Most buyers treat a deposit as a show of good faith. The law treats it very differently. When a sale collapses because of a buyer’s breach, that deposit may be lost entirely. The Conventional Penalties Act offers limited relief, but the threshold for court intervention is high. A recent case, in which the buyer lost...Read More

A deck collapsed seven months after transfer. The buyers, convinced they’d been sold a raw prawn, headed to the courts. Eight claims and twelve years later, they haven’t recouped a cent. A 2026 Western Cape High Court judgment draws a sharp line between what the law protects buyers against and what it does not. “The...Read More

Hopefully 2026 will gift us some really positive movement in the property market. This is great news, but please note this cautionary tale from the Supreme Court of Appeal. A husband transferred his half share in the marital house to his wife to protect it from his creditors. But after the couple divorced, he found...Read More

Summer has always been a prime time to buy and sell property in South Africa. Everyone’s spirits lift with the blue-sky weather, the festive season beckons, and holiday travel booms. If you’re planning to take advantage of this seasonal upswing by selling now, get your ducks in a row with our Seller’s Checklist – a...Read More

Spring is a great time to address two questions which sellers and buyers often ask: how does the transfer process actually work, and how long does it usually take? Have a look at our “Transfer Process in a Nutshell” flowchart for an outline of the major steps in the process, all the way from signing...Read More

Time and again our courts are faced with property sellers who, when sued by buyers for hidden defects, try to hide behind a voetstoots clause in the sale agreement. They say, “The buyer bought the house ‘as is’ and can’t complain now”. But that can never protect a seller who has fraudulently concealed a defect....Read More