How to get out of fines issued by your HOA
South Africa - ReMax
Upon checking your mailbox, you're surprised to find a white envelope with the signature of your Body Corporate and your name just below it. Contained therein is bold red typeface notifying you of a R500 fine for exceeding the 35 km/hour speed limit within the estate. After the wave of panic that follows getting caught red handed has abated, a new sense of unjustified indignation follows: What right do they have to issue fines?
Well, according to the law, the Sectional Title Act gives them exactly that right in the form of management and conduct rules. "As with most terms and conditions sheets, most homeowners blindly sign these documents without taking the time to conduct a close reading of the regulations and consequent repercussions contained therein. In the same way that homeowners can easily violate these rules without knowing it, Home Owners Associations can also get away with issuing fines for things that are not stipulated in the rules of the sectional title complex," says Adrian Goslett, Regional Director and CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa.
ReMax
The economic potential of property data
UK - Legal Futures
We spend a lot of time espousing the benefits of open property data in terms of how it can help conveyancers and their clients in the property transaction chain. But the opening up of the government’s big land and property data sets, we will be able to do much more. We foresee a digitised property industry being able to boost the wider economy significantly in the 21st century.
A great example is the recent announcement by the government which estimated the opening of the Ordinance Survey (OS) Mastermap data will boost the economy by £130m. This data provides highly detailed geospatial and topographic insight of the British Isles, from building heights to water networks.
The government says it will be using the new open OS Mastermap data sets to help develop emerging technologies to be able to live and breathe in the real world. This is hugely exciting. You can already foresee a future of drones making smart assessments of the land beneath them, or of automated electric delivery vehicles silently and safely moving across the country, 24 hours a day.
Legal Futures
Land issue hits affordable housing
South Africa - IolProperty
The expropriation of land without compensation debate has resulted in a significant slump in demand for affordable housing, with many aspirant homeowners believing they would be getting homes for free.
Tom Gillham, the chief executive of E Home Loans, a specialist affordable housing mortgage originator that is part of the BetterBond, said yesterday that demand in the affordable housing market in Gauteng was down by about 40 percent in the past two months.
Gillham said the slump was widespread and had also impacted their major competitors. He attributed the slump to the debate about the expropriation of land without compensation.
"There is an ugly undercurrent where I would say it's political and people have been told don't buy now because you are going to get a house and land for nothing," he said.
IolProperty
Credit and mortgage advances
South Africa - Absa
Further uptick in household credit and mortgage balances growth
Growth in the value of outstanding credit balances in the South African household sector was on a rising trend in the first seven months of 2018, with these balances amounting to a total of R1 587,5 billion at the end of this period. Both secured and unsecured credit balances growth accelerated further up to July, which contributed total household credit balances growth rising to 4,8% year-on-year (y/y) in the 7-month period, from 3,7% y/y at end-January.
The value of household secured credit balances (R1 214,3 billion and 76,5% of total household credit balances), which includes mortgage, leasing and instalment sales balances, increased by 4,3% y/y up to end-July. Mortgage balances growth increased somewhat further up to July (see below), with growth in instalment sales balances (R268,3 billion and 22,1% of total household secured credit balances) rising to 6,6% y/y in the seven months to July from 5,4% y/y at end-January.
The value of household unsecured credit balances (R373,2 billion and 23,5% of total household credit balances) increased by 6,3% y/y up to the end of July from 5,8% y/y up to end-June and 3,2% y/y at the end of January this year. The largest component of household unsecured credit balances, namely general loans and advances (mainly personal loans and micro finance and with a share of 58,8%), increased by 6,1% y/y to R219,4 billion up to the end of July.
Absa
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