MINISTRY OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES (NCOP)
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO.: 78
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20 MARCH 2015
Ms T G Mpambo-Sibhukwana (Western Cape-DA) to ask the Minister of Human
Settlements:
What measures are in place to ensure that recipients of state-subsidised
houses do not sell the properties within the eight years outlined in the
policy guidelines? CW109E
REPLY
Section 10A of the Housing Act, 1997 (Act No. 107 of 1997) provides that
the subsidy financed property may not be disposed off by the beneficiary
for a period of eight years from the date on which he or she acquired the
property. This provision must be registered against the title deed of the
property and the Registrar of Deeds may not allow the transfer of ownership
registration to occur without the approval of the relevant MEC.
Beneficiaries of subsidy financed houses may therefore not sell or
otherwise alienate their properties within a period of eight years from the
date on which the property was acquired unless the property has first been
offered to the relevant Provincial Human Settlements Department.
The sale restriction clause can only be enforced in regard to formal sale
transactions between the beneficiary and a willing buyer. Where the
subsidy financed property is sold in an informal way and transfer of
ownership is not occurring, the sale transaction cannot be detected and
cannot be controlled or prevented, except where the sale transaction is
reported to the Provincial Human Settlement Department by a third party.
Most sale transactions are of an informal nature and are not detected.
It was in realisation of this challenge Honourable member that I have on
several occasions indicated that I will ensure that we have a credible
Housing Database. This will include cleaning the housing waiting list and
ensure that it is centralised to avoid double-dipping and related
challenges, and we prioritise the elderly and child-headed households. It
will also include conducting an occupancy audit of the houses built by
government and handed over to beneficiaries. We are interested in knowing
the extent of the challenge of houses sold illegally.
The Department has recently improved the so called âHappy Letterâ that is
signed by the beneficiary of a subsidy financed property on completion of
the construction of the dwelling to include an acknowledgement by the
beneficiary that the sale restriction clause is applicable and that the
property may not be sold within the first eight years.
Furthermore, the Department is engaged in consumer education programme to
further inform and educate the consumers on the policy and legislative
provisions applicable to the housing subsidy programme.
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