Pintel

Single residence rezoning, changes to short term rentals, minimum parking requirements reduced, while validity period for approval of land use extended - here's what you need to know. New city of Cape Town By Law now allows 3 houses on a single erf New amendments to the Cape Town municipal By Laws now make it possible to have three dwellings on an erf zoned SR1; an erf on which originally only one dwelling was allowed. Legislation promulgated in December 2019 took effect on this matter from 3rd February 2020. Understanding all the changes to Cape Town's new By Laws and how they affect you Short-term letting provisions “Cape Town’s popularity as a world-class tourist destination has resulted in a spike in the number of homes available for holiday lets and fuelled investor demand for sectional title units with short term rental potential,” says McKirby. Minimum off-street parking requirements Height of structures Increase of validity period for approvals of land use applications The default validity period for approvals granted in respect of land use applications has increased from two to five years is now standardised to be 5 years (and not two). Botha says that this also applies to the extension of the validity period for land use applications, but excludes temporary land use departures.

In May Heritage Western Cape approved an application by the City of Cape Town to exempt the Parow Station Precinct protections under the National Heritage Resources Act [PDF]. What is your take, is it a good or bad idea? Do you think this will open opportunity in an area that has seen shocking degeneration in recent years?

You can get a clearer but albeit outdated image on Google maps using the "globe" option which in some cases has a 3D option (taken from low flying planes) as well: Globe 2D Globe 3D

High-end home prices that were already under pressure even the coronavirus crises will be the worse affected. Highlights Lance Cohen from Lance Real Estate interviewed Prior to COVID-19 property sales were already down 20-30% Estate agents not allowed to take people to see properties under level 5, 4 of lockdown making matters worse Estimated damage will only be known six months after lockdown, might be down as low as 50% from highs in 2017, 2018 Average time for property to sell prior to lockdown was in the region of 12 months Volume of year-on-year sales down one-third (33.3%) than what was sold previous year, (this is pre-lockdown) During lockdown, only one property sale in May and five in April recorded in Atlantic Seaboard (V&A Waterfront to Llandudno) Moratorium on banks, won't solve problem except get property owners further into debt Reckons we are still "long away from" from the property market bottoming out, estimates up to two years Lots of inventory on the market, interestingly rental market picking up, interest rate cuts making it more attractive Banks more cautious not lending to the extent they were lending before It has become very attractive to foreigners to buy property in SA with the weak USD/ZAR exchange rate, you can buy at 50% less than what it was a year ago, problem is foreigners can't fly into country due to COVID-19 flight restrictions We have a problem with municipal valuations which was raised between 20 - 70% from 2015 to the current values which in reality is probably valued / worth less than what they were in 2015

Behind the building is a large piece vacant land (part of overall)building as well. Behind the vibracrete wall here: 2018: Here is why the outdated Street View is so confusing compared to the more recent satellite image 2017 (building is now separate, stop street built but not painted, notice building materials): 2016 (part of larger structure, no stop street): I love seeing these transformations take place; I can spend hours on Google Street view comparing it with recent images.

Ridgeworth is a residential neighbourhood and is mainly zoned "Single Residential 1" (SR1), with a few exceptions. That plot and its neighbours are all SR1: This is what mixed use (along a somewhat busy road) in a residential area looks like: Vasco Boulevard (a very busy road) has seen radical mixed used intensification over the years, with residential houses reconfigured to serve as commercial premises. With around 80% of houses on the boulevard now used as offices or other commercial purposes.

Land is held for various reasons: investment, speculation, future plans and projects etc. when the future foundations of those plans are uncertain people will dispose of it and opt for the bird in hand right there and then. Vacant land, unless utilised, doesn't generate any income, in fact it costs you money to hold onto. Sellers know at the end of the day it is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, no matter what the municipality say it is worth or what SARS think it is worth. 73 Kings Way is directly opposite a portion of the nature reserve: There are only two vacant plots left in that area: #12 Size: 828m2 Market value: R3.39m #32 Size: 851m2 Market value: R3.49m

X Marks the spot. Not much to see from street view (it's to your left), you can faintly see a "Private Property" "Tresspassers will be prosecuted" sign: Wider map, you have Willowbridge to the north-east and Tygervalley shopping centre to the east: 2018 municipal market value is half the asking price (R6m) up R2.5m from the 2015 valuation (R3.5m)

