Criteria for IRDP Housing

The Gans-Berg News received a letter of complaint from an anonymous client. Several accusations were made regarding IRDP Housing and the problems experienced by clients. The letter was sent to Aron Gcotyelwa, Acting Manager of Integrated Human Settlements and Development in the Directorate: Community Services at the Overstrand Municipality. Aron’s feedback clarifies several of these aspects. He can be complimented for his reaction and his excellent response - thank you! His feedback is based on the various accusations made. 

Qualifying criteria for IRDP Housing:

Formal houses will be constructed for residents who qualify for housing subsidies in terms of the National Housing Code 2009 criteria namely:

*Lawfully reside in South Africa. Certified copies of the relevant documents must be submitted with the application; *Are legally competent to contract (i.e over 18 years of age or legally married or legally divorced or declared competent by a court of law and sound of mind); *Neither the applicant nor his or her spouse has previously benefited from government housing assistance; *Have not yet owned fixed residential property; *Have previously owned fixed residential property but such a person may only qualify for the purchase of a vacant serviced site.

In addition to the above, the following criteria must also be satisfied: *Persons must be married or habitually cohabit; *Single persons must be financially dependent; *Single-aged persons, disabled persons and military veterans without financial dependants may be assisted. Aged persons refer to, must comply with the criteria on the age as defined by the Department of Social Development; *Households must earn a monthly income (R0.00 - R3500) in the range as annually approved; *Persons who have benefited from the Land Restitution programme and who satisfy all other relevant criteria may also be assisted.

The legislation that put restrictions on selling the IRDP houses and subsidies serviced sites is the Housing Act 107 of 1997. Section 10A and 10B of the last-mentioned Act prescribed that the “person(s) shall not sell or otherwise alienate his or her dwelling or site within eight years from the date on which the property was acquired”. However, no law prevents people from renting out their houses. 

In terms of Provincial Circular 10/2015, as amended, the following criterion must also be satisfied: An applicant must be registered on the housing demand database for a minimum period of three (3) years. Furthermore, it is articulated that registration date ordering refers to the process whereby all database entries considered eligible for the project component are arranged from the earliest registration date to the latest registration date, and households are selected as beneficiaries in that order. The selection process of the beneficiaries is subject to the following: *The household head(s) referred to above turn 40 years of age within the calendar year of selection of potential beneficiaries for a particular project. Exceptions: *A household is selected via the “quota for households affected by permanent disability”; *The household is selected for an Institutional or Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP) subsidy; *The municipality’s housing demand database no longer contains household head(s) being 40 years or older within the prescribed catchment area that meets the minimum registration period of three years; *In the case of (b)(iii) above the younger registered household head(s) from the housing demand database applicable to the catchment area should be selected within increments of five years in registration date order.

The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure, Human Settlements branch verifies and approves the subsidies based on the qualifying criteria as above-mentioned. The Gans-Berg News believes that this shortened information will be of great help to applicable community members, thanks to Aron Gcotyelwa. Further questions must be directed to the department.

Hardus Botha