The Johannesburg Land Use Scheme: What Changed and What Applies Now

1. Where the scheme stands in 2026

Amended, not replaced

Johannesburg still has one land use scheme, adopted in 2018 and now amended. Council approved the City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme, 2018 on 31 October 2018, and it came into operation on 1 February 2019.³ It replaced the clauses of fifteen named former town planning schemes and Annexure F with one set of clauses for the whole city (cl 2).

SPLUMA requires a municipality to review its scheme at least every five years (s 27(1)). The 2025 amendments come from the first review. The City’s report to Council said it would enable the City to rectify shortcomings experienced over the previous five years, incorporate new development policy and facilitate efficient application processes.³

Council approved the amended text on 30 September 2025. The whole scheme was republished on 24 June 2026, under a notice that brought it into operation on 1 July 2026.¹ Its short title is now the City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme, 2018, as amended 2025 (cl 9).

One scheme, two copies

The official text is in the Gauteng Provincial Gazette of 24 June 2026, as Provincial Notice 390 of 2026.¹ The City’s own copy heads the same notice Local Authority Promulgation Notice 390 of 2026.² Both names refer to one instrument.

The two copies differ in a way that matters when citing the scheme. In the Gazette, the clause headings print without their numbers, and most cross-references to clauses read “Clause 0”. The clause numbers appear in the Gazette’s table of contents and in the City’s copy.

Our comparison found no other difference in the wording of the clauses. We cite the Gazette for the instrument and the City’s copy for clause numbers.

What carries over

The amendment kept the way an erf’s rights are read. The former schemes’ annexures and schedules, and their A and B series maps, remain in force (cl 3(3)). Where an annexure or schedule conflicts with the clauses in Parts I to VIII, the annexure or schedule prevails (cl 6(2)(b)).

That is why one zoning can mean different things on two erven, and why most changes described below depend on what the erf’s own documents say.

Read with the By-law and the Spatial Development Framework

The scheme sets what land may be used for and how much may be built. The Municipal Planning By-law sets how applications are made, advertised, decided and appealed; see Briefing 2026/01.

The scheme must give effect to the City’s Spatial Development Framework (cl 5). The current framework, approved by Council in November 2024, guides decisions on applications but says itself that it cannot be used in place of the scheme’s provisions.⁵

2. What changed

The amendments kept the scheme’s structure: the same list of use zones, the same three height zones and the same method of reading an erf’s rights. Eight sets of changes affect most projects and come first: density, floor area and coverage, river buffers, side space, consolidation, site development plans, parking and roofs. Table 1 below lists the other changes of substance; it does not record every change of wording.

Density: the building envelope rule reaches Residential 3, 4 and 5

Clause 27(2) provides that, where a zone permits residential use, housing is controlled by height, coverage and floor area ratio. In 2018 the rule excluded all five residential zones. It now excludes only Residential 1 and 2.

On that wording, what limits housing on a Residential 3, 4 or 5 erf is the building envelope, not a stated number of units, unless an annexure or schedule provides otherwise. A rezoning schedule has a column for density (cl 44(2)), so a rezoned erf may carry its own figure. Clause 27(1) still requires the number of dwellings to accord with the scheme’s Table 3, which works from the B series maps, and the scheme does not say how the two sub-clauses fit together; see section 5.

The scheme has also dropped its cap of 30 dwelling units per hectare on freehold cluster developments in Residential 2, 3 and 4. In its place, clause 27(4) reads: “In all other instances the density is to be aligned with the applicable policies of the City of Johannesburg.” It does not say which instances it means.

The City’s overarching land use policy is the Spatial Development Framework. Its density guidelines set minimums of 100 dwelling units per hectare in the Inner City node, 80 in metropolitan nodes and 60 in the General Urban Zone.⁵ For suburban and peri-urban areas they map ranges that start at 5 to 10, so policy can sit below 30 as well as above it. The framework says minimums are encouraged, not enforced, and carry no maximum as long as units comply with building regulations, the scheme and its development controls. Every density is subject to infrastructure capacity.

