WHEN IS IT POSSIBLE TO SELL A PORTION OF YOUR PROPERTY?
To be able to sell/alienate a portion of your property, said portion has to have its own registered Surveyor General Plan issued by the offices of the Surveyor General and registered with the Deeds Office and as such its own property description.
You can enter into an agreement of sale to sell a portion of land that has not been separated from the main property, on condition that the portion being sold must be identifiable and eventually subdivided from the main property, before registration of transfer can be affected to the new owner.
DO I HAVE TO SUBDIVIDE THE PROPERTY?
If you want to sell/alienate a portion of the property, you will have too either
- subdivide the property or
- sectionalise the property
What is the difference between SECTIONAL TITLE and SUBDIVIDING the property?
When SUBDIVIDING PROPERTY, the property remains an ERF and a new erf number is created and registered for the portion of land being separated from the main erf.
To subdivide the erf and obtain the title deed for the separate portion, you will have to provide the Deeds Office with the following;
- Municipal Consent to subdivide the erf.
- Confirmation from the Municipality that you have complied with their conditions of granting consent for subdivision, for example the separation of services to the newly created portion or a Traffic Impact Assessment etc.
- Surveyor General approved plans for the new portion of the erf to be created.
- Approval for the subdivision by the Department of Agriculture (if the property is a farm)
- The original title deed
Process to follow to subdivide an erf;
- Town planner: Instruct a Town Planner to submit your application for subdivision to the Municipality. This is a complex and very lengthy process. The services of a Town Planner is worth every sent, because they deal directly with each applicable municipal department on your behalf.
- Land Surveyor:Once the municipal consent is obtained for the subdivision, instruct a Land Surveyor to place out the beacons and measure the new portion according to municipal plan for the subdivision. The Land Surveyor will provide you with an approved SG plan which will indicate the new erf number for the separate portion of the erf to be subdivided.
- The owner must attend to and comply with the conditions of subdivisionimposed by the Municipality when they provided consent for the subdivision to be registered. This can include, but is not limited to, connecting the municipal services to the new portion.
- Attorney:A Conveyancing Attorney must assist you to register the new erf number according to the SG plans at the offices of the Registrar of Deeds. Only once the new erf number is registered and a Title Deed is created and issued, can you alienate the subdivided property separately from the main erf.
When a sectional title register is opened on the erf, the property is no longer an erf, but a SECTIONAL TITLE SCHEME with separate units that can be sold/encumbered or alienated.
To create a sectional title register and obtain the Title Deed for each separate unit in the scheme, the following must be provided to the Deeds Office
- Approved Surveyor General plans for the scheme and the first 2 units
- The original title deed
- All required building documents confirming the integrity of the newly built unit, such as the municipal occupancy certificate and NHBRC certificates etc.
Process to follow to open a sectional title scheme
- Building plan approval: Contact an architect to measure, draft and obtain municipal approved building plans for each unit to be built.
- Building: Instruct a NHBRC registered builder and engineer to ensure the buildings are built according to code and the approved building plans.
- Land Surveyor: Once the Units are roof height, the Land Surveyor measures the units and places the beacons for drafting of the Surveyor General Plans, which must be submitted to and approved by the Surveyor General.
- Attorney: a Conveyancing Attorney submits the necessary documents to the office of the Registrar of Deeds to open the sectional title scheme and register separate title deeds for each unit
Irrespective which option you choose, if the property is bonded, the registered bond holder must also provide its consent.
CAN VACANT LAND BE SUBDIVIDED?
Yes
CAN A FARM BE SUBDIVIDED?
Yes, but only upon approval from the Minister of Agriculture.
CAN A SECTIONAL TITLE SCHEME BE CREATED ON VACANT LAND?
No. The Land Surveyor can only measure out beacons for the separate units, once each unit is built to roof hight, whereafter the Sectional Title Plans can be registered.
WHICH OPTION IS CHEAPER; SUBDIVIDE OR SECTIONAL TITLE SCHEME?
To open and register a sectional title scheme is generally cheaper than subdividing the property, due to the following;
- There is no Town Planner required to open a sectional title scheme.
- It takes longer to obtain municipal consent for a subdivision and thus the holding costs for the owner is an extra expense.
- When subdividing the property, the Municipality will impose various conditions on the owner to comply with, before the separate erf can be registered in the Deeds Office. It’s expensive and time consuming to comply with those conditions.
WHICH OPTION IS QUICKER TO REGISTER; SUBDIVIDING AN ERF OR OPENING A SECTIONAL TITLE REGISTER?
Providing all the building documents for registration is available, generally it’s quicker to register and open a sectional title scheme than subdividing an erf, because Municipal consent is required for subdivision and this process takes very long.
In some cases, it’s not possibly to subdivide or either open a sectional title register on a property, depending on the municipal/government restrictions. Contact a town planner to find out what is possible in a specific area, because each area and municipality differs.
Disclaimer: Although I am an attorney by profession, I am not YOUR attorney. This article is for informational and educational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice and does not establish any kind of attorney-client relationship with me. I am not liable or responsible for any damages resulting from or related to your use of this information.