Town planningArchitectureUrban research
Research-led Town Planners in Johannesburg
We prepare, motivate and defend rezoning, subdivision, township establishment and consent use applications across the Gauteng City-Region, and appear before Municipal Planning Tribunals where a matter is referred. In our experience, applications turn on the quality of their evidence; ours are built on original research, with architects in-house.
- First consultation free, no obligation
- Reply within one working day
- Principals registered with SACPLAN
Typical timeframes
Elapsed time on our applications, in months
Counted from lodgement to decision.
What we do
From Feasibility to Decision, and the Plans That Follow
Our town planners and architects work in one practice: we establish what your land may be used for, apply for the rights you need, and draw the plans that use them.
Core practice
Town planning
Land use applications under SPLUMA and the municipality’s by-law and land use scheme, from lodgement to decision, and representation before the Municipal Planning Tribunal.
Architecture and design
Site development plans and building plans, drawn to the rights your property carries and submitted to the municipality.
Property development
Feasibility studies and planning due diligence before you buy or commit, and conversions of existing buildings to sectional title.
What do you want to do?
The application it usually takes, and the page that explains it.
- Change the use or density your zoning allows: Rezoning
- Add a use your zoning permits only with consent: Consent use
- Divide an erf into two or more: Subdivision
- Join adjoining erven into one: Consolidation
- Develop a farm portion or holding for urban use: Township establishment
- Build closer to a boundary than the scheme allows: Building line relaxation
- Lift a title deed condition that stands in the way: Removal of restrictive conditions
- Answer a contravention notice: Contravention notices
- Respond to objections, or appeal a decision: Tribunal representation and appeals
- Check a property before you buy it: Planning due diligence
Our approach
A Town Planning Practice with a Research Institute
We prepare and argue applications for owners, developers and institutions. Our research arm, the Glensburg Cities Institute, studies how African cities are planned and regulated, and its work informs the evidence in our motivations.
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We argue from SPLUMA’s principles, not only the by-law
A compliance argument holds until the scheme says no. SPLUMA requires whoever decides an application to be guided by its development principles, and we bring the evidence to argue them.
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We answer objections before the Tribunal sees them
Objections are weighed on their substance, not their number. During feasibility we identify the ones likely to carry weight, and answer them in the motivation.
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We do not promise to fast-track
Notice and comment periods are set by law, and no consultant can shorten them. What we can cut is the time lost to incomplete applications and resubmissions.
Where we work
Gauteng’s Nine Municipalities, Each With Its Own Rules
We act for property owners and developers on town planning applications in all nine of Gauteng’s municipalities, and in eThekwini and Mahikeng, from our office in Illovo, Johannesburg. Under the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA), the by-law and the land use scheme or schemes that govern an application are the municipality’s own, so a proposal allowed as of right in one municipality can need an application in the next.
We prepare each application to the instruments of the municipality that will decide it. In Johannesburg, those are the City of Johannesburg Municipal Planning By-law, 2016, as amended in 2023, and the City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme, 2018, as amended 2025, in operation since 1 July 2026.
- Municipalities we act in
- Metro and district boundaries
- Our office, Illovo
Gauteng
Three metros, six local municipalities
Metropolitan municipalities
- Johannesburg Our office Sandton, Randburg, Midrand, Roodepoort and Soweto
- Tshwane Pretoria, Centurion, Irene and Akasia
- Ekurhuleni Germiston, Kempton Park, Boksburg, Benoni and Bedfordview
West Rand District
- Mogale City Krugersdorp, Kagiso, Muldersdrift and Magaliesburg
- Rand West City Randfontein, Westonaria and Bekkersdal
- Merafong City Carletonville, Fochville and Khutsong
Sedibeng District
- Emfuleni Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and Sebokeng
- Midvaal Meyerton, Walkerville and Henley on Klip
- Lesedi Heidelberg and Ratanda
KwaZulu-Natal
- eThekwini Durban, Umhlanga, Westville and Pinetown
North West
- Mahikeng Mahikeng and Mmabatho
Publications
Briefings and Guides
Briefings set out what changed in Johannesburg’s planning by-law and land use scheme; Guides explain the process for owners and developers. Each is dated, and states the law on that date.
The Johannesburg Land Use Scheme: What Changed and What Applies Now
The amended scheme has applied since 1 July 2026: what changed, whom it affects, and what the text leaves unresolved.
Common questions
What Owners Ask Town Planners in Johannesburg
The questions that come before an application, answered briefly. Each service page goes further.
Is town planning approval the same as building plan approval?
No. Town planning approval settles what land may be used for and how much may be built on it; building plan approval, under the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, 1977, settles how a building is built, once the rights are in place. In Johannesburg, clause 39 of the land use scheme also requires an approved site development plan before building plans, except on Residential 1 erven and land developed with a dwelling house. Our architects prepare both.
Do I need a SACPLAN-registered town planner?
If someone else prepares your application, they should be registered. In Maleta v City of Matlosana [2026] ZANWHC 50, the North West High Court held that preparing land development applications is planning work under the Planning Profession Act, 2002, and upheld the Matlosana Land Use Scheme’s rule that applications be submitted by SACPLAN-registered planners. An owner may still apply for their own land. Our principals are registered with SACPLAN.
What does a town planning application cost?
There is no fixed price. The total is made up of our fee, the municipality’s application fees, advertising, and any specialist studies the municipality asks for; an application that adds rights may also attract a charge towards municipal services. We quote against a defined scope after the free first consultation, with the municipality’s fees shown apart from ours.
I have received a contravention notice. What should I do?
Do not ignore it. A notice sets a period in which to act, and letting it pass can lead to fines or legal action. The usual answer is to regularise the use or the building with the right application, or to stop the use if it cannot be approved. Send us the notice and we will tell you which applies.
Can you check a property before I buy it?
Yes. A planning due diligence reads the zoning, the title conditions, the approved building plans and any servitudes against what you mean to do with the property, and says what stands in the way and what it would take to remove it. It is best done before you sign.
Tell us about your property
The first consultation is free and carries no obligation. If your property does not need an application, we will say so.
What happens next
- TodayYou tell us about the propertyThe street address or erf number, and what you want to do.
- Within one working dayA planner replies
- First consultation, freeYou know where you standThe application route, the likely timeline, and what the municipality will want to see.