On that reading, yield on Residential 3, 4 and 5 land becomes a design question inside the envelope, tested against services, parking and any density in the erf’s own documents or on the B series map; see Development Feasibility Studies. For freehold cluster developments, an approved site development plan sets coverage and floor area ratio (cl 31(5) and 32(4)), and the scheme no longer states a density of its own.

Floor area and coverage

The definition of floor area lets service space be left out of the calculation. The 2018 text said that 10% of total floor area “shall” be regarded as such space. The amended definition says that 10% “may” be, and lists what qualifies: lift foyers, lifts, corridors, balconies, external fire escapes and atriums among them. It allows 15% in developments with more than 10 000 m² of floor area. On 12 000 m² of floor area, that is up to 600 m² more that may be left out.

In Height Zone A, the three-storey zone, the coverage allowed for shops, business purposes, and institutional and educational facilities rises from 50% to 70% (the scheme’s Table 5). On a 2 000 m² erf, that is a footprint of up to 1 400 m² in place of 1 000 m². The table now also lists Residential 4 and 5 at 80% in Height Zone B, where the 2018 table stopped at Residential 3. The Council may give written consent for green energy installations to exceed the coverage limit (cl 31(3)(d)).

Rivers and streams

The 2018 text barred development in the area flooded by a 1:100-year flood, or within the riparian zone and a buffer of 30 metres from its edge or the riverbank, “whichever is the greater”. The buffer now reads “thirty (30) metres or thirty-two (32) metres or fifty (50) metres from the edge of the riparian zone or riverbank where this is clearly identifiable, whichever is the greater” (cl 50(3)(a)).

The clause does not say which distance applies where. All three figures have been used elsewhere. Under the national EIA listing notices, some development within 32 metres of a watercourse needs environmental authorisation.⁶ Gauteng’s 2014 conservation plan used buffers of 30 metres for wetlands inside the urban edge and 50 metres outside it, and 32 metres for perennial rivers inside the urban edge.⁷

The closing words can be read in two ways. They may now select the largest of the three distances, 50 metres. Or they may still do what they appear to have done in 2018, and compare the flood area with the buffered riparian zone, leaving the distance itself open. The difference matters: along 100 metres of riverbank, a 50-metre buffer takes 2 000 m² more land than a 30-metre one.

Until the City clarifies the clause, the distance should be confirmed for each site before an offer is signed; see Planning Due Diligence. A new clause 50(4) also requires the EIA Regulations, the National Water Act and other legislation to be considered.

Side and rear space

In 2018, a building of more than one storey on a Residential 1 erf had to keep 2 metres from every boundary other than a street boundary. Clause 14(12) now applies that rule in all five residential zones, and to erven in any other zone that are “contiguous to a residential property”. Building closer needs a building line relaxation under the By-law. Allowed for in the first sketch, the rule is a line on a plan; found at building plan stage, it is a redesign.

Consolidation

The 2018 text barred the consolidation of erven with different use zones, schedules or annexures unless they were rezoned. Clause 26(3) now bars the consolidation of erven with different use zones or “development controls and/or specific conditions”, terms the scheme does not define.

The test has moved from an erf’s documents to their content. Two adjoining erven with the same zoning can differ in height zone, density or conditions. If those count as development controls or specific conditions, the erven would need a rezoning before their consolidation. For anyone assembling land, the check comes before the second purchase.

Site development plans

On all land except Residential 1 erven and land developed with a dwelling house only, a site development plan must be approved before building plans are considered (cl 39(2) and (7)). One can also be required on any land as a condition of an application, for structures on public or private open space, in a registered special development zone or in an environmental control area (cl 39(1) and (3) to (5)). The plan must now show more (cl 39(8) and (10)). New or expanded items include:

• universal access, including parking, ramps and walkways for people with disabilities;
• stormwater control, read with the City’s stormwater design manual;
• soft landscaping with indigenous vegetation on at least 10% of the site, and one indigenous tree for every three parking bays;
• grey-water and rainwater harvesting with on-site storage, a refuse area with waste-generation calculations, and recycling storage;
• heritage resources on and next to the site, ridges, and areas that an approved environmental impact assessment identifies as non-developable;
• how the design responds to universal access, safety, resilience and low-carbon development.

