�Too little too late�
Gothataone Moeng | Wednesday July 16, 2014 12:09
Although MPs welcomed the bill, they also said the proposed law could be too little too late as many Batswana do not qualify for financing to buy property.
The Sectional Titles (Amendment) Bill amends the Sectional Titles Act to make it mandatory for any property developer to give citizens the first option to buy a unit within a building - whether existing, newly built or in the process of being developed.
When presenting it for the second reading this week, Minister of Lands and Housing (MLH) Lebonaamang Mokalake said the bill makes it mandatory for a developer to give a citizen the first option to buy a unit, even if the current tenant is a non-citizen.
The developer should make the offer by letter and give the citizen tenant three months within which to consider the offer. Moreover, the developer is prohibited from selling the unit to non-citizens unless they have advised the minister that the tenant in possession has refused or failed to accept the offer within the stipulated timeframe.
Where the tenant within a unit is a non-citizen, the developer is required to make the offer to citizens by publishing an offer in the newspapers.
Under the proposed bill, a developer can only make an offer to a citizen when they have offered the unit again to a citizen at a lower price, and the citizen has refused or failed to accept the offer within three months.
Before the expiry of the three months and six months when the offer is up, the developer is prohibited from raising the rent or asking the tenant to vacate the unit, unless the tenant is guilty of non-payment of rent, or has done material damage to the unit or has been guilty of conduct which is a nuisance to occupiers of other units in the building.
When responding to the proposal, Gaborone Central MP Dumelang Saleshando said he was worried about the day-to-day realities of how the law would be implemented, and whether the minister would be able to monitor the proceedings as per requirement. He added that the bill was as good as setting the ministry up for failure.
“For private developers, shouldn’t we set up a percentage, say 50 percent or 70 percent, of units that should be set aside for sale to citizens?” he asked. Saleshando said in his view, the proposed bill is regressive as it removes the policy that previously prohibited non-citizens from purchasing Botswana Housing Corporation units. Further, he said given that a lot of Batswana do not qualify to get financing to buy housing, the law would be used as an excuse to allow non-citizens, who can afford it, to buy property.
“Even at the [salary] scale of an MP, you can’t get financing to buy a house. If we can’t get financing, and we tell Batswana we have made it easier for them to buy housing, we are being deceitful,” he said.
Tati West MP Charles Tibone said for him the bill “was dealing with a horse that has already bolted”.
“BHC prices have been pushed up, pulled up by developments in the private sector. If this had come earlier, it would have helped keep BHC prices affordable. But that benefit has been eroded by events,” he said. Francistown South MP Wynter Mmolotsi welcomed the bill, but said the law should go further to prohibit companies, even citizen companies, from acquiring sectional title ownership.
Tonota North MP Fidelis Molao said priority for buying units under this bill should be given to indigenous Batswana.