Private estates have long said the fee they charge estate agents pays for training on estate rules, security on show days, website advertising and administration. The regulator sees a charge that limits which agent a seller is free to appoint.
According to the judgment, the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority told the court these fees run from about R5,000 to R50,000 a year. It gave two examples involving estates in the case. Copperleaf, it said, refused to issue levy clearance figures, which a seller needs before a transfer can go ahead, on sales by agents who had not paid its fee. Woodlands charged a private seller a R10,000 "penalty" for not using an accredited agent.
What the court actually decided
The Residential Communities Council, which represents 181 private estates, went to the High Court in Johannesburg for a declaration that charging agents this fee is not an undesirable business practice, the category of conduct the regulator can act against. On 20 October Acting Judge NS Krüger dismissed the application with costs.
The judge did not declare the fees unlawful. The council had not proved its case: it admitted that fees differ from estate to estate, no member estate filed a supporting affidavit, and an application seeking blanket relief, in the judge's words, "is fraught with risk". Louis Kruger, a conveyancing attorney who wrote a legal note on the judgment, calls it "narrower than the headlines may suggest".
The risk now sits with the agent
The judgment still leans one way. Depending on the facts, the judge found, these fees may limit buyers' and sellers' choice of agent, push up costs and put "yet another hurdle" in front of new agents, which he said "is exactly the mischief" the authorities want to curb. He also said agents who pay the fee may well fall foul of the rules themselves. In the attorney's reading, if the regulator cannot reach an estate, "it can still reach the agent", with consequences that include losing the Fidelity Fund certificate an agent needs to trade.
Enforcement may still be on hold. In November 2025 the regulator suspended enforcement of the rules on estate accreditation until a final court order that can no longer be appealed, and the council still has time to seek leave to appeal. By Monday the regulator had not confirmed whether the suspension still stands.