Three provisos reduce resubmissions (cl 39(7)). Later amendments or additions to buildings that the Council does not regard as a material deviation, and minor amendments to the approved plan of a freehold cluster development, may be considered on a building plan. A change to internal layout may not need an amended plan, unless the use changes and floor area is added. A dwelling house with subsidiary dwelling units under clause 21 needs no site development plan (cl 39(2)(a)).

Parking

Outside Residential 1, each dwelling unit already needed one covered parking bay. The cover must now be of non-permeable material, which rules out shade netting. The amended sub-clause also excludes social and inclusionary housing from the covered-bay requirement (cl 36(9)).

A roofed bay counts towards coverage where a shade-net bay does not, so a scheme at its coverage limit that planned shade-net carports is affected.

One bay for people with disabilities must now be provided for every 25 bays, or part of 25 (cl 36(2)). Parking may not be placed in the road reserve unless a site development plan approves it (cl 36(11)).

Roofs and solar panels

The 2018 definition of height already counted rooftop plant as a storey, unless it sat within the roof or behind a parapet no higher than 2 metres. Solar panels have been added to that list. Behind such a parapet, they count as part of the top storey. Where a building already has the storeys its height zone allows, an additional storey needs the Council’s consent under the By-law, not written consent (cl 28(3) and 40).

How this applies to panels fixed to a pitched roof is an open question; see section 5. Clause 11 protects legally existing buildings, though alterations and additions must comply.

Other changes, topic by topic

Source: Glensburg Town Planners, comparing the 2018 text with the amended text published on 24 June 2026.^{1, 4}

Clause numbers that moved

A new clause 47, on transitional informal settlement areas, added one to the number of every clause after it. That clause is outside the scope of this Briefing. Documents that cite clauses 47 to 51 by their 2018 numbers now point to the wrong clause.

Source: City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme, 2018, and the scheme as amended 2025.^{1, 4}

Sub-clauses were also renumbered within clauses 22, 26 and 36, and the paragraphs of clauses 39(8) and 52(1) were re-lettered, so pinpoint references need checking as well. The restriction on building near rivers, formerly clause 49(3)(b), is now in clause 50(3)(a). The By-law still refers to the open space categories in clause 49, which now deals with heritage, as noted in Briefing 2026/01.

What did not change

The list of 37 use zones, the floor area ratios in the scheme’s Table 6 and the street building lines in its Table 7 read as they did in 2018. So does clause 21 on subsidiary dwelling units on Residential 1 erven. The heritage clause is unchanged in substance, as is clause 3 on commencement apart from one cross-reference.

Existing buildings and uses keep their protection. Legally existing buildings are not affected by provisions that would otherwise make them illegal, though alterations and additions must comply (cl 11). A use that is contrary to the scheme remains an existing use right if it was permitted under “the previous planning legislation” and lawful under the National Building Regulations. The right is lost if the use is altered in any way or ceases for 12 months (definition of “existing use”).

Two provisions that predate the amendment also remain. One is written consent, which can still be sought for additional coverage and floor area ratio, within limits (cl 31(4)(b) and 33(1)(a)); see Departures and Permissions.

Parking Zone B is the other. Within 500 metres’ walk of PRASA, Gautrain and BRT stations, and in the other areas clause 36(5) lists, many ratios are halved: offices need two bays per 100 m² instead of four (the scheme’s Table 8).

