High Court Amendment Bill to regulate home repossession

Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab has said it is the government’s aim to keep borrowers in their homes wherever possible, making repossession of primary residences by banks a last resort.

The minister said in the National Assembly on Tuesday that this is in line with the international human rights law that recognises everyone’s right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing.

This is despite the fact that the Namibian Constitution does not directly provide for a right to housing under the Bill of Rights.

Dausab made the observation while motivating the High Court Amendment Bill, which she said seeks to strike a balance between protecting the rights of homeowners.

‘Creditors must not use lawyers as a first option to negotiate payments. Lawyers must rather be used as a last resort to avoid adding more debt to the existing debt of the client because it is not tenable to add more debt and anxiety to the debtors,’ she said.

The High Court Amendment Bill was first tabled in the National As
sembly in 2021, during which the debate centred around the inadequate protection afforded to the rights of homeowners and how courts are not granted sufficient powers to intervene when someone is about to lose their home.

However after the bill lapsed, Dausab said more consultations were held with the different stakeholders including the Bank of Namibia, homeowners, commercial banks, the Law Society of Namibia, and Office of the Judiciary.

‘After the process of research and incorporating the changes for nearly two years, the bill has now had amendments made to it which are primarily aimed at the imposition of restrictions on the sale of immovable property, especially primary homes,’ the minister said.

Dausab noted that the bill for the first time defines the meaning and scope of a primary home to afford protection to all persons who utilise any form of immovable property as their primary residence.

She said people are losing their homes despite making efforts to repay the bank what is due to them.

Theref
ore, the minister encouraged the assembly to support the High Court Amendments Bill ‘to demonstrate our resolve to serve our people in a just, fair and reasonable fashion.’

Source: Namibia Press Agency