Page 18 - Nexia SAB&T Property & Tax Guide 2022

THE HOUSING CONSUMER PROTECTION DRAFT BILL, 2019
The Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation published the Housing
Consumer Protection Bill of 2019 for comment on 30 August 2019, and it was tabled in
Parliament during 2021. The Bill aims to repeal the current Housing Consumers Protection
Measures Act of 1998 (amended in 2008). The Bill aims to expand the mandate of the
Council (to be known as the National Home Builders Regulatory Council).
Clause 2 provides that the Bill applies to the building of a home as well as to any addition to,
alteration, renovation or repair of a home, in so far as the activity necessitates the submission
of building plans to the local authority.
In terms of clause 25 a homebuilder or developer who undertakes or commissions the
building of a home must apply for registration with the Council. There are no exemptions from
registration such as allowed by the current Act. This means that every homebuilder, including
a person who builds a house or a home for himself, and a developer, will be required to be
registered. The Bill applies to residential property, as well as to a section in a scheme, a unit
in a retirement scheme, a home forming part of a housing programme initiated by an organ of
the state, a private drainage system from a home to a municipal connection, water services in
connection with the home from point of supply to point of discharge at fixtures and appliances,
any ancilliary building including garages and storage rooms, any retaining walls required for
structural integrity, any adjacent building or wall on common property that has the potential
to damage the home should it for any reason collapse.
Clause 84 expands on Section 18 of the current Act, and applies not only to the registration
of a mortgage bond but also to a transfer. It requires that conveyancers ensure that a home
is duly enrolled, and if it is not, conveyancers attending to the registration of a mortgage
bond or to a transfer of a property, will have an obligation to inform the Council and the
Registrar of Deeds. The Council may report a conveyancer who does not comply, to the Legal
Practice Council (estate agents selling homes are also required to advise the Council of such
a transgression). In addition, the Registrar of Deeds must also determine whether the home
is so enrolled, and if it is not, the Registrar of Deeds must notify the Council, and he or she
may not affect the registration of the deed in relation to that home.
Chapter 6 has compulsory clauses that must be part of any contract before construction
starts. These include warranties and prohibitions on payments should the home builder fail
to register or enrol the property.

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