Duplicate home ownerships a headache for Arandis

Owning a house is not an easy thing but it becomes more difficult when one gets a loan to buy one only to find out that the property already belongs to somebody else.

JACKY Uwu-Khais was excited to learn about two years ago, that she qualified for a housing loan of about N$307 000, but after moving in with her two children, she was shocked to hear that the house already belonged to someone else.

When Uwu-Khais, a teacher at UB Dax Primary School, wanted to finalise the deed of sale with the Arandis town council, who was supposed to be the owner from whom she was buying the house, she found to her dismay, and the municipality’s embarrassment, that the house belonged to Jazquiline Seibes, who apparently now lives in Windhoek.

As a result, no deed of sale could be effected.

Uwu-Khais is confused and frustrated because she and her children live in a house they cannot call home; neither is she willing to invest in any renovations because the house is not legally hers.

“We live in uncertainty every day because on one hand the owner says I must get out, she wants her house, while the municipality on the other hand say they are busy with the lawyers to rectify the problem. I want to make it beautiful but what if we have to move out tomorrow?” she said.

The house is in a state of disrepair with broken doors, windows and ceilings.

“We sleep with a door that cannot lock or close properly. The windows are broken and when it rains the roof leaks,” she said. The uncertainty has been coming for over a year now but she cannot take it anymore because nothing seems to be happening to find a solution, and she fears time is running out, and her concerns were falling on deaf ears.

Asked what would happen if the issue turns against her and that she would not be able to own the house, Uwu-Khais just shook her head.

“The council will then have to give me another house,” she said. The Namibian called Seibes, but there was no answer. An SMS was also sent to explain the issue and request to call back, but Seibes did not respond by the time of going to the press.

An attorney representing the financial institution that approved the loan for Uwu-Khais’ house said they were aware of the predicament, but that they cannot implement the loan until the ownership transfer takes place. The loan would remain for Uwu-Khais until such a time. This is not an isolated incident however, according to Arandis chief executive officer Florida Husselmann, as this stems from a housing scheme introduced by the Arandis town council in 1996 already.

The houses, initially built and owned by Rössing Uranium Mine for its workers, were handed over to the council, who then introduced a scheme through which residents could buy the houses directly through the council at minimum interest.

“The problem is many people who received bonds, just abandoned their houses due to retrenchments and many think that development at Arandis had hit a dead-end. The houses have been left in disrepair and people have just not been paying. Now they want to come back after 20 years and claim ownership,” Husselmann explained.

She said the council was in support and committed to people like Uwu-Khais who are now living in the houses and want to renovate them but said that the current situation was a headache and that the council has brought the issue to the attention of the attorney general.

“Many people want ownership of these houses but we cannot just transfer ownership before the previous ownership is legally cancelled. This is really a catch-22 for us,” she said. She said the matter was enjoying high priority and encouraged Uwu-Khais and others to be patient as there have already been success stories in the cancellation of bonds whereafter the property was transferred to a new owner living in the house.

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