Court Orders Buyers to Pay 1.14M NIS Over Hod HaSharon Duplex Split Delay
A Kfar Saba court ordered four apartment buyers in Hod HaSharon to pay 1.14 million NIS to a developer for illegally opposing a duplex split, causing a 67-month delivery delay.
A court in Kfar Saba has partially upheld a lawsuit filed by a contracting company against apartment buyers in Hod HaSharon over their refusal to allow a duplex to be split into two separate units. Judge Ronen Peleg ruled that four of the defendants breached their contractual commitments not to oppose the plan, causing a 67-month delay in property delivery. The lawsuit against two other buyers was dismissed.
The legal saga dates back to the previous decade when the company sold a seven-room duplex on HaShahar Street in Hod HaSharon. Simultaneously, the developer committed to splitting the apartment into two four-room units and obtaining the necessary approvals within two years of delivery. Infrastructure adjustments were made accordingly. In April 2014, a split application was submitted to the local planning committee, but several building residents objected despite prior commitments in their purchase agreements not to block such changes.
In January 2016, the committee acknowledged no planning flaws existed but rejected the application due to neighbor opposition. The duplex buyers turned to court, and in 2018 it was ruled that some objectors had indeed given irrevocable consent. The developer was forced to initiate a new licensing process, and the split permit was finally granted in July 2021, with the units delivered in October 2021—over 5.5 years late.
Financial Claims and Court Ruling
The contracting company originally sought approximately 2.36 million NIS, arguing that neighbor obstruction forced it to pay heavy delay compensation to the duplex buyers, alongside covering municipal taxes, building management fees, and other expenses. The defendants claimed they were not at fault and that the company should have restored the property to a single duplex.
Judge Peleg rejected the argument that the property should have been reverted, noting that such a step would be irrational and entail massive financial costs. An engineer estimated those reversion works at approximately 570,000 NIS.
"The split request was rejected solely as a result of their opposition, so they should have expected that their actions would frustrate the application and create severe difficulties in completing and delivering the property, along with all associated costs."
Ultimately, the court ordered four defendants to pay 1,143,773 NIS, mostly covering the compensation the developer paid for the prolonged delivery delay. Additionally, 197,935 NIS was awarded for legal fees and court costs, while settlements reached with other defendants totaling 165,000 NIS were deducted. Meanwhile, the claim against two other residents was dismissed, and the company was ordered to pay them 60,000 NIS plus VAT in legal fees.
