20 Mar 2017

Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) encourages its tenants to purchase the houses they are occupying through the Tenant Purchase Scheme (TPS).

The latter was launched last year as a way to encourage home ownership among BHC tenants.

BHC property sales manager, Mr Gaotlhaetse Baleseng informed customers during the TPS Neighbourhood Activation held in Palapye over the weekend, that the scheme was an alternative mortgage programme offered by BHC to allow customers to purchase houses through instalments.

Mr Baleseng said BHC however continued to hold the title deed until the customer finished paying.

He said the new TPS sought to close gaps that were identified from the old TPS, which was introduced in 1986 and suspended in 2004.

He said TPS was now being introduced with different terms and for a broader target market.

He said the scheme would address issues of unaffordable mortgages to potential purchasers, additional costs incurred by a purchaser when sourcing a mortgage such as conveyancing, structural fees and administration fees, which when incorporated made the instalment heavier.

The scheme also tries to address the issue of low financing rates in some of the peri-urban areas resulting in Batswana not being able to raise the difference between what the bank is offering and what the property is worth.

Mr Baleseng said therefore the TPS provided a solution for buying houses with less stringent pre-requisites.

The scheme targets citizens who are first time BHC home buyers aged between 21 and 65 years.

The debt-service ratio of the potential customer should be 55 per cent of the gross income.

The new TPS, he said, charges low administration fee at 0.025 per cent and without any immediate conveyancing and legal fees.

The BHC maintains the structure during the loan period.

For his part, BHC CEO, Mr Reginald Motswaiso encouraged Batswana to own homes, saying that shelter gave owners a dignified life.

He said in addition to that a house was a form of investment and security for when one wanted to get a loan.

He said the value of a house that was bought at P200 000, 15 years ago in Central Gaborone had appreciated to P2 million.

He urged Batswana to continue giving the Corporation feedback on areas that needed improvement. ENDS