Imagine purchasing an RDP house with your hard-earned money, then once payment towards the property has been made, things don’t go as expected. You can’t occupy your new property, and have to incur additional legal expenses to fight for the property you’ve purchased. Scorpion explains what you need to know about buying an RDP house, as well as what needs to be considered before signing that sales agreement.
Purpose of low-cost (RDP) houses
The law prohibits the sale of an RDP house before the lapse of an 8-year occupancy without the permission of the Department of Housing. Once the 8-year period expires, and you wish to sell your house, you must have the necessary title deed registered on your name. If you sell your RDP house within 8 years, you could lose your RDP house and/or even face criminal prosecution. Remember that these houses are given to people who qualify for them, and cannot be sold.
Points to remember before signing the sales agreement
- Check when the house was first transferred to the owner. If the period of eight years has not lapsed, do not even consider buying the property as it is considered an illegal sale.
- Ask to see the title deed, it is the only way you will know if the seller has a right to sell the house to you.
- Always involve an attorney, there is no way to transfer a property without the assistance of an attorney.
- Money cannot be paid to the seller until the house has been transferred to you.
- A person who has inherited an RDP house from a deceased person cannot sell the house until it has been transferred to them.
- Be safe and stay alert, always deal directly with the Department of Housing when in need of any information or clarity on government-subsidised houses.
Got questions about RDP houses? Scorpion has a specialist Property Department whose expert lawyers know how to deal with these kinds of matters. Interested in joining Scorpion? Click here.
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* This is only basic legal advice and cannot be relied on solely. The information is correct at the time of being sent to publishing.