Housing Opportunities

Depending in the circumstances of the applicant, various forms of subsidized housing opportunities exist within eThekwini Municipality.

Rental: 

Council stock - eThekwini owns and lets approximately 6000 rental units in Chatsworth, Isipingo, Landsdowne, Umkomaas, Wentworth, Merebank, Hilary, Lamontville, Newlands, Sydenham, Marianridge, Wiggins, Phoenix, Verulam, Tongaat, Westbrook and Umbilo.  Tenants have been encouraged to take advantage of the Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme to purchase their units at steeply discounted prices. Please contact your local rental office to enquire about taking ownership.

Social housing – the municipality facilitates the creation of subsidised rental stock by housing institutions.  This is aimed at households earning between R1500 and R20 000 per month, who either do not qualify for free housing, or prefer a more flexible tenure arrangement.

Community Residential Units (CRUs)- CRUs provide affordable rental accommodation for those households whose total income is between R800 and R3500 per month.  Many CRUs are situated within former hostels, which have been upgraded to secure family units with private sanitation and cooking facilities.

 Ownership:  All beneficiaries of ownership subsidies must meet the following criteria:
• Be competent to contract (ie: 18 years old or older, of sound mind)
• Be married, co-habiting or have dependants
• Have never received a housing subsidy from the state
• Have never owned property or land by means of a title deed
• South African citizen or have a permanent residence certificate

Breaking New Ground (BNG) / low income housing: BNG fully subsidized houses are for households whose total income is less than R3500 per month.  These houses are allocated to people from informal settlements, those living in overcrowded backyards, and to special cases including the disabled, child-headed households and military veterans. Informal Settlements are upgraded in-situ whereever possible, avoiding relocations.
 

Gap housing: For applicants whose total household income is above R3500 per month but below R20 000 per month, assistance is available in the form of the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP).  This subsidy is based on a sliding scale – the less your total household income, the greater the subsidy.  This subsidy provides a once-off down payment which is to be be used as a deposit to secure a mortgage / bond from a commercial bank.  The combined subsidy and bond must be spent on a property valued at no more than R300 000.  Applications for FLISP subsidies are made to the Provincial Department of Human Settlements:

• 031 336 5396 / 031 336 5262 / 031 336 5277 / 031 336 5285 / 031 336 5418.
• Visit the KZN Department of Human Settlements offices on the 11th floor, Eagle Building, 353–356 Dr Pixley KaSeme (former West street), Durban.   

Breaking New Ground / Reconstruction and Development Programme : Housing

• Between 1994 and 2014, more than 260 000 housing opportunities were created, at a cost of more than R9 billion.
• New housing delivery peaked around 2008 2010, with up to 15 000 houses being built per year.
• Funding availability currently supports the construction of 3000 5000 house per year.

Over the last 5 years, the eThekwini Municipality Human Settlements Unit has:

• Acquired more than 13 500 hectares of land for housing development
• Built 15 799 free homes for qualifying beneficiaries
• Transferred ownership of flats to more than 8000 occupants
• Upgraded or rebuilt 3053 pre 1994 housing units
• 1893 housing opportunities (ownership and rental) facilitated for the gap market (low middle income earners.
• Constructed 290 family units inside hostel precincts

Key challenges to this programme include:

• High cost
• Availability of well located land
• Impact of low density development: urban sprawl, environmental impact; high cost of travel
• Programme cannot keep up with the pace of urbanisation

Medium density

development

Cornubia Catalytic

Project

• Hostels / Community Residential Units

The 5 pronged strategy for Hostel / CRU management

• Social Housing

Social Housing aims to provide affordable rental opportunities in well located areas: close to work opportunities, social amenities like schools and clinics, and close to public transport routes.

Social housing projects are implemented by accredited social housing institutions (SHIs).Social housing is not free housing, and is not rent-to own.

SHIs with rental units in Durban are:

First Metro:https://www.nasho.org.za/members/first-metro-housing-company/

Sohco: https://www.sohco.co.za/

• Rental

eThekwini owns and lets approximately 6000 rental units in Chatsworth, Isipingo, Landsdowne, Umkomaas, Wentworth, Merebank, Hilary, Lamontville, Newlands, Sydenham, Marianridge, Wiggins, Phoenix, Verulam, Tongaat, Westbrook and Umbilo.  Tenants have been encouraged to take advantage of the Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme to purchase their units at steeply discounted prices. Please contact your local rental office to enquire about taking ownership.

