Home ownership is a failsafe method to assist aspirant first time home owners living especially in townships to escape the poverty trap. This is the message of MEC for Human Settlements, Minister Bongikhaya Madikizela at the launch of the Consumer Housing Education Programme in Khayelitsha last week.
Minister Madikizela referred to the difficult task of local government providing sufficient housing and related services particularly in the Western Cape area. The Western Cape currently has inflows of thousands of people migrating into the Western Cape region every month, which puts massive strain on local services. The WC Government main focus is to first provide the basic needs like water, sewerage and sanitation services before they can embark on a proper housing scheme for those living in shacks.
Minister Madikizela lauded the initiative by private companies and stakeholders in the property industry to get together stand together and develop a Consumer Property Education programme for first time buyers as well as sharing their skills and their resources. Currently, no housing education exists for first time buyers or new homeowners in the GAP market.
The attendees of the Khayelitsha forum were all hand-selected stakeholders from Local Government, City of Cape Town and other Municipalities, ward counsellors, NGO organizations, community leaders, banking and finance institutions, property developers, mortgage originators, and representatives in the corporate and private sector.
- Meyer de Waal CEO of My Budget Fitness introduced the Consumer Property Education programme for first time home buyers in “Six Easy Steps” to the stakeholders.
- Solly Molefe, Owner of Setsmol followed up and shared his experience on the importance of Consumer Property Education, flowing from his 11 years as educator and mentor in the Consumer Education environment.
- Gary Power, Marketing Manager of Power Developments focused on the importance of a property developer’s role of creating a community of new home owners. Through Consumer Property Education it can empower new homeowners with information to take action and for them to understand their rights and duties as a prospective property owner. Research done by Power Developments also highlighted the need for consumer education for homeowners.
- Daphne King, from the City of Cape Town welcomed the collaboration of role players in the private sector to work with Government and Local Authorities in partnership to expand the concept of consumer education for First Time Home Owners. The City of Cape Town has already implemented consumer education for the BNG type housing, but realised no such product exists for the Gap Housing segment of the market.
The contributors to the ‘Consumer Property Education’ programme for First Time Buyers are:
- Blue Oak www.blueoak.co.za
- Credit Health www.credithealth.co.za
- Law Property www.lawproperty.co.za
- Lightstone www.lightstone.co.za
- MoneySmart www.moneysmart.co.za
- My Budget Fitness www.budgetfitness.co.za
- Inspect-a-home www.inspectahome.co.za
- ICALL ASAP www.1callasap.co.za
- Real Estate Investor Magazine www.reimag.co.za
- Setsmol www.setsmol.co.za
The rollout of the first Consumer Education for first time buyer seminars and workshops will be held on the following dates:
- 26 June 2013 Mmbatho/Mafikeng – completed with great success
- 18 July 2013 Khayelitsha • 20 July 2013 Observatory
- 27 July 2013 George • August 2013 Blaauwberg
- August 2013 Langebaan
Pictures of the event can be viewed;
- on our website – under “press” - www. consumerhousingeducation.co.za
- or on Facebook www.facebook.com/#!/ConsumerHousingEducation?fref=ts
For more information:
You are welcome to contact Meyer de Waal – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to arrange for your own clients to receive an invite to such seminars, or if required, to host a seminar under your exclusive “branding”.