Western Cape Human Settlements doubles FLISP approvals

Since April 2020, to date, 3 695 Finance Linked Individual Subsidy (FLISP) applications have been approved by the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements (WCDoHS). The target for the WCDoHS was to assist a combined total of 1 800 FLISP applicants during both the 20/21 and 21/22 financial years, with each year having an allocation of 900. 

Further to this, during the 20/21 financial year, 1 032 of the 1 358 approvals were paid out, amounting to more than R 61,47 million. This means a backlog of 326 pay-outs still remains. For the current 21/22 financial year, 942 of the 2 337 approvals have been paid out at a cost of just over R 53 million. Here, 1 395 pay-outs still remain.

To address the backlog, the WCDoHS has entered into an agreement with the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) wherein they have agreed to avail funds for an additional 1 000 subsidies which must be taken up by the end of March 2022. The balance of the outstanding approved subsidies will be paid out in the new financial year.

Western Cape Minister of Human Settlements, Tertuis Simmers said: “The continued rise in demand to be assisted through FLISP confirms why our strategy in the Western Cape to focus on creating affordable housing opportunities is the correct one to follow. With more than 70% of our people employed, we understand that there are many that will never qualify for a fully state subsidised home, yet they still require some form of assistance from the State.

In an effort to accelerate and promote property ownership for the affordable housing market, my department has partnered with external role-players such as financial institutions, conveyancing attorneys and property developers, and granted them access to the Housing Subsidy System (HSS) which allows them to capture and monitor the progress of applications, which drastically improved the turnaround times for processing these applications. 

We have also submitted final input to the National Department of Human Settlements for the draft revised FLISP policy document and await the approval thereof. The revision seeks to delink FLISP from being a mortgage only option. This effectively means that a bond approval would no longer be the only requirement for the affordable housing market to access FLISP, but a number of varied and non-finance linked options would be on offer. 

I call on the National Department to finalise the policy review so that more residents can be assisted through FLISP. These are critical steps, particularly since we regard ownership as a true form of empowerment.”

FLISP is a subsidy that assists first time home buyers within the affordable housing market to become property owners. Households with an income between R3 501 to R22 000 may qualify for the FLISP subsidy if they meet all the qualifying criteria.

“As the Western Cape Government, we remain committed to accelerating human settlements delivery, while promoting social inclusion through the development of integrated, resilient, safe and sustainable human settlements in an open opportunity society,” concluded Simmers.