The following are some of the important laws and regulations to assist people with access to quality housing:

HOUSING ACT (NO 107 OF 1997)

This Act makes provision for all the different levels of the state and various other bodies to assist those most in need of housing.

THE RENTAL HOUSING ACT (NO 50 OF 1999)

This Act deals with the relationship between landlords and tenants and it applies to all written or verbal lease agreements entered into on or after 1 August 2000. Important amendments were made to the Rental Housing Act in the Rental Housing Amendment Act (No 35 of 2016).

THE HOME LOAN AND MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE ACT (NO 63 OF 2000)

This law ensures that banks lend money to all communities and do not refuse to give bonds to some communities while giving to others.

THE HOUSING CONSUMER PROTECTION MEASURES ACT (NO 95 OF 1998)

This Act protects new homeowners from getting poorly built houses by ensuring that all builders are registered with the National Home Builders Registration Council, and all new houses are enrolled under the Defect Warranty Scheme. Builders must comply with certain building standards and houses must be at least 30 square meters in size.

HOUSING AMENDMENT ACT (NO 4 OF 2001)

This Act gives the housing minister the power to decide procurement policy on housing development so that, for example, local building materials or local labour can be used in a construction project. It also limits the sale of state-subsidised houses.

SOCIAL HOUSING ACT (NO 16 OF 2008)

Increased access to rental accommodation in South Africa’s cities is recognised as a priority as many people cannot afford to buy property in urban areas. However many of the people who need rented accommodation in the city cannot afford to pay high rentals but they also often belong to households whose incomes exceed the RDP housing subsidy limit. To assist people in this category, public subsidies are needed. This is the goal of the social housing programme.

The Social Housing Act aims to establish and promote a sustainable social housing environment and it defines the functions of the national provincial and local spheres of government with respect to social housing. The Social Housing Act requires approved social housing projects to be delivered through accredited social housing institutions (SHI) that are regulated by the Social Housing Regulatory Authority. SHI are legal entities responsible for building and managing social housing.

INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS UPGRADING PARTNERSHIP GRANT (ISUPG)

The Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant (ISUPG) is a conditional grant that provides funding to municipalities for the upgrading of informal settlements. The funding aims to facilitate a programmatic, inclusive and municipality-wide approach to upgrading informal settlements and sets new conditions for provincial departments of human settlements and metropolitan municipalities that will receive this grant. Grants are available to municipalities and Provinces.