MARKS SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF GEORGE BUILDING COLLAPSE, URGES NPA TO ACT

Minister Macpherson has urged the National Prosecuting Authority to take the necessary prosecutorial decisions following the completion of the SAPS investigation into the George building collapse.

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

The man who changed construction forever.

[RenovatinginSA @RenovatinginSA]

Rent not paid? Here’s what landlords can and cannot do to tenants for late or non-payment https://t.co/B7V7q7ry3y

[Ash Müller @Askash]

You expect a hijacked property story to come out of the Johannesburg CBD… not a multi-million rand suburb like Bryanston.

The upmarket suburb of Bryanston is probably one of the wealthiest suburbs in Johannesburg. Houses here are huge, and erf sizes range from 5,000 to 10,000 m2.

After a few high-profile raids in Ferndale and Bryanston, one property in particular raised serious red flags.

A home valued at R5.1 million had been turned into a full-blown rental business.

Nearly 100 people were living illegally on that single property.

The ���new tenant” didn’t just occupy the house… He built dozens of Wendy houses across the property and started renting them out.

He was collecting close to R140 000 per month in rent.

Keep in mind that the city stopped supplying water and electricity to this property. The electricity debt to the city was about R1.2 million. But the owner illegally reconnected.

There are roughly 25 hijacked properties in Ferndale and close to 20 in Bryanston that are currently under investigation.

How does something like this go on for so long?

Situations like this don’t happen overnight; they build up over months and years. Pair that with what must have been dozens of neighbours’ complaints. If it can happen in Bryanston, it can literally happen anywhere.

[GiGadgets @gigadgets_]

This lock is 10 times stronger than a traditional deadbolt.