{"id":864924,"date":"2026-07-05T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=864924"},"modified":"2026-07-03T16:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:41:35","slug":"r11500-warning-for-one-group-of-homebuyers-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/864924\/r11500-warning-for-one-group-of-homebuyers-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"R11,500 warning for one group of homebuyers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sectional title homebuyers in South Africa are being warned that the true monthly cost of owning a property can reach as high as R11,500 before a single rand of the bond is repaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from Jonathan Kohler of Landsdowne Properties, who said that many buyers are often not aware of the true cost of a home in a sectional title before it’s too late. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the concern is that many buyers budget only for bond repayments, underestimating the \u201csecond bond,\u201d which covers all the costs of running a property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kohler pointed out that in Johannesburg\u2019s Bryanston, a 100 sqm sectional title apartment can already incur monthly holding costs of around R4,000 to R7,000, or more, before the bond is even considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Cape Town\u2019s Claremont, a similar two-bedroom apartment carries about R4,200 to R7,000 or more in levies and municipal accounts. These costs are often separate from what buyers expect when they calculate affordability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kohler added that in anonymised Landsdowne-managed examples, a comparable Umhlanga apartment can carry monthly holding costs of about R6,500 to more than R11,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ballito, this ranges from around R3,500 to R7,000 depending on the scheme, amenities, consumption patterns and municipal billing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese figures point to a problem buyers still underestimate, which is that the bank may approve the bond while the full monthly cost of the home remains largely untested,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He described this as the \u201csecond bond\u201d effect. \u201cThe first bond secures the transfer. The second bond determines whether the property is affordable to carry after transfer,\u201d Kohler said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While banks typically assess only repayment ability on the mortgage, the broader cost of ownership is often left out of affordability testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That second monthly bill can include levies, reserve fund contributions, municipal rates and taxes, water, electricity, statutory charges, security, repairs, backup power costs and even special levies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not always shown as one figure. It rarely appears neatly in the sales conversation. Yet it lands in the same household budget every month,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prospective buyers must request a full monthly cost pack<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Jonathan Kohler, CEO and Founder of Landsdowne Property Group.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Kohler warned that the risk of this is that affordability assessments tend to focus on the purchase price and bond repayment rather than the full carrying cost over time. This becomes more important as utility prices continue to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eskom\u2019s approved 2026\/27 tariff increases of 8.76% for direct customers and 9.01% for municipal customers, along with higher municipal charges in cities such as Johannesburg, will feed directly into household budgets and sectional title levy structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coastal properties add another layer of cost pressure. Higher property values push up municipal rates, while environmental exposure increases maintenance needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buildings in areas such as Umhlanga require ongoing work on lifts, facades, waterproofing, balustrades, gates and access systems due to salt air, humidity and weathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA coastal apartment may have a stronger lifestyle and investment appeal, but still carry a larger second bond,\u201d Kohler noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sectional title ownership also introduces shared financial risks. Buyers are effectively entering a collective system where the financial health of the building depends on reserves, arrears, governance and maintenance planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low levies can sometimes signal efficiency, but they can also indicate deferred maintenance that later results in special levies or declining asset value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kohler advised buyers to request a full monthly cost pack before purchasing, including levy schedules, budgets, financial statements, arrears positions, reserve fund details, insurance schedules, utility recovery methods, special levy history and AGM minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe market is good at calculating the bond. It now needs to calculate the cost of running the home. That is the number that determines whether a property remains affordable, rentable and liveable,\u201d he  said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A property expert has warned that many homebuyers are often not aware of the true cost of a home in a sectional title before it’s too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":864930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[25098,21700,853],"class_list":["post-864924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-landsdowne-properties","tag-sectional-titles","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864924"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864931,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864924\/revisions\/864931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}