KVV Inc
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
      • Staff Photos
    • KVV Masters
    • Blog
  • Registration Process
    • I Am a Buyer
    • I Am a Seller
    • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us
  • +27 87 351 2022

Plot-and-Plan: Great Option, Just Beware the Building Deadline

Home / Blog / Property Law / Plot-and-Plan: Great Option, Just Beware the Building Deadline
January 22, 2018
Property Law

“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore” (Mark Twain)

Buying a house is an important and exciting experience.  One of the first decisions you must make is whether to buy an existing house (the “turnkey” option) or to buy from a developer on a “plot-and-plan” (“off-plan”) basis.

Which option is best for you only you can decide, but with the popularity of security estate living soaring and with the flexibility of creating your own dream home, off-plan is an increasingly attractive choice both for investment and for lifestyle.

Just remember that the many benefits of “buy and build” come with some important cautions.  Apart from practical considerations, there are many legal pitfalls to watch for, so have your lawyer check the agreements (normally two – one to buy the plot and the other to build the house) before you sign anything.

 

The building deadline – benefit and risk

One area to be particularly aware of is the common requirement that you build on your new plot within a certain period of time.  In fact as a buyer you should check for such a requirement – otherwise you could be subjected to years of construction activity in the estate with all the attendant noise, dust, inconvenience and security concerns.

Your risk is that, to enforce such time limits, developers commonly provide for defaulting buyers to be subject to penalty levies and/or buy-back/retransfer clauses entitling them to take back the plot.

A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment provided strong warnings in this regard for both developers and buyers.

 

Developers – the perils of prescription

  • Two buyers of plots in a large estate failed to build on them within the required 18 month period (this requirement was registered on their respective title deeds).
  • Their sale agreements entitled the developer to take back the plots against repayment of the purchase price (without interest) and the developer asked the High Court to order re-transfer to it accordingly.
  • The SCA on appeal held that the developer’s claims had prescribed (become unenforceable) because it had waited more than three years before taking legal action.
  • The three year period applied, said the Court, because the developer’s right was a “personal right” not a “real right”.  The difference between the two is of great interest to lawyers, but all that really counts for developers and buyers is that the developer should have enforced its retransfer right within three years of the deadline date by which the purchasers were required to have built a house.

Bottom line for developers: Don’t delay in enforcing buy-back clauses!

 

Buyers – developers can enforce buy-back clauses

An earlier High Court decision, involving the same developer and the same clause but another buyer, had held that the buy-back clause was “grossly unfair”, and that such clauses generally “do not pass constitutional muster”.   Which led to speculation that buy-back clauses might be dead in the water.

Not so.  The SCA commented that the High Court should not have considered the question of constitutionality at all in the particular circumstances of that case, so (for the time being at least) buy-back clauses remain enforceable.

Bottom line for buyers: You could lose your plot if you don’t build by deadline.  

© LawDotNews

Share
Previous Post
Sellers and Landlords: Using an Unregistered Estate Agent
Next Post
Don’t Lose Your Claim to Prescription - Know the Law!
Recent Posts
  • A Note from our Director
  • Building a Home in 2021: The Dangers of Not Being NHBRC Compliant
  • Life Partners – You Need a Will and a Cohabitation Agreement!
  • Don’t Fall Victim to a Ponzi Scheme in 2021!
  • Your Website of the Month: Starting a Business in 2021
Contact Info

Ground Floor, Block D, Jigsaw Park 7 Einstein Road Highveld Techno Park, Centurion
Phone: +27 87 351 2022
Fax: (012) 655-1053

Get Directions
Archive
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
Categories
  • Bank And Financial
  • Business
  • Corporate
  • Criminal Law
  • Debt
  • Delict and Civil Claims
  • Delit / Civil Claims
  • Employment and Labour Law
  • Employment Law
  • Family Law
  • General Interest
  • Insolvency
  • KVV News
  • Litigation
  • News
  • Property
  • Property Law
  • Road Traffic
  • Tax
  • Trusts
  • Uncategorized
  • Wills and Estates
Pages
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Blog Archive
  • Blog Classic
  • Contact Us
  • Cost Calculator
  • How We Work
  • I Am a Buyer
  • I Am a Seller
  • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Inc – Your Property Partner
  • KVV TV
  • Master Lounge
  • Meat the Team
  • Meet The Team
  • Registration Process
  • Shortcodes
  • Staff Photos
  • Testimonials
  • Training Centre

Designed by eMSDigital Group © 2019. All Rights Reserved

  • About Us
  • Registration Process
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
      • Staff Photos
    • KVV Masters
    • Blog
  • Registration Process
    • I Am a Buyer
    • I Am a Seller
    • I Am An Agent
  • KVV Training Centre
  • KVV TV
  • KVV Cares
  • Contact Us