[PROPERTY] “The municipal conspiracy”

Brian Charlebois of Flynn Estates writes: 

You probably got a nasty surprise when the City Of Johannesburg sent you their new valuation notice.

You thought it bore little resemblance to the true value of your investment – and you might be right. To be fair there is no ‘bottom line’ value on your property.

Like diamonds, classic cars and fine art, it is completely related to the laws of supply and demand. And the municipality is probably the last place to go for advice on this.

Their motive is to generate increased income from their highly stressed client base.

And this is not the only money making scheme they have up their sleeve. I have it from a very reliable source that apparently the City fat cats are currently behind closed doors developing a plan to generate a whole lot more cash.

Now everyone knows that people in the countryside are flocking to the city. This is called urbanisation. Believe me, over the next few years Randburg is going to get very crowded indeed.

These newcomers are going to need a place to stay, other than informal settlements (notice this time I am being politically correct).

Well, the municipality has a solution. It is their policy of densification. What this means in layman’s terms is that they are going to dramatically relax the rules on subdivisions and usage rights.

The days of having a property of 1 000m² may become a quaint reminder of the past. And business rights in suburban areas will be a whole lot easier to obtain.

Just imagine, when your neighbour sells their property and merrily heads for the coast, you could wake up one morning to find five double-story townhouses have replaced it.

I hear you saying ‘but what about the infrastructure to support such dramatic overdevelopment’.

The municipality is going to tell you that the present infrastructure was designed to accommodate future growth. This, of course, is not true for the kind of growth they are banking on.

So when the municipality judges that your home is worth far more than you think it is, get angry and object. Don’t simply accept their word as gospel. Believe me, the truth is out there.

*** Editors note: The City of Joburg was approached for comment on this article. None was forthcoming at the time of going to press. Randburg Sun is committed to providing its readers with unbiased, accurate reporting. Should the City wish to provide a comment on the above opinion piece, Randburg Sun will publish it in a follow-up article.