As part of its commitment to being Caring and Well-Run, the City’s Human Settlements Directorate is modernising its Housing Offices in order to ensure that the best possible service is provided.
The modernisation process will see the following improvements put in place:
- Revamping Housing Offices and depots
- Equipping staff with new computers to ensure effective and efficient working conditions
- Face-to-face interaction from the moment the client walks into the office (this is one of the ways that the directorate is cultivating good relationships with tenants, communities and Councillors)
- Improvement of customer service at Housing Estate Offices
- Streamlining systems, policies and procedures to ensure consistency and fairness
- Eliminating backlogs in service delivery relating to transfer of tenancies, unlawful occupation, debt and indigent grant management, contravention of lease agreements, and anti-social behaviour amongst others
- House visits to establish any contraventions to the Agreement of Lease; update occupant circumstances and conditions of the dwelling; determine any ‘rent racking’ and the existence of informal structures. This will also further increase visibility of staff in housing estate areas
- Confirmation that lease agreements exist for all legal tenants to ensure compliance with and accountability to the conditions
- Addressing the need to manage the newly-upgraded City-owned rental units differently.
- An effective maintenance programme to ensure the sustainability of the public housing stock
“These interventions are necessary to improve service delivery within the directorate,” says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Ernest Sonnenberg.
“The directorate manages approximately 43 300 rental units, 21 203 home ownership agreements, 11 000 hostel beds, 11 old age complexes, 2 983 site and service plots and 200 special leases from 38 decentralised Housing Estate Offices, five Sales Offices and 16 maintenance depots across the city. Modernisation of our existing service was deemed a top priority in order to improve the services we provide to our clients.
“Implementing these interventions will not only assist us in offering efficient service delivery, improving control measures, instilling good governance and building good relationships, but will also increase revenue collection to the City,” he adds.
