I applied for an RDP house in 2006 and I'm still waiting. What do I do?

The long answer

Thank you for your letter about applying for RDP house in 2006 and still waiting.

It does take a very long time to get an RDP house, but you can check how far you are on the waiting list using this Housing Hotline number: 0800 146 873 or enter your ID number on the Online Housing Subsidy Portal.

As we're not sure exactly where you live, this is a list of municipality phone numbers where you can ask about your application:

Gauteng: 011 355 4000

Western Cape: 079 769 1207 (Please Call Me)

Eastern Cape: 043 711 9901/2/3

KwaZulu Natal: 033 392 6400 or 033 3365300

North West: 018 388 5403

Limpopo: 015 284 5000

Northern Cape: 053 830 9422

Free State: 051 405 3883

Mpumalanga: 013 766 6087

Here is some information on RDP houses from a Groundup article which you may find useful:

Government subsidy housing (commonly known as RDP houses)

These are houses that have been built by the government and are given to low income families. Government Subsidy houses are owned, not rented, by beneficiaries.

To qualify for an RDP house you must meet the National Housing Subsidy Scheme criteria. This means you must be:

• A South African citizen
• Over 21 and mentally competent to sign a contract
• Married or living with a partner, or single and have dependants (single military veterans or aged people without dependents also qualify)
• Earn less than R3,500 per month per household (so if two people in your family earn and these earnings amount to more than R3,500 per month you will not qualify)
• A first time government subsidy recipient
• A first time home owner

If you are disabled you are supposed to be given preference and your house is supposed to be adapted to meet your needs.

To apply for a government Subsidy house take the following documents to a provincial office of the DHS, or your municipal offices:

• Applicant and spouse’s identity documents (green book or ID card)
• Certified copies of birth certificates of children
• Proof of income if working, e.g. salary slip

You will be asked to fill in a housing subsidy application form. Depending on your province or municipality, you will then be registered on the National Housing Needs Register or your Municipal Housing Demands Database. This is a “waiting list”. Once the project is finalized and the houses built, you will be given keys and a title deed to your home, but it can take many years.

It is illegal to sell an RDP house before you’ve lived in it for eight years. It is illegal to rent out an RDP house.