News / Local
Residents urged to acquire title deeds to their properties
05 Oct 2014 at 04:05hrs | Views
Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) has implored residents to acquire title deeds for their houses amid reports that over 70 percent of home owners in western suburbs do not hold the legal document.
Bura chairperson Winos Dube told Radio Dialogue that though the process of getting the title deeds from the Bulawayo City Council was tedious, there was a need for residents to be patient and follow procedure.
"Some residents who have been living in rented accommodation have been paying rentals for the last 40 years, and if you look at those amounts they have been paying, they are enough to buy these houses," said Dube.
He said people in rented accommodation such as those in Makokoba and Emabuthweni deserve a right to own these houses.
"They have been paying the money to the council and I believe the council in return should give them these houses," said Dube.
Residents of Mabutweni and Iminyela have for years been at war with the local authority after the latter refused to give them title deeds to houses they have occupied for over 30 years.
The council argues that it cannot handover the houses before it provides proper ablution facilities.
Residents from Emganwini Millennium Housing Scheme have been failing to get title deeds of the houses they have been occupying since 2002.
Dube said the local authority should also make efforts to raise awareness on the procedure to acquire title deeds.
A significant number of new home-owners is acquiring stands through co-operatives, which are not issuing any legal documents or title deeds to their members to confirm their ownership.
This is the major reason why many people are having their houses demolished.
Many houses in Zimbabwe's high density residential areas have no economic value and cannot be used as collateral to secure funding from banks and development agencies.
Bura chairperson Winos Dube told Radio Dialogue that though the process of getting the title deeds from the Bulawayo City Council was tedious, there was a need for residents to be patient and follow procedure.
"Some residents who have been living in rented accommodation have been paying rentals for the last 40 years, and if you look at those amounts they have been paying, they are enough to buy these houses," said Dube.
He said people in rented accommodation such as those in Makokoba and Emabuthweni deserve a right to own these houses.
"They have been paying the money to the council and I believe the council in return should give them these houses," said Dube.
Residents of Mabutweni and Iminyela have for years been at war with the local authority after the latter refused to give them title deeds to houses they have occupied for over 30 years.
The council argues that it cannot handover the houses before it provides proper ablution facilities.
Residents from Emganwini Millennium Housing Scheme have been failing to get title deeds of the houses they have been occupying since 2002.
Dube said the local authority should also make efforts to raise awareness on the procedure to acquire title deeds.
A significant number of new home-owners is acquiring stands through co-operatives, which are not issuing any legal documents or title deeds to their members to confirm their ownership.
This is the major reason why many people are having their houses demolished.
Many houses in Zimbabwe's high density residential areas have no economic value and cannot be used as collateral to secure funding from banks and development agencies.
Source - Radio Dialogue
