The request form
Start with the property
A town planning quote starts with the property. From its erf number or street address, a planner establishes what the zoning allows and which applications, if any, your plans will take.
Rather talk, or working to a deadline? Call +27 10 442 5522 or message us on WhatsApp, Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 17:00.
- Free, with no obligation
- A reply within one working day
- Fees itemised in writing
The form is not showing at the moment. Call +27 10 442 5522 or write to planning@glensburg.co.za, and a planner will reply within one working day.
Your details go to Glensburg (Pty) Ltd. We use them to assess your property and to reply to you. Your request is kept on our website and in Glensburg Studio, our client platform, which is hosted in the Netherlands. See our Privacy Policy.
Have these ready
- The erf number and township, or the street address
- What you want to build, change or use the property for
- Any date the matter turns on: a notice, a hearing, a transfer
- A document, if you have one: the title deed, a notice or a decision
No erf number? It is printed on your municipal rates account and in your title deed. A street address is enough to begin, and documents can follow to planning@glensburg.co.za.
What happens next
- Today You send the request The property, what you intend, and any date that matters.
- Within one working day A planner replies Usually with a short call, to confirm the facts.
- First consultation, free You know where you stand What the zoning permits, which applications the work needs, and whether they are worth making.
- Then, in writing Your quotation Scope, fees and programme, by email, with a link to accept it online.
Nothing is billed until you accept a written quotation.
Already a client? Ask for a quotation for new work from your dashboard in Glensburg Studio.
After the consultation
What a town planning quotation contains
A Glensburg quotation is a short document, not a single figure. It sets out the work line by line, and keeps what you pay us apart from what you pay others.
- The route Which applications your property needs, in the order they run, and why.
- Professional fees Our fee for the work, set out line by line.
- Disbursements What is paid to others on your behalf, such as the municipality’s application fee and the cost of notices.
- Specialist studies Any report the application is likely to need, such as a traffic or geotechnical study.
- The programme How long each stage usually takes, and what we need from you along the way.
It reaches you by email, with a link to Glensburg Studio, where you can ask questions on it and accept it by signing on screen.
Why quotations differ
What decides a town planner’s fee
Planning work has no price list, because no two properties ask the same of it. Six things account for most of the difference between one quotation and the next.
For what a rezoning costs, municipal fees included, see our rezoning guide.
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The applications it takes
A building line relaxation is a short motivation and a plan. A township establishment is a layout, a set of specialist reports and several authorities to satisfy. Most properties fall between the two, and some need two applications run together.
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The municipality it falls under
Every municipality has its own planning by-law, land use scheme and tariff of application fees. In Johannesburg that is the City of Johannesburg Municipal Planning By-law, 2016, as amended in 2023, the City’s Land Use Scheme, 2018, as amended 2025, and a tariff set afresh each July.
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What the title deed carries
A restrictive condition, a bond or an agricultural holding each adds a step, and a servitude can change the layout. What is registered against the land decides how many applications the work takes.
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Whether anyone objects
An application nobody objects to is usually decided by an official. One that draws objections generally goes to the Municipal Planning Tribunal, which means written replies, a hearing and more of a planner’s time.
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The specialist studies it needs
Traffic, environmental, geotechnical and services reports are written by other professionals and priced separately. We establish which ones the municipality will want before anything is lodged.
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Whether drawings are part of it
Where the work calls for a site development plan or building plans, our architects prepare them in-house, and the quotation shows them as their own lines.
Comparing quotations
Five questions to ask of any quotation
Two quotations for one property can differ because they cover different work. Before you compare the totals, check that both answer these.
- Are the municipality’s application fee and the notice costs shown, or added later?
- Does the fee run to the decision, or stop when the application is lodged?
- Is replying to objections included?
- Is a Tribunal hearing included, priced separately, or left out?
- Which specialist studies are assumed, and who pays for them?
By type of work
What we need to quote
The form is the same for every enquiry. What makes a quotation accurate is what you send with it, and that depends on the work.
| The work | Send with your request | What we establish first |
|---|---|---|
| Town planning | ||
| Rezoning Consent use Departures and permissions | The erf number, and the use, density or relaxation you have in mind. | Whether the scheme already allows it, with or without consent, before a rezoning is priced. |
| Subdivision Consolidation of erven | The erf numbers, and a sketch of the split or the join, however rough. | The minimum erf size, title conditions and servitudes that decide whether it can be done. |
| Removal of restrictive conditions Building line relaxation | The title deed, or a plan showing where the building crosses the line. | Whether the restriction sits in the title deed, in the scheme, or in both. |
| Township establishment Agricultural land subdivision Excision of agricultural holdings | The farm portion or holding, its extent, and what you plan to put on it. | Bulk services capacity, and which consents come before the municipal application. |
| Contravention notices Tribunal representation and appeals | The notice, the objections or the decision, and the date on each. | How much of the period is left, and what can still be done within it. |
| Architecture and design | ||
| Building plans preparation Building plans submission Site development plans | The erf number, your brief, and any approved plans you hold. | What the zoning allows in coverage, height, building lines and parking. |
| Retrieval of approved plans | The erf number, and the owner’s written authority if you are not the owner. | What the municipality holds on record for the property. |
| Property development | ||
| Development feasibility studies Planning due diligence | The erf number, the scheme you have in mind, and the date any due diligence period closes. | What the land is permitted now, and what would stop the scheme. |
| Sectional title development | The erf number, the approved building plans and the number of units. | Whether the zoning and the approved plans support the scheme. The sectional plans themselves are prepared by a land surveyor we brief. |
Not sure which of these is yours? Send the form anyway. Establishing the route is the first thing we do, and it is part of the first consultation.
Not answered here? Ask it in the form, or call +27 10 442 5522.
Rather talk it through first?
Not every question fits a form. Call or message us, and a planner will go through the property with you.
Ready after all? Back to the request form
What you can hold us to
- A reply within one working day From a planner, Monday to Friday.
- Nothing billed before you agree Work starts only on a written quotation you have accepted.
- A straight answer If your property does not need an application, we will say so.