3. Who is affected

• Developers and owners of Residential 3, 4 and 5 land, and of freehold cluster sites: on the wording of clause 27, the building envelope controls housing unless the erf’s own documents say otherwise, and the cap of 30 units per hectare on freehold cluster developments is gone.
• Buyers and owners of land beside a river or stream: the buffer may be wider than the 30 metres that applied before.
• Anyone building more than one storey on residential land or beside it: the 2-metre side and rear space applies, including on erven in other zones that adjoin residential property.
• Anyone assembling land: erven that differ in height zone, density or conditions may need a rezoning before consolidation.
• Architects and applicants: site development plans must show more, each dwelling unit’s covered parking bay outside Residential 1 needs a non-permeable cover, and solar panels count in the definition of height.
• Owners of Residential 3 and 4 land and of Business 1 land: a new hotel or warehouse needs consent. The position of an existing one is an open question; an existing use right lasts only while the use is not altered and does not cease for 12 months.
• Homeowners and small operators: home enterprises may be larger, boundary walls above 1.8 metres need building plans, and the definitions of commune, boarding house and bed and breakfast have changed.
• Owners in the areas named in Table 1: five former-scheme zonings convert to zones of this scheme, and Lehae and parts of Southern Farms join the dolomite areas.
• Anyone who cites the scheme: five clause numbers have moved, and sub-clauses with them.

4. What to do now

1. Cite the amended scheme. Use its 2025 clause and sub-clause numbers, taken from the City’s copy, and check older documents that cite clauses 47 to 51.
2. Start with the erf’s own documents. An annexure or schedule overrides the general clauses where they conflict (cl 6(2)(b)), and the title deed can restrict the erf further.
3. Have land beside a river or stream checked. Which buffer applies is not settled, so do this before an offer is signed; see section 5.
4. Plan the envelope early. The 2-metre side and rear space, non-permeable covers to parking bays and rooftop solar panels all bear on it.
5. Have every erf checked before you assemble land. Different height zones, densities or conditions may now mean a rezoning before consolidation.
6. Allow for a fuller site development plan. Clause 39(8) applies in full unless the Council asks for less.
7. Have an existing use checked. Where the scheme no longer permits a use as of right, the position of an existing one is an open question; see section 5. An existing use right lasts only while the use is not altered and does not cease for 12 months.
8. Have pending applications and unused approvals checked. The transitional clause was not rewritten for the amendment; see section 5.

5. What we don’t yet know

The amended text leaves several questions open. We will record the answers here as they are settled.

1. The buffer along rivers and streams. Clause 50(3)(a) lists 30, 32 and 50 metres without saying which applies where, and its closing words can be read as selecting 50 metres or as leaving the distance open. The clause’s headings refer to wetlands, but it sets no separate wetland distance.
2. Density on the B series maps. Clause 27(1) still ties the number of dwellings to the scheme’s Table 3 and the B series maps, which remain in force. The scheme does not say how a density shown there for a Residential 3, 4 or 5 erf sits with clause 27(2), or which “other instances” clause 27(4) covers.
3. Which commencement date. Clause 3 was not rewritten for the amendment. It makes earlier consents and rights lapse unless exercised within 24 months of the scheme coming into operation (cl 3(2)). It deals with pending applications under the scheme that governed them when submitted, “as far as it is not in conflict with” this one (cl 3(4)). The definitions of “fixed date” and “commencement date” both refer to the date the scheme came into operation. The amendment wrote 1 February 2019 into clause 12(3) as the fixed date. The 2026 notice brings the amended scheme into operation on 1 July 2026, and clause 3 itself refers to the date the notice of adoption is published, which was 24 June 2026. The text does not say which date governs these provisions, or the definition of an existing building.
4. Existing uses that now need consent. The definition of “existing use” protects a use that was permitted under “the previous planning legislation” and lawful under the National Building Regulations. Clause 12 deems consent to have been granted for buildings lawfully erected and used under the schemes this one replaced. Neither says whether that reaches a use lawfully established under the 2018 text, such as a hotel on Residential 3 land.
5. Solar panels on roofs. The definition of height counts solar panels on top of a building as a storey, unless they are within the roof or behind a parapet. It does not say how that applies to panels fixed to a pitched roof.
6. Side space beside “a residential property”. Clause 14(12) does not say whether that means land zoned residential or land used for housing.
7. Policies outside the scheme. The scheme relies on documents that are not part of it, including the Commune Policy and the stormwater design manual. Which version applies should be confirmed for each application.

6. Questions clients ask