Often people fall for title deed scams when buying an RDP house . Scammers and criminals take advantage of those desperate for houses and post fake internet advertisements selling RDP houses .
Feast on some of the most important information on the aspects you need to know about selling and owning an RDP House .
What is RDP Housing ? Short for Reconstruction and Development Programme , RDP was birthed in 1994 for purposes of undoing the structural oppression of the apartheid era in low-income areas by means of eradicating informal settlements and enforcing ownership in the poorer areas . It aimed at providing access to water , electricity , housing and municipal services in previously disadvantaged communities . Subsidised housing is a programme of the RDP that intends to provide beneficiaries with an opportunity to acquire a house that is built and provided by government . These houses are referred to as RDP Houses .
According to The Department of Human Settlement , it is estimated that about three million RDP houses have been built and delivered to disadvantaged communities in South Africa .
For Who ? According to Department of Human Settlements the beneficiaries must meet the following criteria , but not limited to :
• be a South African citizen .
• be contractually capable .
• earn less than R3 500.01 per month per household .
• be a first time government subsidy recipient .
• be a first time home owner .
Owning & Selling an RDP House ? Upon receipt of the house RDP beneficiaries do not immediately become the full owners of such properties . A Title Deed is only issued by the Department of Human Settlement after 8 years being occupied by the benefiary . The reason behind this ; government discourages selling of RDP houses as this undermines government ’ s efforts of eradicating homelessness .
In terms of the Housing Act 107 of 1997 , a beneficiary may not sell the house within the first eight years of having taken occupation . In many instances , those beneficiaries who resort to selling their RDP house often find themselves homeless again , as result of selling their government provided house , they tend to return to shacks and informal settlements .
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine NOV 2021 31