Applicants on the City’s housing database can be assured that the Housing Directorate’s allocation process is fair and equitable.

“Everyone wants a house and wants to be assured that, when it is their turn, they will not be denied occupation. This imposes a responsibility on the City’s Housing Directorate to develop a fair and equitable system of house provision and allocation,” says Executive Mayor, Alderman Dan Plato. “The City, in this and all other respects is committed to fairness, equity and public accountability.”

The database, which is used to administer the allocation process, has the names and personal details of 322 619 (as at 30 July 2009) people mainly located in Cape Town’s 223 informal settlements, backyards (informal dwellings affixed to formal structures) and in overcrowded conditions in formal housing or in hostel accommodation. It also records those applicants who have been assisted by the City with a housing opportunity; and those individuals whose applications have been cancelled.

Housing opportunities, in the form of rentals, ownership and/or a serviced site, are allocated in chronological order (first come, first served) to people on the database.

New RDP subsidised housing is awarded to applicants selected by a project steering committee according to the agreed selection criteria (usually area based) for that project. In most cases, applicants are normally selected from the immediate surrounding area, taking into account the split between overcrowded/’backyarders’ (people residing in informal structures attached to formal houses) and those resident in informal settlements. New tenants, transfer requests (for existing tenants), allocations for old age complexes and the selection of beneficiaries in certain new housing developments are governed by the directorate’s Allocation Policy (link to policy document), which is premised on the key principles of transparency, equity and the promotion of social cohesion. Gap houses, which facilitate home ownership for people in the R3500 to R10 000 income bracket, are allocated by the banks that fund them. Preference is given to those people who have been on the City’s housing database for lengthy periods.

Although anyone may apply to be on the housing database, they need to meet certain criteria in order to be registered.

To apply for an RDP subsidised house, which is allocated in date order to residents in the area in which the housing project is planned, applicants:

• must be South African citizens
• must be at least 18 years of age and legally able to contract
• must be married or single with financial dependants permanently resident with them
• must never have received a subsidy before for previously owned property
• the combined gross monthly income of the applicant and spouse cannot exceed R3500 per month

Checks are also undertaken to ensure that applicants (for rental or ownership options) do not have a criminal record and do not own any other property. Potential subsidy applicants are pre-screened by the Provincial Housing Department. Those who pass are required to apply for a subsidy, and are then subject to a full screening against the Deeds Office, the government’s employee payroll (PERSAL), UIF and the Department of Home Affairs.

The database is regularly audited to eliminate duplicate applications and ensure that the data is valid. Housing officials are mandated to ensure that the information is regularly updated, and held in its proper categories. The system, which differs from a straightforward list in that it integrates names for various housing opportunities, is web based and is only accessible to authorised housing officials.

Members of the public can check whether they are on the database by clicking here (http://web1.capetown.gov.za/web1/searchhwl/) and can e-mail housingdb@capetown.gov.za should they have queries.

The directorate sends information about the database via short message service (SMS) messaging to applicants who have registered their cell phone details. This is particularly useful where such individuals reside in informal settlements where there is no postal service. It is the applicant’s responsibility to keep his/her contact details up to date. The database is updated as and when applicants inform the City of their new details.