1) Government subsidy housing
(2) Community Residential Units
(3) Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme
(4) Emergency Housing Programme
(6) Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme.
(5) Social Housing
To apply for any of these, you have to register with your municipality or provincial Department of Human Settlements. You will need to be over 18, and either a South African citizen with an identity book or card, or a foreign resident with a permanent residency permit. Different housing projects are designed for different incomes and so you may also have to provide proof of your monthly income.
Depending on where you are, you will be listed on a Municipal Housing Demand Database or your province’s Housing Needs Register. When new projects are built you might be allocated housing. Remember to keep your proof of registration. If you move let the department where you applied know so they can find you if your house becomes available.
Note: allocation of government built houses is complex. Each municipality or province has different systems for housing allocation, and so the information here is only a guide of what is available and how to apply. Each municipality has its own system for appeals, but each province’s MEC is allowed to review applications on a case-by-case basis. If your application gets rejected, try contacting your MEC of Human Settlements for help.
Government subsidy housing (commonly known as RDP houses)
These are houses that have been built by the government and are given to low income families. Government Subsidy houses are owned, not rented, by beneficiaries.
To qualify for an RDP house you must meet the National Housing Subsidy Scheme criteria. This means you must be:
- A South African citizen
- Over 21 and mentally competent to sign a contract
- Married or living with a partner, or single and have dependants (single military veterans or aged people without dependents also qualify)
- Earn less than R3,500 per month per household (so if two people in your family earn and these earnings amount to more than R3,500 per month you will not qualify)
- A first time government subsidy recipient
- A first time home owner
If you are disabled you are supposed to be given preference and your house is supposed to be adapted to meet your needs.
To apply for a government Subsidy house take the following documents to a provincial office of the DHS, or your municipal offices:
- Applicant and spouse’s identity documents (green book or ID card)
- Certified copies of birth certificates of children
- Proof of income if working, e.g. salary slip
You will be asked to fill in a housing subsidy application form. Depending on your province or municipality, you will then be registered on the National Housing Needs Register or your Municipal Housing Demands Database. This is a “waiting list”. Once the project is finalized and the houses built, you will be given keys and a title deed to your home, but it can take many years.
It is illegal to sell an RDP house before you’ve lived in it for eight years. It is illegal to rent out an RDP house.
To check how far you are on the waiting list for a house call0800 146 873or go to your municipality’s website.
Note: There is a common misconception that individual ward councillors are involved with the allocation process. They are not! Ward councillors can tell you where to go and who to speak to so that you can register on the housing database, but a ward councillor is not involved in the allocation of houses and you shouldn’t pay a ward councillor to take up your case.