Yes, a police station will require a building that meets certain requirements, security, holding cells etc. Setting up a police station is not a quick task so I'm not sure what they were thinking not having a replacement available especially considering how slow the government moves. Voortrekker road has seen such decay in recent years that despite being a busy road and easily accessible to public transport, a lot of businesses and most people find it desirable to be further away, in this case further north away from Vootrekker. Goodwood has not seen the decay Parow has, not yet at least, but on the opposite side of Voortrekker road in that area is Elsies River and a source of a lot of the crime in the area. I can answer this question :) Right next door to the police station there is an apartment block called "Wiener Square". (The police station is next door and not as indicated above) 16 units in total on a 991m2 plot 1x 35m2 - Market Value: R480 000 2x 36m2 - Market Value: R480 000 each 1x 39m2 - Market Value: R550 000 8x 40m2 - Market Value: R550 000 each 2x 41m2 - Market Value: R550 000 each 2x 47m2 - Market Value: R600 000 each Combined Total Size: 642m2 - Market Value: R8 690 000 Based on a similar configuration and factoring in renovation costs, I can't see this being a worthwhile endeavour. Even factoring in a 15% premium to above - a common premium above municipal market value used, it still only comes to R9 993 500. This is not the nicest part of Goodwood so you would be limited in what you can charge for an apartment even if renovated to new condition. I don't see bigger rooms costing more as being a good strategy. Smaller student accommodation, shared units, daily self-catering or an affordable hotel maybe (it's close to Vasco Boulevard which takes you onto the N1).

2018 municipal market value is R5 803 000 up from R3.9m in 2015 (City of Cape Town valuates every three years). Total extent of the property is 1488m2; it is made up of two plots: 497m2 at number 11 and 991m2 at number 13 Wiener Street, Vasco Estate, Goodwood. According to the listing the building size is 636m2 but as you can see in the aerial photos and street view there are other buildings on it as well, although it may be temporary. Here are some newspaper reports I found:

The road depicted is definitely Summer Greens drive. I went through the property owners in that road and see a few CC's with similar names that own a few houses next to each other, but not 100, so it might be in the surrounding area of that road as well. Not sure if this is the sellers above but if it is, it is selling at a significant premium to the municipal market value.

I see that they are busy with a major redevelopment project. Let's hope they can clean up the area from the elements. https://igual.co.za/portfolio-archive/parow/

48 Edinburgh Drive, Bishopscourt (it's on the M3) Plot size is 4707m2, dwelling extent is 424m2 according to municipal records Municipal value is R10.3m It was sold in 2007 for R6.5m according to public records Current owner is Up Front Investments 171 (Pty) Ltd. In 2008 Absa bank filed a liquidation application against the company (not sure what it was related to) In 2010 this house was up for auction as a "unrenovated home" and "renovation project". ClareMart was the auctioneer that time as well. No idea if it sold that time as the last public data I can find is from 2007. The 2013 article linked to above says "The house was nearly auctioned recently due to municipal debt" and that "a sale in execution was pending, but the debtor went into liquidation". This is the house that former Fidentia CEO J Arthur Brown was living in in 2013 (you can read that link for that convoluted story). As Absa also filed liquidation applications against Up Front Investments 174 and Up Front Investments 182 as well, I'm not sure if those applications were related to the Fidentia saga. In 2017 Up Front Investments 171 and 2 others filed an eviction application against a person and 3 others. No idea if it's related to this property, and who the 2 other plaintiffs are, liquidators maybe? A cursory search on the first respondent brings up an debt counselling scam allegation made against a person with the same name and surname. Satellite photos on Google Maps shows the roof to be have no damage. Google says Maps satellite data is between 1 and 3 years old. 2016, 2017, and 2018 aerial photography shows no damage to the roof. If the listing images is really from a 2018 inspection then what the hell happened? Fire? I can pull a paid property report for whoever wants one, but this property has more red flags than a girl that chats you up on Voortrekker road. That being said, even as a plot there might still be opportunity for the brave, considering its Bishopscourt one of South Africa's most exclusive suburbs, a 4055m2 plot three roads down is on the market for R15.9m. One still need to know the whole story around the eviction action and "illegal occupation", what defence did the tenant put up that a warrant of eviction was not issued to the sheriff, we are talking about a multi-million rand property here, people with properties worth far less see their evictions through to the end. To summarise: a company (who's directors were friends with former Fidentia CEO J Arthur Brown) purchased the property for R6.5m (2007) , neglected it, didn't pay rates, bank filed for liquidation of company (2008), sale fell through due to liquidation (2010), let a convicted fraudster live in it (2013), now (2020) there are and people living in it who are refusing to leave ("currently illegally occupied") and it is being auctioned off "unseen" due to "access not obtainable" with extensive damage. 2010 Advertorial Current Google Maps 2016 aerial photo 2017 aerial photo 2018 aerial photo Google Street View

Property portal Private Property recently had a major rebrand with a change in both their logo and having moved away from the corporate identity colours (red/blue) which they previously shared with Property24 to a green/white combination on black background. What do you think of the new brand: website, logo and colour scheme? Before: After: Logos: before & after Their main competitor: Property24

Another one 5000m2 at R50000 per month (R10 per square meter)