Minister Tertuis Simmers officially opens the 1st deferred ownership show house

The Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure, Tertuis Simmers, recently opened the Show House of the first Deferred Ownership Development, also known as “Rent-to-Buy”, in Bredasdorp, Cape Agulhas. The Mill Park Development is the first Rent-to-Buy housing project in the Western Cape. This project is envisaged to create 106 affordable housing opportunities for residents of Bredasdorp and the broader Cape Agulhas municipal area. The day was marked with much fanfare as residents and various role-players gathered to view the first house of this project. 

Approved beneficiary Mrs Karen Van Rooy said, “I’m so excited for our own 3-bedroomed house. I just can’t wait for it to be built so we can move in.”

Minister Simmers said, “Many Municipalities are waking up to the reality that governance cannot be business as usual. As our people’s dreams and hopes are rising every year, government needs to find more innovative ways to meet those aspirations. With our national fiscus for the budget getting less and less, partnership is the bridge that as government we must build. We must facilitate the realization of our people’s dreams. When I talk of people in the context of human settlements, I talk about those that are on the housing demand database. We are a provincial government that makes decisions based on data at our disposal, which is why I chose Cape Agulhas. I saw a Council and Municipal administration that was willing to come to the table.” 

The project is aimed at prospective first-time homebuyers earning between R3 501 and R22 000 per month, who qualify for a  Help Me Buy a Home subsidy, also known as Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP). Applicants have the option to either purchase a home using the Help Me Buy a Home/FLISP subsidy, or to rent their home for a period of time before purchasing. Based on the applicants’ requirements, rental agreements will be finalised for a period of 6 to 24 months, during which time they will be assisted to improve their credit score. Once their score has been improved, applicants will be assisted to apply for a mortgage bond and the Help Me Buy a Home/FLISP subsidy, enabling applicants to purchase the home they have been renting.

This event follows the launch of the R55million budgeted project in June 2022. Since the sod-turning of the project in June 2022, 20 applications have been submitted to purchase a home in the development and 8 are approved for Rent-to-Buy.