Resident wants real estate agents to follow bylaws

Property agents are being accused of ignoring the bylaws in Kensington.

Mr Clement Klement said when there is a property on sale in the area, estate agents place their show house boards but fail to remove the boards.

“These boards are left on the streets for days and it is against the bylaws,” he said.

“The estate agent boards about properties on show used to be placed everywhere before. In recent years, the government enacted bylaws that prohibit that. The bylaws state that they can put up their boards on the day of the show house outside the property. This bylaw was adhered to in the past but now it is being ignored,” he said.

“Young agents often put up the boards and leave them. Now the seasoned agents are slowly but surely doing it too. Maybe they are unaware of the bylaw, however they adhered to it in the past and thus they know about it,” he said.

According to Mr Klement, the bylaw was enacted because of the number of real estate agents competing to sell a house. As a result, too many boards were being placed.

Mr Klement called on the City of Joburg (CoJ) to enforce the bylaws and fight what he calls “a scourge in the suburb”.

He also urged estate agents to respect the bylaws and the residents of the area.

“Put the boards at the show house on the day of the show. Don’t put them up everywhere and make sure the boards are removed afterwards,” he said.

An inquiry was sent to Ms Lungile Mntambo and Naledi Mathebula from the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) on Wednesday, October 7. Comment was requested by Thursday, October 8.

At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.

An inquiry was also sent to Ms Bliss Yeni, from the City of Joburg Property Company. At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.