Title deed handover will open formal housing market

Human Settlements spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya says handing over of title deeds is a priority for the department and audit is underway to track down the rightful owners of government-subsidised properties. Image: Who's Who Southern Africa

According to the Department of Human Settlements, most of the title deeds will be handed over to owners of houses built by the government after 1994.

Many homes in the former black townships were built by municipalities and handed out as rental stock on a "permission to occupy" basis. About 200,000 of the title deeds are for such houses given to occupants prior to 1994, said the department's spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mabaya.

"The department has set aside R20m to complete the process of finding the beneficiaries of the housing units in townships across the country. The project is spearheaded by the Estate Agency Affairs Board," said Mabaya.

The department has commissioned an audit to establish the exact numbers of title deeds to be handed over.

"The audit is currently underway and very urgent. We set a deadline of December for the desktop audit. We think it can be done," he said.

Asked where most of the properties were located, Mabaya said unclaimed title deeds related to properties throughout SA. He singled out Johannesburg as having done the most in handing over documents to occupants of government-sponsored dwellings. Such occupants had been turned into owners.

"Johannesburg has 9,682 outstanding title deeds to be handed to beneficiaries," said housing spokesman Bubu Xuba. In the past five years, 117,543 deeds had been handed over.

The documents allow owners to use the property as collateral or sell although the department discourages recipients from selling their properties.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge