Subdividing an Erf

Subdividing an Erf

I have found that many people hear stories about making some extra money by cutting off a piece of their yard and selling off that piece, and over the past few years while the property market was booming, I have seen a few of my clients burn their fingers in this way.
Although some money can definitely be made by doing this, property owners have to realize that it is not as simple as deciding to sell a piece of their property. Apart from the consideration that your property is now going to be much smaller than what you are used to, there is a big capital outlay needed to section off a piece of your erf.

So what would this money be needed for? Well a few of the things are
• Water connection
• Sewer Connection
• Electrical connection
• A surveyor to survey the existing site and buildings, and to then draw up a Surveyor General diagram.
• Council fees for the application
• It is possible (i.e. I have seen this happen) that the council might want building plans to be handed in for both the sites, or they might want just a Site Development plan.
• Advertising fees (if applicable).

If your sewer line runs through the piece of erf that you want to sub divide, you will also have to have this moved to the new sewer connection point that the council will supply. This alone might cost a considerable amount of money.

If you are considering doing such a division of your erf, I suggest your first port of call should be a town planner. Although town planners will cost you a large amount of money, these people have the expertise that you need so that you don’t have to re – invent the wheel.