Housing valuations roll ‘littered with basic mistakes’

THE housing valuations roll recently released by the eThekwini Municipality looks set to be challenged by residents who are already complaining that their homes have been incorrectly evaluated.

The valuation roll, used to evaluate homes and determine the rates they should pay based on their perceived value, is open for public inspection from February 10 to the end of March.

Anthony Adams said the recent valuations roll was littered with basic mistakes, including incorrect measurements and failure to assess structures correctly.

“I live in a complex with 26 units, 10 of these units have had extensions done which were registered years ago, yet the valuations have not been amended.

“Six other units are grossly overstated,” he said.

“We even have instances where a unit of say 164m² has a higher valuation than one of 186m²,” continued Adams.

He said this was not the first time that he had experienced incorrect valuations. A few years ago he lived in Pinetown, and in 2012 the municipality had incorrectly valued his house at R1 250 000.

“I objected saying that no house in my suburb had been sold for over R850 000, whereupon the valuation was changed by R100 000. Needless to say the house was sold soon after for R820 000,” he said.

Check

Adams said people must check the listing in the neighbourhoods.

“There are some areas in Durban that have waterborne sewage, are they valued the same as other areas?”

DA councillor Heinz de Boer said he had received at least one complaint.

“One person in Umhlanga said it seemed their street had received a blanket 20% increase.”

DA leader Zwakele Mncwango said he was aware of concerns about the valuations.

“It seems the houses are not measured properly. For instance, if your neighbour has made a modification on their house or you have added a garage on your property, that will affect the rates that you must pay.

“These things seem not to have been factored in.

“It looks like the municipality’s real estate department is under-resourced, or they do not have the right people in place,” he said.

eThekwini Municipality said the period of submission had not lapsed.

“When the valuation roll is published each property owner will be posted an extract from the valuation roll that contains the details of their property as published,” it said.

The valuation roll would also be open for inspection by the public for a minimum of 30 days, during which time the public had a right in terms of the Municipal Property Rates Act to lodge an objection against any entry in the valuation roll.

eThekwini said homeowners could also lodge objections with the municipality should they feel their property had been over or undervalued, or incorrectly categorised.