General FAQ
- First time property owner
- Competent to contract i.e. over 21 years of age
- South African citizen
- Monthly household income not exceeding R3 500,00
- Married or habitually cohabits with proven financial dependents
- Not yet benefited from government funding
A policy on the TRANSFER OF PROPERTY BY A MUNICIPALITY WHERE A BENEFICIARY CANNOT BE FOUND is there to address such cases. The developer must make effort to trace the beneficiary and if the beneficiary cannot be traced, developer must provide proof thereof to the Department of Housing. The municipality takes charge of the property and rents it out at a reasonable rental. If the owner does not claim the house within a 8 year period, the municipality may expropriate the house and sell it to the next deserving and qualifying beneficiary.
DIVORCING & FORCED TO SELL PROPERTY
Normally when a marriage is terminated the assets of the marriage arrangements are divided by mutual agreement or by order of the court. This implies that if you had a house you would have received a benefit from the property when marriage terminated. If for some reasons this is not the case and lost everything, the MEC may after investigation decide to give you a new subsidy should you qualify in all other respects.
UNABLE TO PAY THE BOND
Assisted through rightsizing to a more affordable housing. Applicants qualify for relocation assistance under the Housing Subsidy Scheme. Assistance is through Servcon Housing Solutions. The cut-off date for non-performing loans is 31 August 1997. All defaulters that fall after this date cannot be assisted.
No. Foreigners are not catered for in terms of the qualification criteria.
Beneficiaries are generally advised to put their applications for housing within their municipal areas. There is no specific rule or policy that prohibits beneficiaries from applying outside their areas.
Yes, in-situ upgrade projects exist where beneficiaries' existing houses are demolished and new houses are built and infrastructure is installed.
The applicant may withdraw his/her application and request to have his/her name removed from the data base to allow his/her application to be approved in another area. This procedure can be followed provided that payment has not yet been made and transfer of the property to the beneficiary has not been effected.
No, in term of the policy, an applicant must not own a property.
The government does not approve funding for subsidised housing in a privately owned land, but will first negotiate with the owner to purchase land. A Land Availability Agreement will be signed between the land owner and the government before any housing development can commence.
Payment of services is seen as a vital component of an overall strategy to stabilize the housing environment. However the bigger municipalities do have Indigent Policies that caters for the indigents.
