South Africa
Social Housing Act, 2008
Act 16 of 2008
- Published in Government Gazette 31577 on 5 November 2008
- Assented to on 1 November 2008
- Commenced on 1 September 2009 by Social Housing Act, 2008: Commencement
- [This is the version of this document from 5 November 2008.]
Chapter 1
Definitions and general principles applicable to social housing
1. Definitions
In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—"accreditation" means the screening, evaluation, provisional and final accreditation by the Regulatory Authority that will, amongst other things, allow a social housing institution access to grants available under the social housing programme;"approved project" means a social housing project in a restructuring zone approved by a provincial government pursuant to an application for capital grant funding to undertake the acquisition, development, conversion or upgrading of buildings for social housing;"capital grant" means the capital grant contemplated in the social housing policy;"Council" means the Council appointed in terms of section 9;"Department" means the National Department of Housing;"Director-General" means the Director-General of the National Department of Housing;"house rules" means the rules in relation to the control, management, administration, use and enjoyment of the property of a social housing institution;"Housing Act, 1997" means the Housing Act 1997 (Act No. 107 of 1997);"institutional investment grant" means one or more of the capacity-building grants contemplated in the social housing policy;"institutional investment plan" means a training and skills development plan which is a component of the social housing investment plan intended to ensure that social housing institutions acquire the expertise, skills and operational capacity to manage such institutions on a sustainable basis and produce and manage approved projects;"investment criteria" means the criteria against which the Regulatory Authority may make investments in social housing institutions;"lease agreement" means the standard lease agreement utilised by a social housing institution, and includes the house rules;"low to medium income households" means those households falling within the income categories as determined by the Minister from time to time;"maladministration" means non-compliance with this Act or a situation or condition indicating substantial financial, governance or management failure;"MEC" means the member of the Executive Council of a province responsible for housing;"Minister" means the National Minister of Housing;"Minmec" means a standing intergovernmental body consisting of at least the Minister and the MECs responsible for housing."National Housing Finance Corporation" means the National Housing Finance Corporation incorporated as a public company in terms of the Companies Act, 1973 (Act No. 61 of 1973);"national housing programme" means a programme contemplated in section 3(4)(g) of the Housing Act, 1997;"NHBRC" means the National Home Builders Registration Council, established under the Housing Consumer Protection Measures Act, 1998 (Act No. 95 of 1998);"other delivery agent" means an entity other than a social housing institution which may undertake an approved project, but excludes a provincial government or a municipality;"parliamentary committees" means the Portfolio and Select Committees of Parliament responsible for Housing;"prescribe" means prescribe by the Minister by regulation or prescribe by the Regulatory Authority in its rules, as the case may be;"provincial government" means a provincial government, acting through the MEC responsible for housing;"Public Finance Management Act" means the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999);"public funds" means the institutional subsidy or any other government subsidy utilised for creation of housing stock or any funding provided pursuant to this Act;"qualifying criteria" means the criteria applied by the Regulatory Authority for purposes of the accreditation of a social housing institution as prescribed by the Minister;"regulation" means a regulation under this Act;"Regulatory Authority" means the Social Housing Regulatory Authority established by section 7;"restructuring zone" means a geographic area which has been—(a)identified by the municipality, with the concurrence of the provincial government, for purposes of social housing; and(b)designated by the Minister in the Gazette for approved projects;"social housing" means a rental or co-operative housing option for low to medium income households at a level of scale and built form which requires institutionalised management and which is provided by social housing institutions or other delivery agents in approved projects in designated restructuring zones with the benefit of public funding as contemplated in this Act;"social housing institution" means an institution accredited or provisionally accredited under this Act which carries or intends to carry on the business of providing rental or co-operative housing options for low to medium income households (excluding immediate individual ownership and a contract as defined under the Alienation of Land Act, 1981 (Act No. 68 of 1981)), on an affordable basis, ensuring quality and maximum benefits for residents, and managing its housing stock over the long term;"social housing investment plan" means a corporate plan and budget as required by the Public Finance Management Act, comprising a capital investment plan and an institutional investment plan for the capital institutional and investment activity of the Regulatory Authority for purposes of the social housing programme;"social housing policy" means the official social housing policy as determined by the Minister in terms of section 3(2)(a) of the Housing Act, 1997;"social housing programme" means the national housing programme for social housing, instituted by the Minister in terms of section 3(4)(g) of the Housing Act, 1997;"social housing regulatory plan" means a corporate plan and budget as required under section 52 of Public Finance Management Act; and"this Act" includes the regulations, any rules, directives or instructions made under it.2. General principles applicable to social housing
Chapter 2
Roles and responsibilities
3. Roles and responsibilities of national government
4. Roles and responsibilities of provincial government
5. Roles and responsibilities of municipalities
A municipality must, where there is a demand for social housing within its municipal area, as part of the municipality’s process of integrated development planning, take all reasonable and necessary steps, within the national and provincial legislative, regulatory and policy framework—6. Roles and responsibilities of other role-players
Chapter 3
Social Housing Regulatory Authority
7. Establishment of Social Housing Regulatory Authority
8. Composition of Regulatory Authority
9. Appointment of Council
10. Staff of Regulatory Authority
11. Functions of Regulatory Authority
12. Powers of intervention of Regulatory Authority
Chapter 4
Social housing institutions
13. Accreditation of social housing institutions
14. Functions of social housing institutions
15. Management of social housing institutions
16. Reporting by social housing institutions
Chapter 5
General provisions
17. Just administrative action
Any decision taken under this Act must comply with the principles of just administrative action.18. Financing of social housing
19. Regulations
20. Short title and commencement
This Act is called the Social Housing Act, 2008, and comes into operation on a date determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette.History of this document
01 September 2009
Commenced by
Social Housing Act, 2008: Commencement
05 November 2008 this version
Published in Government Gazette 31577
01 November 2008
Assented to
Cited documents 7
Act 7
1. | Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 | 4616 citations |
2. | Public Finance Management Act, 1999 | 2272 citations |
3. | Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 | 1774 citations |
4. | Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 | 1668 citations |
5. | Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 | 638 citations |
6. | Alienation of Land Act, 1981 | 255 citations |
7. | Rental Housing Act, 1999 | 122 citations |
Documents citing this one 56
Gazette 47
Judgment 9
Subsidiary legislation
Title
|
Date
|
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Social Housing Regulations, 2012
Finance and Money
·
Human Rights
|
Government Notice R51 of 2012 | 26 January 2012 |
Finance and Money
·
Human Rights
|