"A clear sign that society is deteriorating is measured by the amount of statutory law a nation has to introduce. The less common decency prevails, common sense reigns and the less respect there is for accepted good principles, the more a nation has to enact laws into its statute books. And sadly, this trend is often spearheaded by government itself."
Colin Fibiger

Whether you are in agreement or not, statutory law is part of our every day lives - read on.

RENTAL LAWS OF THE PAST

The rents legislation was passed by Parliament in 1920 with many amendments or changes over eighty years. The rents legislation modelled on English law was in response to the needs of a changing society brought about by the two World Wars and was initially intended as temporary measures.

Both “first” and “second” world countries passed laws to protect tenants from exorbitant rent increases and evictions because of the acute housing shortage. War Measure 89 of 1942 was enacted in South Africa to protect business tenants but was abolished in 1980.

Property owners and their representatives saw the rent control law as an “interference” of their common law rights. For instance, at common law a landlord / landlady could terminate a month-to-month lease by giving one month’s notice. Our courts clarified the one-month’s notice period to be a calendar month’s notice to be given not later than the first day of the month to be effective for that month.

The Rent Control Act 80 of 1976 placed further restrictions on the landlord / landlady regarding the notice to vacate: three month’s notice if the dwelling was required for personal occupation; six month’s notice if required for renovation (lease suspended) with the tenant having the first right of re-occupying the dwelling; twelve month’s notice if the landlord / landlady intended to demolish the dwelling.

The landlord / landlady also had to satisfy the High court that such demolition or reconstruction was in the public’s interest and that the Minister of Housing granted such permission.

A large number of dwellings were phased out of rent control between 1978 and 1980 because of vigorous campaigns by landlords’ representatives who had considerable support in the apartheid parliament. Consequently, rent control applied to dwellings built and first occupied on or before October 20, 1949. Any tenant, regardless of income, who occupied this category of dwelling was “protected” by the provisions of the Rent Control Act. As for dwellings that were phased out of rent control, a tenant also enjoyed the “protection” of the rent control legislation if he or she was in occupation at the time the dwelling was de-controlled and his or her income was within a specific income category (amended regularly in the government gazette). The income of a tenant however was not considered in determining the rent increase of rent-controlled dwellings. In reality, a pensioner ended up paying rentals similar to that paid by a millionaire in the same building.

Rent control did not apply to any dwelling built after the major phasing out periods (1978-1980). All dwellings in “white” residential areas were eventually phased out of rent control by the early 1990s. Rent control as argued by the powerful property lobbyists, supposed to have stifled private rental development.

Surprisingly, this major change, of bringing dwellings out of rent control, did not lead to the building of more rental dwellings or any improvement in the private sector rental market. Similar development emerged in other countries, with intense debates for and against rent control and protection for poor tenants continues in the United States of America

RENT CONTROL - DOES IT STILL APPLY?

Is a person of a residential lease still “protected” under the Rent Control legislation? In other words, are rent increases still limited to a 10% increase per annum and evictions restricted? In a woird - No. These no longer apply. The Rental Housing Act, 50 of 1999, provided a “cooling off” period of three years for tenants who were living in rent-controlled dwellings.

On July 31 2003, rent control seized to exist (date of commencement for repeal was August 1 2000)6 and landlords were at liberty to increase rentals without restriction and were no longer required to apply to a statutory body (the defunct Rent Boards) for an increase. This has been a great relief to landlords, but has also created crises in the lives of pensioners and poor tenants. Rent control laws were introduced after World War 1 in most countries and were amended, abolished and reintroduced over the past 80 years because of the critical housing shortage.

It still exists in the United States of America alongside Landlord-Tenants’ court that have the jurisdiction of high courts and with a subsidy scheme for poor tenants