• Background & Overview of eThekwini Metro
• eThekwini Metro is the economic hub of the Province with ever increasing demand for housing, the highest number of Informal settlements and Backlogs.
• The influx of people into the city increases pressure to provide proper human settlements.
• Urbanisation requires urgent strategies to deal with human settlements challenges.
• Housing is pre-dominantly undertaken through large scale Housing Projects. Projects are undertaken through 3 main Regions in eThekwini ie. North, South & West.

 Housing Backlogs

• Informal settlements: 287,000 h/hs

• Transit facilities: 9,000 h/hs
• Backyard shacks: 49,000 h/hs
• Traditional dwellings: 96,000 h/hs
• Estimated Total: 441,000 h/hs
• Total backlog = 1,6m people = approx. 42% of total Municipal population of 3,8m (assuming a household size of3,7people)
• Informal backlog = 27% of Municipal population
• Informal backlog =66% of total housing backlog

Strategy Emphasis of the Housing Sector Plan (asa Chapter of the IDP)

• Transit-oriented development (housing and economic dev along key public transport node sand corridors)
• Access to basic services for all (incl. Incremental Services to Informal Settlements)
• Freedom for the poor from the fear of eviction if residing in informal settlements earmarked for in situ upgrade
• Urban and suburban densification
• Focus on rental as well as ownership
• Supporting the affordable housing market and the integration of subsidised housing in to the property market

eThekwini Human Settlements Programmes

• Breaking New Ground–3000 to 5000 new fully subsidised houses per year. Allocated mainly to informal settlement residents (in-situ upgrading and relocation to Greenfields)
• Incremental Informal Settlement Upgrading–provision of pre-paid electricity meters, water and sanitation, roads and foot paths, waste collection and upgrading of ECD centres.
• Social housing – rapid expansion of social housing (affordable rental) underway in integration zones. Key lever for inner city regeneration
• Rental Housing – 5700 units being managed for low to middle income earners. Available for transfer to occupants under Enhanced Discount Benefit Scheme
• Gap Housing–Densification in suburban residential areas. Aimed at creating ownership opportunities for middle in come earners 
• Hostels/CRUs – maintenance and upgrading of existing hostel facilities as well as creation of family units within hostel precincts
• Refurbishment/rectification – repairs or re-building of pre-1994 housing in former townships
• Housing Engineering – connection of services to new housing units
• Title Deed Restoration - Infrastructure Handover, Retro fit of Infrastructure, Township Establishment to eradicate backlog of title transfer

How the Prioritised Programs help to achieve spatial and social transformation

• Background & Overview of eThekwini Metro
• eThekwini Metro is the economic hub of the Province with ever increasing demand for housing, the highest number of Informal settlements and Backlogs.
• The influx of people into the city increases pressure to provide proper human settlements.
• Urbanisation requires urgent strategies to deal with human settlements challenges.
• Housing is pre-dominantly undertaken through large scale Housing Projects. Projects are undertaken through 3 main Regions in eThekwini ie. North, South & West.

Housing Backlogs

• Informal settlements: 287,000 h/hs

• Transit facilities: 9,000 h/hs
• Backyard shacks: 49,000 h/hs
• Traditional dwellings: 96,000 h/hs
• Estimated Total: 441,000 h/hs
• Total backlog = 1,6m people = approx. 42% of total Municipal population of 3,8m (assuming a household size of3,7people)
• Informal backlog = 27% of Municipal population
• Informal backlog =66% of total housing backlog

Strategy Emphasis of the Housing Sector Plan (asa Chapter of the IDP)

• Transit-oriented development (housing and economic dev along key public transport node sand corridors)
• Access to basic services for all (incl. Incremental Services to Informal Settlements)
• Freedom for the poor from the fear of eviction if residing in informal settlements earmarked for in situ upgrade
• Urban and suburban densification
• Focus on rental as well as ownership
• Supporting the affordable housing market and the integration of subsidised housing in to the property market

eThekwini Human Settlements Programmes

• Breaking New Ground–3000 to 5000 new fully subsidised houses per year. Allocated mainly to informal settlement residents (in-situ upgrading and relocation to Greenfields)
• Incremental Informal Settlement Upgrading–provision of pre-paid electricity meters, water and sanitation, roads and foot paths, waste collection and upgrading of ECD centres.
• Social housing – rapid expansion of social housing (affordable rental) underway in integration zones. Key lever for inner city regeneration
• Rental Housing – 5700 units being managed for low to middle income earners. Available for transfer to occupants under Enhanced Discount Benefit Scheme
• Gap Housing–Densification in suburban residential areas. Aimed at creating ownership opportunities for middle in come earners
• Hostels/CRUs – maintenance and upgrading of existing hostel facilities as well as creation of family units within hostel precincts
• Refurbishment/rectification – repairs or re-building of pre-1994 housing in former townships
• Housing Engineering – connection of services to new housing units
• Title Deed Restoration - Infrastructure Handover, Retro fit of Infrastructure, Township Establishment to eradicate backlog of title transfer

