Individuals who register on the National Housing Needs Register should meet the following criteria:

The total household gross income should not exceed R15 000 per month.

Neither the applicant nor his/her spouse should ever have received a housing subsidy of any form from the government before.

Neither the applicant nor his/her spouse should ever have owned a property before.

The applicant must be a South African citizen or have permanent residency.

The applicant must be over 18 years of age and can be married, widowed, divorced or single with dependents.

Title Deeds

A title deed is a legal document that describes the ownership of a property and includes information such as the size of the erf, building lines and servitudes on the erf in terms of the Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act 47 of 1937). Only conveyancers can transfer a property from a seller to a buyer.

When selling a government-subsidised house, the pre-emptive clause of the Housing Act, 1997 (Act 107 of 1997), which prohibits beneficiaries from selling their RDP house within an eight-year period, must be adhered to.

Costs associated with the transfer of a property

Stamp duty fee when buying a house that costs more than R500 000

Conveyancer fee

Transfer fee

When buying a house, look for the following in the title deed:

The name of the previous and present owner.

The price of the property.

If servitudes on the property are identified. (A servitude is a portion of the property that has been allocated for municipal service infrastructure or serves as a municipal service point.)

The title deed will specify if there are any conditions affecting the property, such as a pre-emptive clause.

NB: Do not use your title deed as collateral when borrowing money. (If you cannot afford the collateral, you may lose your house.)

NB: Do not buy a house without proof of a title deed.

Human Settlement Regional Offices