Official documents · reviewed September 2026

    City of Cape Town planning documents

    Three documents govern a land use application in Cape Town: the Municipal Planning By-Law, 2015, which sets out how you apply; the Development Management Scheme, which is Schedule 3 to that by-law and sets out what each zoning permits; and the City's own application forms, which must be the current versions.

    The by-law has been amended in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2025. Working from a superseded version is a common cause of a file being returned, so every link below points at the City's own current page rather than at a downloaded copy.

    By-law and scheme

    • Municipal Planning By-Law, 2015, with the 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2025 amendments, and the Development Management Scheme (Schedule 3)

      Source - City of Cape Town - Planning portal, Regulations and legislations

      Open the document

      The City's own index page for the by-law and each amendment.

    • Municipal Planning By-Law, 2015 - full searchable consolidated text

      Source - openbylaws.org.za

      Open the document

      Easier to search by section than the City's PDFs. Cross-check against the City's page for the current amendment status.

    • Development Management Scheme

      Source - City of Cape Town - Planning portal

      Open the document

      Schedule 3 to the by-law. This is the document that says what each zoning category permits and what the development rules are.

    Application forms

    • Land use management application documents and forms

      Source - City of Cape Town - Planning portal, Applications and submissions

      Open the document

      Download the forms from this page on the day you lodge - the City revises them without a general announcement.

    The 2025 category renaming

    • Municipal Planning Amendment By-Law, 2025 - zoning category renaming, effective 1 October 2025

      Source - City of Cape Town - Online Zoning Viewer page

      Open the document

      "Single Residential 1: Conventional Housing (SR1)" became "Residential 1: Conventional Housing (R1)", with the same renaming pattern applied across the other SR and GR categories. The rights did not change - the labels did. Older reports, extracts and advice using SR1 still describe the same zoning.

    Related on Landlodz

    Not sure which of these applies to your property?

    A registered planner will tell you which scheme governs the erf, which document version is current and what the application actually requires - before you spend anything on it.

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    Reviewed September 2026. Municipal document locations change without notice. Entries marked pending are deliberately left unlinked rather than guessed - confirm those with the municipality directly.

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