The City of Cape Town’s Human Settlements Directorate as well as the Western Cape Government held a housing workshop today, 14 March 2022, in Delft. The aim was to engage residents on the various forms of accommodation assistance available for those who do not qualify for State-subsidised Breaking New Ground (BNG) housing and to drive awareness around a new development surrounding the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy (FLISP). From 1 April 2022, people who in the past could not qualify for FLISP, due to them not qualifying for a home loan or mortgage, will now be able to use the FLISP for households with an income of R3 501 – R22 000 per month. It is no longer linked to the mortgage requirement.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Malusi Booi, attended the workshop to assist residents with the ins and outs of the public housing programmes and the new FLISP development.

‘The selection of beneficiaries for all City housing projects is done in accordance with the City’s Allocation Policy and the City’s Housing Needs Register to ensure that housing opportunities are allocated to qualifying beneficiaries in a fair and equitable manner. This is because the housing need in our urban centres is acute. It is important to emphasise that residents who do not qualify for State-subsidised BNG housing should also consider potential site and service options, Gap housing and social housing projects as well as accessing the FLISP assistance. Sometimes residents are not eligible for BNG housing due to a number of reasons, such as having owned property previously or having a household income that exceeds the threshold of R3 500 per month. The change to the FLISP subsidy is a big step in the right direction as we look to increase the affordable accommodation offering in Cape Town and make the housing space more inclusive to people who earn up to R22 000 per month. This step is in line with our Human Settlements Strategy that advocates for a more diverse, innovative and partnership-driven approach to the delivery of more affordable accommodation options for residents,’ said Councillor Booi.

Source: City Of Cape Town