TTPod 3.2: Title Matters - The Conundrum of Title Deed Administration with guest, Deon van Deventer

In previous Talking Transformation Podcast episodes, we have looked in-depth at housing issues and challenges in South Africa. We’ve also considered the issue of title deed administration, and how important addresses are to the sense of place and security of tenure for communities. In this episode we go deeper into the question of title deed administration and why the processes around conveyancing are so important to the development processes and property market. Deon van Deventer has been working with subsidised housing developments in South Africa for over 30 years. His understanding of the challenges and complexities behind housing administration are extensive and he has coordinated beneficiary administration for RDP Houses and FLISP housing programmes and informal settlement occupancy audits and profiling. I wanted to better understand the challenges facing these housing programmes and why we are in a national predicament where the Presidency and National Department of Human Settlements estimates that more than 1 million title deeds were not transferred to the primary beneficiaries and occupants of the subsidised houses. That implies that more or less a third of housing opportunities developed have not received title since 1994 – this impacts directly  on the security of tenure of households. It prevents asset creation and the ability to leverage property as an asset with financial institutions. The situation also implies massive inefficiencies in the governance systems and property value chain of the municipalities: services can’t be billed, rates can’t be considered in instances where legal transfer of the properties has taken place. I wanted to learn from Deon what can be done to address the processes and outcomes associated with the programmes – what can we do better and what, in his experience works? Recorded 6th February 2023