Daniël Els is an Attorney and Conveyancer practicing at the firm’s Helderberg branch. He specialises in Property Law and Conveyancing. Daniël studied BA International Studies and LLB at Stellenbosch University. During the course of his studies, he also attended the University of Cape Town, Humboldt University of Berlin, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and completed his law degree in the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam. Daniël joined STBB in 2014 as an article clerk and was admitted by the High Court as an Attorney and Conveyancer in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Daniël is passionate about his work, continuously striving to provide his clients with excellent service delivery.

Thought of the Week | The Tenant’s Rights When You Sell Your House

One frequently receives queries with regard to a tenant’s position where the leased premises is sold, mostly from tenants indicating that they were simply told to vacate before transfer.

The point of departure is however that in our law, a tenant is protected by the common law ‘huur gaat voor koop’ rule. This means that the lease agreement will survive the sale, the new owner will become the landlord and the terms of the existing lease will stay in force until the lease terminates. The new owner will also be responsible to refund the deposit less any claim for damages. A lease agreement may have a specific provision to the contrary and if you anticipate that you may sell property that you are putting up for rental, consider making provision for this.

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