Set up by the City of Cape Town and the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) in 1999 the CTCHC has build R2 750 properties accommodating a total of 8 487 people. He said to date 800 of the owners in the project were fully paid up after three years, and had seen the value of their properties rise "dramatically" since they took transfer. He said property values in the areas of the Cape Flats where the houses had been built that were worth R200 000 three years ago were now selling for R420 000.
While houses in other areas might have seen better returns over the same period, the CTCHC owners had grown an asset from a base that "did not have the advantage of privilege, inheritance or access to commercial credit". While some of the new owners were selling their houses, others, he said were holding on to them, realising they may be worth in the region of R1million in the next three years.
In this way, the project was "making millionaires". Thus "a generation whose ancestors were excluded for more than 300 years from permanent city dwelling" were being "empowered by home ownership".
But despite growing riches for those who have honoured their payment contracts with the CTCHC, there are many who are dissatisfied with the project. Before Mudimu came on board in 2006, the company was dogged with sub-standard building, resultant non-payment by prospective owners and failure to transfer ownership to paid-up beneficiaries. As a result, the NHBRC was commissioned to do a full audit of the houses built and repairs to the sub-standard houses began four weeks ago, said Mudimu. He said a fund of R45million had been set aside for repairs. He acknowledged a lot of homeowners' anger had been justified. "Management scams, quality deficiencies, residents' marches and misunderstandings are part of our short history."
There have also been complaints from residents that they could not afford to pay the agreed loans to the CTCHC, or would not pay until construction defects had been fixed.
Chairperson of Newfields residents association, one of the CTCHC projects, Gary Hartzenberg, said some beneficiaries, who were in arrears with the CTCHC, chose to sell their house at a reduced rate in order to pay their debt.
However, Mudimu said anyone who could not afford to pay what they owed the CTCHC should approach them and a financial plan could be worked out. – Steve Kretzmann
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How on earth do people who are beneficiaries in a low-cost housing project (one would assume people of limited means) pay off a house "worth R200k three years ago" in three years? – Geoff Wright
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