Owners of units in some Johannesburg apartment blocks hit with a big increase in their council bills after their properties were rezoned and revaluated have teamed up to challenge the council in court, according to a Business Day report.

Previously the city had billed them a flat rate of R250 a flat and R500 for multi-dwelling properties.

They claim their properties were revalued to be worth more than the market price, thereby allowing the council to charge them higher rates. The property revaluations drive, which started in 2017, has drawn thousands of complaints from residents and businesses who argue that the city is inflating their property values to boost its flagging income.

The metro has said the increases or fluctuations in valuations stemmed from properties being improved, market increases and upgrades in data collection processes ‘relating to updated information on properties’.

Chantelle Gladwin-Wood, a lawyer representing a number of clients objecting to the council’s revaluation of their property, said the process has led to a number of ‘horror stories’.

She said most clients were from Killarney but were not limited to any specific area.

‘We have been approached by a number of people. We came up with a special agreement with them that we are going to help all of them at the same time by putting all their cases together,’ Gladwin-Wood said.

She noted one of her clients, the owner of a block of flats in Sandton, found itself owing the municipality R300 000 on a rates bill.

‘This building is definitely a block of flats, it’s not multi-dwelling. But then the municipality comes and says "You are multi-dwelling, I’m going to change (you to that)" We’ve got to fight them because they are billing all of us wrongly. This billing is just a big mess,’ she said.

Full Business Day report (subscription needed)