Cape Town - Tenants in areas like Hangberg, Sakkiesdorp in Lavender Hill, Diep River and Lotus River will now be able to own the properties they have been renting for decades, after the City agreed to transfer them at no cost to the occupants.
The City owns about 7500 saleable community rental units, 12 000 delayed transfer units and 1 500 serviced sites that can be sold and transferred to eligible tenants.
As part of the approved No Cost Transfer Programme, the City said it would approach the provincial and national authorities to deviate from the national housing code provision forcing beneficiaries to settle outstanding debts on a property before ownership could be transferred.
It said it would fund the payment of transfer fees on behalf of beneficiaries, and fix these fees at R2 500 regardless of the property value. It would also write off rental and municipal services arrears on rental units where these were in excess of the relevant national housing subsidy.
Addressing the council on Thursday, Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said previously the City had allowed tenants to buy their council homes, but they needed to pay half of the transfer costs themselves, which he said could be prohibitively expensive, resulting in low uptake.
Hill-Lewis said at least 7 500 units were ready for the tenants to own because they were single residential units or maisonettes. He said the council approval would unlock the ownership transfer of 1 500 units before June next year.
He said this was a big policy shift that would have a far-reaching impact for generations to come, as some of these families had lived in these homes for decades.
“Our goal is for all our residents to be able to enjoy the dignity of a home,” Hill-Lewis said.
“Apartheid moved people to the distant corners of South Africa’s cities and entrenched intergenerational poverty by taking away people’s homes and stopping them from saving, owning assets and passing them down to their children,” he said.
FF Plus councillor Paul Jacobson said the province faced a massive housing crisis and that the party supported endeavours to support the promotion or supply of housing.
However, Jacobson warned authorities that in allocating these units they must not further burden the tenants in terms of maintenance and other expenses involved. He also cautioned against fraudulent or corrupt behaviour of “jumping the housing list".