How the Prioritised Programs help to achieve spatial and social transformation

What criteria must I fulfil in order to qualify for a RDP house?
All applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be a South African citizen or have a permanent residence certificate
• Married, cohabiting with a partner or single with dependants.
• Have never owned property.
• Have never received a Government Housing Subsidy.
• Be 21 years or older.
• Joint household income should not exceed R3 500 per month.

Can I sell my RDP house?
When you receive a fully subsidised house, there are certain conditions that come with the subsidy approval.
One of these conditions is that if you wan to sell the house within the first 8 years of receiving it, you must offer the house to either local or provincial government.  We can buy it back from you at the value of the subsidy.

Once the 8 years is up, you can sell the house as a private person. 
Any sale within the 8 years and without the permission of local and provincial government is illegal. 
Do not sell your house or buy and RDP house using an affidavit.  This is not a legal document and you are not protected if there is a dispute about ownership.

eThekwini Municipality does not sell RDP houses.  If someone asks you for money to secure allocation of a fully subsidised house, it is a scam.  Please report that person to the City Integrity and Investigation Unit on 0800 202020

When will my informal settlement be relocated or upgraded?

You can contact the Housing Unit’s Planning Branch on 031 311 3283 or your area Ward Councillor to enquire about the status of your settlement. You will need to provide the name of the settlement, the area in which it is located and the road or street used to access the settlement.

We need toilets in our informal settlement as there is no proper sanitation.

You need to liaise with your local Ward Councillor who will make representation on your behalf to the relevant department within the municipality.

I wish to sell my land to the municipality for housing development. What should I do?

Contact the Housing Unit’s Planning Branch on 031 311 3283.
Provide as much detail of the land as you can, including a cadastral description, street address, rate number and where it is situated.

Also provide your contact details including your telephone numbers. The Planning Branch will evaluate the land's suitability for housing development.

How do I go about making an application for a house?

The Housing Unit develops various types of projects for example, In situ upgrade, Greenfield, Social Housing (Rental), Rural, and so on.

The large majority of projects are:

In situ upgrade - Involves the upgrading of informal settlements where the land is suitable for development. Subsidies are allocated to existing residents and where certain residents are not accommodated due to them being in the way of services, they will be relocated to greenfield projects.
Greenfield - These projects are undertaken on vacant land. Given the fact that informal settlements have been identified as a high priority by National and Provincial Government, a large proportion of sites will be allocated to residents from relocation or upgrade projects. A portion of sites will be advertised in the local newspapers for the general public to access. The public will need to respond to such adverts by phoning in and making an appointment to fill in the relevant application forms.

Is my application that I made for a house years ago to the municipality, still valid?

In terms of a Council decision, housing waiting lists in the former Councils were scrapped with effect from November 19, 2002.

How do I apply for a reduction in my rent?

In order to qualify for a reduction in your rent, your household income must be less than R1 500 per month.  If there is no household income, an Affidavit is required.  Pensioners will need to produce their pension card. Your Identity Document and electricity account will also be required.

Is the municipality planning to provide rental housing for people in the middle income group?

No, but the municipality has provided assistance to Section 21 companies that develop and manage affordable rental housing (Social Housing).

What is the municipality’s policy on informal settlement on private land?

All informal settlements within the municipality have been captured on our database. An Informal Settlement Programme has been developed to address each and every settlement via an appropriate intervention and within a certain timeframe. This is irrespective of the ownership of the land.

I need repairs made to my council owned flat. What should I do?

You should contact the Supervisor in charge of your building who in turn will attend to the necessary repairs.

How do I apply for rental accommodation?

Rental units are in the process of being transferred to ownership.  Few vacant rental dwellings are available and these dwellings are allocated to priority cases, for example, disabled, chronic medical patients or exile prisoners.

I am disabled and need urgent accommodation. How do I apply for a house?

You will need to submit a detailed application to the Housing Unit, along with a Social Worker’s assessment and recommendation outlining the extent of your disability.

I am a tenant in a council flat.  I wish to purchase the flat.  What is the procedure?

Contact Housing’s renting offices close to where you live.  They will assist you and enable you to purchase your flat.