Housing in Southern Africa November 2015

News

UK addresses housing backlog

C ameron promises that the initiative will give social hous- ing tenants the opportunity to build a stake in society, and 1,3million householders will receive substantial discounts if they opt to buy. Reacting to the Prime Minister’s speech, Martin Clark, Deputy CEO of Allia, a social profit organisation that funds people, projects and housing developments said: “Allia agrees that it is important to encourage people to build a stake in society. But it is already widely accepted that a discount of 20% from market values - whether for sale or rent - does not do enough to assist those on lower incomes, especially inmore expensive parts of the country. The only way for government to create genuinely affordable housing is firstly to make public land available at a cost which I n sectional titles schemes, if the necessary precautions are not taken or if the installation is not done properly, this could affect other residents negatively. Residents con- sidering gas must remember that the installation must be done by a certi- With the rising costs of electricity many people are becomingmore conscious of alternative energy solutions and many have opted for gas. Gas installations in sectionals

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that government will give tenants of government housing the right to buy their homes from next year.

need to be available on a ‘rent to buy’ basis as well as outright purchase, in order to empower those who cannot yet make the jump to 80% of market prices.” ■

allows low income families to start on the property ladder; and secondly, to create a planning category that zones such public land for new affordable housingdevelopments. Starter homes

fied professional. According to Mandi Hanekom of Propell sectional title finance company, a certificate of com- pliance must be issued to the owner of the residence after completion of a gas installation, modification, altera- tion or change of user or ownership. “This means that even if a certifi- cate was issued on the initial installa- tion, if any improvement or alteration has beenmade, a newcertificatemust be obtained,” said Hanekom. The rea- son for this being that there is always a risk of fire, which could cause damage to property and injury to residents. The certificate confirms that the installation is compliant with safety regulations and that the appliance and gas canisters are installed prop- erly, and inspected to be safe and

leak-free. The only people authorised to issue gas certificates of compliance are those as defined in the regula- tions. “Many sectional title bodies corpo- rate management rules will prohibit any owner or occupier from storing any material that is harmful, or will prohibit any dangerous acts on the property, and gas installations may in many cases be included in this risk. In turn, if there are ‘high-risk’ activities or installations on the property, the insurance premiums of the scheme might be increased, which the body corporate would want to avoid,” said Hanekom. When it comes to insurance, an ad- ditional concernwould be that if a gas installation is not compliant, then the insurance companywill not pay out on any claim. The financial implications for owners and the scheme itself can be disastrous. “Before any gas installation is car- ried out in a sectional title scheme, the insurance requirements (both homeowner and body corporate poli- cies) should be checked to ensure that there is cover if any gas related dam- age takes place,” said Hanekom. ■

November 2015