Council Accounts
In accordance with our business philosophy “with our accumulated knowledge and experience and our core focus on personalized client services, we create happy new property owners” we offer the following services:
Opening & Closing A Municipal Account
As the owner of a newly registered property, you will be required to pay rates and taxes. Every customer should have their own rates and taxes and services (electricity, water and sanitation, refuse) account; you can’t inherit an existing rates, water and electricity account from a previous owner.
The City has different types of accounts, these being the rates and taxes account (property rates are based on market values), and the services (electricity, water and sanitation, refuse) accounts. All these services are composed, issued and send to the customer in a consolidated invoice on a monthly basis.
New home owners will not receive rates or services accounts for some time after registration of the transfer of the said property and as such need to make provision for these anticipated costs. The registration of a property takes up to six weeks to reach the Council and accounts are only created once proof of registration is received from the Deed’s Office. The client should however ensure that they have the meter readings for both water and electricity on the day they take ownership of the property to ensure smooth take over.
On registration of transfer, the conveyancers will send a letter with the relevant information relating to the transfer and the date of registration to the Council, notifying them that the transfer has taken place. As a buyer, please ensure that this documentation is send to the Council by the appointed transferring attorneys.
The Deeds Registry will independently notify the Council of the transfers that have taken place through electronic notification into our Land Information System. The Deeds notification will trigger the creation of the account with the new owner’s details. The necessary adjustments will be done to correct billing that would have happened after the month of transfer.
Once the Council receives a Deeds Registry notification that a property transfer has taken place, the rates and taxes account will automatically be created in the name of the new property owner (purchaser). The transfer of this account will be done by the Council without the need for any intervention from the parties and the necessary adjustments will be done to correct billing that would have happened after the month of transfer.
Purchaser’s Responsibilities:
Once you have bought your property, you will have to apply for municipal services for your property to be transferred into your name.
You may do so, by visiting your nearest regional Customer Service Centre and complete the “Application for the Supply of Water and Electricity” contract. Details of all regional Customer Service Centres are available online at www.joburg.org.za. Purchasers can visit the centre most convenient to them regardless of where the property is situated.
Service Accounts Include:
Water and sanitation rendered by Johannesburg Water, waste removal rendered by Pikitup, and electricity supplied by City Power. Purchasers to ensure that all services are linked and recorded on their new account i.e.
Water
Rates & taxes
Sewerage
Electricity
Refuse
Individual Account Applications
Customer Service Centre
Copy of the identity document of the applicant
Next of kin details
Sufficient funds to pay a deposit which will be equal to the average of the seller's service charges for the 2 (two) months immediately preceding the opening of the account (cash, card or electronic transfers only)
Meter readings and numbers (please remember to take these on registration of transfer and on occupation if different).
Copy of spouse's identity document and spouse's details (if required)
Spouse's employer details and monthly income (if required)
A letter from the Conveyancer, stipulating the registration date/deeds office property search or a letter from the conveyancing attorney confirming registration.
Contact details of the purchaser or the next of kin
Company, Close Corporation and Trusts
List of directors, members, or trustees as it may be applicable.
Company registration number and all necessary information on the Company
Close Corporation or Trust documents
Identity documents of all Directors/Members/ or Trustees
Founding statement for a close corporation or trust
Certificate of establishment of a body corporate
A letter/resolution authorizing the signatory to open the account and sign all the necessary documents/ Company letterhead and authorised signatory details.
A letter from the Conveyancer, stipulating the registration date/deeds property search or a letter from the conveyancing attorney confirming registration.
Offer to purchase if transfer of ownership is not yet registered.
Before buying into a sectional title scheme, find out which services (complex water & electricity) are paid in full by the body corporate and find out which services, to the unit you are buying, are rendered individually on your municipal rates and taxes account.
Seller’s Responsibilities
The seller will need the following to close an account: For rates and taxes account, the Seller is not required to do anything. After transfer, the Council will automatically transfer the rates and taxes account from the seller to the purchaser.
For services (water and electricity) account, the seller is obligated to send the closing readings so that the Council can confirm the readings with the purchaser to finalise these accounts. For service accounts, the Seller should complete a ‘Cancellation of Consumer Agreement Form’ available at any of the Council’s regional Customer Service Centres.
On the day that the seller vacates the property, the seller should call the Council with its account number as reference, meter reading in hand and request the Council to terminate his/her account and begin a process for refund of deposit paid if any.
Important – Please note that the Council will attend to the seller’s refund after registration of transfer, and once the purchaser opens a new account and the Council is informed by the Deeds Office of registration, the refund will be paid to the transferring attorney’s trust account once approved by the Council.
The Seller will need the following in order to close service accounts:
A letter from the conveyancing attorney confirming registration
A copy of rates clearance figures and proof of payment
Closing or final meter readings for services (water and electricity)
Provided that the rates have been transferred and the purchaser has paid a deposit and opened the services account, the City will bill the purchaser for rates and services from the date of registration of transfer and debit the purchaser’s new account accordingly.
Until this point in the process the Seller would still be receiving accounts from the Council and would have noted that the credit on the account is being depleted by the Purchaser’s rates and consumption charges.
In other words, until the Purchaser has opened new accounts, all charges on the account, for example, rates, water, electricity, sewerage and refuse will be billed to the Seller’s municipal account and the Seller will continue to receive monthly statements.
When the Council debits the Purchasers new accounts, the Seller’s accounts will be credited. It is at this stage that the Sellers refund is processed and paid out to the transferring attorney unless otherwise instructed by the transferring attorney.
Occupation Before Registration of Transfer : Should the Purchaser occupy the property prior to registration of transfer, the Seller is liable for electricity and water consumed.
These individual arrangements are not accounted for by the Council and as such the parties should make provision for the Purchaser to reimburse the Seller directly for any consumption charges incurred prior to registration of transfer.
These individual arrangements are not accounted for by the City and as such the parties should make provision for the Purchaser to reimburse the Seller directly for any consumption charges incurred prior to registration of transfer.
Occupation After Registration of Transfer: Should the Seller likewise remain in occupation of the property after registration of transfer, the Purchaser will be liable directly to the Council for these charges. As such, the Seller should pay to the Purchaser the consumption costs even though the Seller may have paid his own account in advance.
Cancellation of Consumer Agreement (Property Owner)
Become a property owner the right way
"With our accumulated knowledge and experience and our core focus on personalized client services, we create happy new property owners”