1. Why take part in the People's Housing Process?


2. How does the People's Housing Process work?


3. Who can take part in the People's Housing Process?


4. How do I become part of the People's Housing Process?


5. What documentation must I supply to become part of the People's Housing Process?


6. How is the Housing Subsidy paid out?


7. Will I have to pay anything in?


8. Will I have to pay anything back?


9. Where can I find out more information?

As a rule, houses built through the People's Housing Process are larger (36m²) than those built by the council (30m²). This is because, by contributing labour, the money that would have been used to pay someone else to physically build the house can instead be used to buy more building materials.

Taking part in the People's Housing Process also teaches beneficiaries skills such as project management and building. These skills can be used to get a job after the project is finished.

There are roughly five steps to the People's Housing Process:

Step 1: Recruiting by a Facilitator
An accredited Facilitator (or a municipality) recruits people who are eligible for a Housing Subsidy and helps them form a People's Housing Process group. The ideal number of households in a People's Housing Process group is 200+.

Facilitators are not state employees but rather independent agents who have been trained by the state in the People's Housing Process. Facilitators should be able to answer all questions their beneficiaries may have and act as representatives of beneficiaries to the State. Facilitators are paid R144 for each eligible beneficiary they sign up.

Step 2: Electing a Support Organisation
The People's Housing Process group elects about 10 people to represent them in a Support Organisation. The Support Organisation is responsible for managing the building project, from ordering materials to making sure that each phase of the project is completed on time.

Once the project is approved, the members of the Support Organisation are given a project-management course and paid a small salary from an Establishment Grant through the course of the project.

Step 3: Submitting a business plan
The Facilitator and Support Organisation draw up a business plan, including floor plans for the various houses and a list of beneficiaries, which is submitted to the local municipality and the Department of Local Government and Housing for approval.

Step 4: Paying out of subsidies in instalments
If the municipality and Department of Local Government and Housing approve the business plan and the subsidy beneficiaries, the Department will pay out an initial instalment to an Accounts Administrator appointed by the Support Organisation. The Accounts Administrator is usually an accredited accountant or financial company.

Step 5: Training of Support Organisation and builders
Before building begins, members of the Support Organisation have to attend a basic project-management course to help them complete the tasks that lie ahead.

The Support Organisation must also identify a number of unemployed, unskilled people from the People's Housing Process beneficiaries to go on a compulsory 60-day house-building course to teach them skills such as carpentry, bricklaying and plumbing. The course participants must agree to work on the project until it is finished. After that, they can use the certificate they receive to find a job.

Step 6: Building begins
Once the basic organisational infrastructure is in place, the Support Organisation can start ordering materials and building can begin.

As a rule, you are eligible for a Consolidation Subsidy if ALL of the following statements are true:

1. I am married or cohabiting with a long-term partner. (If you are married or cohabiting, it does not matter whether you have financial dependents or not.)
   OR
   I am single or divorced with financial dependents.
2. I am a South African citizen
   OR
   I have a South African Permanent Resident's Permit.
3. I am over 21 years of age
   OR
   I am under 21 years of age and married or divorced with financial dependents.
4. I am of sound mind.
5. My gross monthly household income is less than R3 500.
6. I have received a grant of serviced land from the state under the previous dispensation
   OR
   I have bought or inherited a serviced piece of land.
7. My family and I will live in the home built with the subsidy.

To find out if there is a Facilitator recruiting in your area, call Myezo Nqentsu on (021) 483 4966 or contact your nearest municipal offices.

1. A copy of your bar-coded South African ID, that of your partner or spouse, and the birth certificates of your financial dependents. (See Applying for a Birth Certificate if you have lost your dependents' birth certificates.) Please note that you will be asked to provide the ID numbers of your financial dependents.
   OR
   A copy of your Permanent Residency Permit if you are not South African, plus those of your partner or spouse and dependents.
2. Your marriage certificate, if you are married
   OR
   Your divorce decree, if you are divorced with financial dependents.
3. A recent payslip (less than six months old) as proof of income.
4. Proof of ownership of the property (title deed). If you have lost your title deed, you can get a new one, at a nominal charge, at your local municipality or at the Deeds Office at 90 Plein Street, Cape Town.

Payments are made in instalments, based on the progress made in a project. If a project fails to meet a building target, funds will be held back until the target is met.

• The drawing up of the house plan (each beneficiary has the option to design their own house, based on what they can afford to pay in for)
• Approval of house plans by the municipality
• Connection of municipal services eg. electricity and water
• Labour, if you are unable to build your own house or enlist the help of friends or family to help you
• Any extras (if, for example, you want a larger house or another toilet installed).

NOTE Beneficiary contributions have to be paid in full before the Housing Subsidies will be paid to the Accounts Administrator.