During today’s housing drive, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi, encouraged residents to register with the housing database, check their status and to update their personal details so that qualifying beneficiaries can be informed of available housing opportunities.

The initiative was arranged by the local ward councillor, Franchesca Walker, in partnership with the City’s Human Settlements Directorate. The event was also attended by the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.

‘The purpose of the housing drive initiative is to educate our residents about the City’s processes and answer the community’s questions related to the housing database and housing opportunities so that they are empowered with the necessary information to make informed decisions.

‘Residents are encouraged to register with the City’s housing database in order to be considered for housing opportunities that become available. Beneficiaries of all City housing projects are allocated in accordance with the City’s Allocation Policy and the housing database to ensure that housing opportunities are provided to qualifying applicants in a fair, transparent and equitable manner, and to prevent queue-jumping.

‘Furthermore, it is important for our residents to be informed of the processes that need to be followed to be considered for various housing opportunities and also advised on the various types of housing opportunities available to them, such as State-subsidised Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses, social housing, community residential units and GAP houses. The types of housing opportunities available to applicants will depend on the criteria that they meet, such as their income bracket and whether they owned property before or have dependents, among others.

‘For example, for State-subsidised BNG houses, beneficiaries need to have a combined monthly income of up to R3 500 and should never have owned property before, among other criteria,’ said Councillor Booi.

Residents were reminded that applicants need to meet the following criteria in order to register with the housing database:

• be a South African citizen or permanent resident of South Africa
• be over 18 years old
• be married or be a co-habiting partner, or else have dependents (This does not apply to applicants over the age of 60 or who have disabilities)
• have a combined income of less than R3 500 per month to qualify for State-assisted housing
• never have owned a property before
• be competent to enter into a contract
• never have benefitted from a government housing subsidy before

 
‘Today was a great opportunity for me and the officials from the Human Settlements Directorate to listen to the residents’ questions and advise them accordingly. Residents are reminded that the advice and engagements are not limited to a housing drive. They can contact the City’s walk-in centre at 50 Wale Street in the Cape Town CBD or visit the City’s website for more details about the various types of housing opportunities.