The City of Cape Town recently unveiled the MyEstate mobile housing office which will serve as a housing office on wheels to take services to residents in areas which do not currently have access to such a facility.
The MyEstate office will fill the gap left by the closure of satellite housing offices that have been underutilised in some communities.
As part of the pilot test phase of this project, the mobile MyEstate office has been servicing the Albow Gardens complex in Brooklyn.
The old satellite housing office that occupied a ground floor unit in the Albow Gardens complex was underutilised as it was only operational on certain days of the week. A decision was taken last year to turn the office into a residential unit for tenancy occupation. It was allocated to a beneficiary (a pensioner) who had been on the housing database for 27 years.
The MyEstate mobile office operates from the parking area adjacent to the clinic and library in Brooklyn, which augments the one-stop centralised service.
Last year, Council adopted the City’s Organisational Development and Transformation Plan (ODTP) that aims to transform the lives of residents by becoming a more customer-focused organisation.
‘I am pleased that we are on point and well aligned with the key priorities of the ODTP. The MyEstate mobile housing office takes a critical service to the doorstep of the city’s most vulnerable residents. This is what being customer-centric truly means – creating a platform for our residents to access services on their doorstep, affording them the opportunity to ask questions of clarity and receive immediate guidance and feedback,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Assets and Facilities Management, Councillor Stuart Diamond.
The MyEstate Mobile office has been in operation since December 2017 rendering various tenancy management services such as logging service requests on behalf of residents, assisting residents with rent relief applications, housing database queries and new applications, completion of lease agreements, arrangements for arrears rental accounts, general enquiries and even providing personalised service for a resident who is unable to walk.
‘It is heart-warming to see residents making use of this opportunity. The mobile MyEstate office will be moving to other communities in due course and the relevant communities will be advised when it will be in their area,’ added Councillor Diamond.
The vehicle has been fully fitted with furniture and equipment to ensure the comfort of residents who make use of this facility.
The Albow Gardens housing estate comprises 212 units which are home to approximately 1 272 residents.