At the same time, community and human rights organisations representing indigent tenants hope that the judgement will provide extended security of tenure for the urban poor, who often "fall between the cracks" because housing law does not protect their situation.
In the case, a developer who has bought a scruffy Braamfontein apartment block so as to be able to renovate it, has been refusing to renew tenants' leases once they have expired. Broekmann told Property24.com that the landlord's plan is to empty the building gradually and then upgrade all the units in it so that he is able to increase his rentals in line with the much needed urban renewal of central Johannesburg. "On the other hand, we have the eighteen tenants in the block, some of whom have been there as long as 17 years (the shortest occupation is four years), who have been paying rent regularly, and who now argue before the court that they have nowhere suitable to go," Broekmann says.
The tenants are relying on section 26 of the Constitution, which guarantees each person's right to have access to adequate housing. The Constitutional Court will be aiming at balancing the interests of landlords and tenants, says Broekmann, adding that the precise implications of the constitutional right of 'access to adequate housing' are still being defined in our courts. She says if the Constitutional Court comes to the conclusion that it will advance access to adequate housing to grant tenants housing rights which extend even after their leases have elapsed, this case will certainly set a precedent and make landlords' obligations more onerous. Such a decision would have far-reaching implications for South African property.
Read the full article on www.property24.com.
