Development finance institution the National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC) has allocated R3.2-billion towards the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP) for the 2021/22 financial year.

The aim is to help subsidise more than 7 000 homes across the country, Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said during a recent visit to the Sky City housing development, in Alberton, Gauteng.

The Sky City development will cater for middle income earners, some of whom do not qualify for fully subsidised government housing nor bank bonded housing.

It has delivered over 4 000 housing units of which 500 have been subsidised in part by government.

The FLISP is aimed at first-time home buyers who earn between R3 501 and R22 000 a month.

The one-off financial assistance provided through the FLISP can be used as a deposit on a house or to reduce the bond balance.

“We came up with FLISP because of the realisation that too many of our people are falling through the cracks when it comes to access to housing and owning their own houses," Sisulu said.

She noted that the Department of Human Settlements was aware of some administrative challenges with the FLISP application and was working on "ironing out" those problems.

“Through discussions with our public sector partners, it is very clear that the availability of a home for the applicants, does not always align with the application process. For instance, it takes developers three months to build a home for each applicant. Yet, it can take between eight months and sometimes more than a year to get approval through the NHFC.

“In addressing this challenge, I would like our private sector partners to work with my office, as well as the NHFC, to assist in aligning the two processes. FLISP has become a popular programme, which has received support from various stakeholders. We need to ensure that it succeeds,” she stated.