Supreme Court of Appeal

During September of this year the matter of Gregory Joseph Paola vs. Jaivadan Jeeva and others came before the highest appeal court in the country in Bloemfontein. Although it was addressed as a side issue the court dealt with the question of whether a local authority should allow the passing of building plans for a structure which will derogate from the value of an adjoining property by reason of the fact that its view will be obstructed. It was held that the obstruction of a view can constitute such a derogation from value.
Previously it was unclear in our law whether a property owner could claim a right through the courts to the protection of his view. In this instance the court had to deal with the question whether the local authority should have approved the building plans, but one may infer from the judgement that the principle of acknowledging the value of a view could be extended to actions between property owners. The court emphasized that the diminution of value must be substantial to be actionable.
The implication of the judgement for property owners is that they may now feel assured that the law recognizes their views from their properties as being assets worthy of protection in the courts.
For more information contact Sue Mosdell at 044 382 533