Pretoria – After extensive consultations, Human Settlements Minister Connie September has presented the Rental Housing Amendment Bill to the National Assembly for debate.
The Bill seeks to find lasting solutions to human settlement challenges which is in line with the mandate of the department. Government views rental as one of the key programmes in the provision of housing opportunities.
Presenting the Bill this week, Minister September told the National Assembly that the Bill seeks to assist millions of South Africans who are in the rental market.
She noted that 20 years ago, the lessor and lessee relationship was characterised by ineffective and biased regulation as well as glaring inequalities.
“Government is conscious of the hardships faced by ordinary citizens who are threatened with arbitrary evictions, ludicrous rental increases, squalid conditions and the like.
“We seek to achieve a fair and equitable rental housing landscape to create sufficient housing opportunities to ensure that our people can live in dignity, and not be discriminated against unfairly or be subjected to unscrupulous transactions,” she said.
Among the proposals included in the amendments is that it would be mandatory for the lessor and lessee to enter into a written lease agreement and each local municipality would be required to establish a Rental Housing Information Office.
It would also be mandatory for each province to establish a Rental Housing Tribunal as opposed to the current arrangement where this function is left to the provinces to decide. This change is intended to make assistance accessible to as many people as possible.
The amendments would mean that the drafting of regulations and processes would be the responsibility of the minister to ensure uniformity and the minister’s powers would be broadened to enact regulations to include the setting of norms and standards in the rental market.
Minister September highlighted that the fact that the Bill was supported unanimously by all political parties in the House was indicative of the thorough consultative processes that had been followed.
The National Department of Human Settlement will be rolling out a comprehensive implementation plan that will see training and resources provided to municipalities.
“This will be to ensure that it gives meaningful effect to what the Bill seeks to achieve.” – SAnews.gov.za
