Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, has called on those who seek to buy a home or property for the first time to apply for the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP).
FLISP was introduced as one of the many government housing programmes to encourage home ownership for those who earn between R3 501 – R22 000.
In order to qualify for the subsidy, applicants must have been approved for a home loan by an accredited banking institution or a non-bank financial institution.
In a statement on Sunday, the Minister said government’s financial assistance for middle-income earners can be used as a deposit or to reduce the bond balance.
“The once-off financial assistance for qualifying beneficiaries ranges from R27 960 to R121 626, depending on the level of household income. We have designed this subsidy to assist low-income workers, both in the private and public sectors.
“I have directed the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) or Human Settlements Development Bank (HSDB) to make sure that they have a call centre and capacity to process all applications and to go on a roadshow to educate the public about this subsidy. This subsidy is to encourage home ownership [including] our teachers, factory workers, receptionists, nurses and police, among others,” she said.
R461m set aside for qualifying beneficiaries
The Minister added that a budget of R461million, which is expected to benefit 7 600 qualifying beneficiaries and leverage about R3.2 billion from private sector financial institutions, has been set aside for this financial year.
“Our resolve to restore the dignity of our people through human settlements goes beyond us giving fully subsidised houses to the indigent. We are also committed to responding to the housing needs of our middle-income earners through FLISP. We call on our people to seize this opportunity and apply for financial assistance,” Sisulu said.
During the 2020/2021 financial year, the Minister said, HSDB processed 2 815 applications and of these, 2 120 were approved with a total value of R111 million.
“This has triggered over R1 billion home loans [being] approved by different banking institutions on the back of R111 million. For the year, over R60 million has also been disbursed to 1 136 beneficiaries.”
Policy to benefit non-mortgage applicants
Meanwhile, Sisulu has expressed her satisfaction on progress made to develop policy to enable the non-mortgage applicants to benefit from the programme.
She said the programme is at an advanced stage, and is expected to be concluded in the next few months.
“This will see people mainly in the rural areas applying for financial assistance to add to their home loans to build their own homes.”
The Minister has also been informed that the NHFC is in the process of signing a number of service level agreements with banking institutions, as well as signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Banking Association of South Africa (BASA), once policy is approved in a few months. – SAnews.gov.za
