Partners, Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, Maike Gohl and Lauren Squier of HBGSchindlers Attorneys (acting for the Second Respondent in the matter) are excited to announce the handing down of an important and long-awaited judgment on 29 October 2025, wherein the High Court in Johannesburg dismissed an application brought by the City of Johannesburg to overturn a decision by the Valuation Appeal Board regarding the categorisation of residential sectional title properties for rating purposes.
The City’s categorisation of the residential units as sectional title business would have resulted in substantially higher rates being charged to the residential property owners, 4 times in excess of the sectional title residential rate.
This judgment confirms that the appropriate rate to be charged to the property owners was sectional title residential, and it reinforces the legal position that municipal valuations and categorisations must be consistent with valuation principles and the requirements of the Municipal Property Rates Act.
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