A naïve Cape Town tenant had carried out significant improvements to a property without the landlord’s approval and, when he tried to claim the money from the landlord this was refused.
The tenant then withheld payment of rent from the landlord to compensate for the expenses incurred but the landlord insisted that he vacate the premises for non-payment of the monthly rent.
As so often happens in these matters, the dispute ended up in court.
The tenant told the court that he was unable to produce any receipts for the work done at the property or provide a breakdown of expenses and in the absence of the receipts, the court upheld the landlord’s decision that the tenant must leave because the rent had not been paid.
According to Lanice Steward, managing director of Anne Porter Knight Frank, a great many tenants undertake significant improvements to rental units but the law is quite clear on this points: unless the property owner has approved the work to be done then the tenant has no recourse.
She says there are numerous cases on record where tenants have improved a property without the landlord’s permission and the courts have ruled that such improvements become part of the property and the landlord is not required to pay compensation for the work that has been done.
She stressed that in all property agreements, oral undertakings are not binding and any agreement must be committed to paper and signed by both parties.
She says it’s really sad that in some many instances, tenants believe that they can do work on a property in the hope of getting paid for it but very often they don’t receive any compensation because they have not communicated their intentions to the landlord, committed the agreement to writing or kept property financial records.
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