Your brood has increased and so must the nest!

We South Africans are fond of the concept of ‘building-on’. “The baby’s due in a few months so we’re ‘building-on’, ‘Joanne’s retired Mom’s coming to live with us so we’ve decided to ‘build-on’!

If we live in a sectional title scheme most of us take for granted than we cannot increase the size of our living space, and justifiably so if you live in a 10^th floor flat of a high rise building – let’s be realistic!

There are instances though where both the sectional scheme as well as the position of a section within the scheme will allow for what the Sectional Title Act calls extending a section or what we usually term “building-on” (section 24 of the Act).

We all know that this is neither an easy nor cheap endeavour to embark on, but my point is that it’s do-able; and sometimes eminently more cost effective than selling up and buying a bigger unit down the road.

WHAT PROCEDURE MUST I FOLLOW IF I WANT TO EXTEND MY SECTION:

You need the consent of the members of the Body Corporate by SPECIAL RESOLUTION;

(NB: Remember that you can’t call a meeting yourself, you must speak to the managing agent or Trustees. A Special General Meeting is needed with a normal quorum present, including proxies, and 75% of members present must vote in favour of the proposal)

If the members agree to the proposed extension your building plans must be approved by the Building Department of the City Council;
A Land Surveyor or Architect must be employed to submit amending sectional plans of extension of a section to the Surveyor General’s office in Pretoria for approval;
Once the amending sectional plans are registered a Conveyancer must be appointed to have your title deed endorsed to reflect the new size of your unit;
Henceforth you will pay levies based on the increased size of your unit.

IF THE SIZE OF YOUR SECTION WILL INCREASE BY MORE THAN 10% by the proposed extension a further requirement must be met:

The consent of all the mortgage bondholders in the scheme is required.

Since this process is so cumbersome I would advise you to employ an attorney to steer you through the murky waters.

A final word: There seems to be commonly held misconception that when an owner extends his section he is ‘buying’ land in the scheme and should pay the Body Corporate for the land. This is not correct. The extension takes place onto common property and henceforth (in perpetuity or certainly as long as the scheme exists) levies are payable on the extended portion, but no purchase price is payable!

I certainly hope that this has clarified this sticky point.

Have a good week,