HOUSE IS NOT A HOME

A couple from Heldervue, Somerset West, are pursuing a R620 000 claim in the Western Cape High Court against the seller of their home and Pam Golding Properties, after discovering severe structural defects that rendered their house unsafe and unfit for occupation.

Antoné van Heerden and Schalk Pienaar bought the property in October 2017 for R1.6 million. During the viewing, an estate agent from Pam Golding Properties, reassured them the home only needed “a little bit of tender loving care and a fresh coat of paint.”

The agent also allegedly dismissed visible cracks in the walls as “regular hairline settlement cracks which were normal for properties of that age,” assuring them, “This house has stood for 27 years and is going nowhere.”

However, after moving in and commissioning a structural engineer’s report, the couple found a very different reality as several walls and floors were unsafe according to engineer Albert Coetzee.

However Pam Golding Properties dispute the facts as set out by the complainant. In its response the estate agency rejected the allegations, calling the legal action “without merit” and defending its conduct during the 2017 property sale.

Pam Golding  said the purchasers bought the property for R1.6 million, a price significantly below market value, with full knowledge of its condition.

They also highlighted that the bank granted a bond exceeding the purchase price by R400,000, further affirming the property’s value and that the purchasers took early occupation and never raised any issues with the agency at the time.

However the plaintiffs’ attorney, Trudie Broekmann, a specialist consumer attorney based in Cape Town, said the “severe defects rendered the property hazardous and unfit for occupation in breach of various sections of the Consumer Protection Act.”