Affordable Housing: Middle East

Affordable housing has shot up the Gulf’s policy agenda in the slipstream of the Arab Spring. Over the past year, governments across the region have woken up to the fact that putting roofs over people’s heads is central to the viability of the social compact between state and subject......

...... http://www.thegulfonline.com/Articles.aspx?ArtID=4342

California's Community Redevelopment Agency

California’s community redevelopment agencies were created in the 1940s to encourage urban renewal. The agencies could acquire property, including through condemnation, finance infrastructure improvements and sell the land to private owners at below-market prices. Their dissolution has thrown into question the fate of hundreds of projects, including housing developments intended for low- and moderate-income people.

In California, it is relatively rare for developers to be offered tax abatements, density bonuses and other incentives for building in places that are considered risky. Instead, the redevelopment agencies could use the additional property taxes that were generated by enhancing the value of the land, and this so-called tax increment financing became the primary redevelopment tool. This year the incremental tax would have amounted to $5 billion, or 12 percent of all of the property tax collected throughout the state.

............ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/realestate/commercial/an-uncertain-fate-for-urban-projects-in-california.html?adxnnl=1&ref=realestate&adxnnlx=1334397364-XOV1j+dMvMrkEwBM9V51Yg

50 Storey Public Housing in Singapore

South Africa Slogan: Houses for Everyone

 Housing is at the forefront of the national agenda for delivery and the government is taking overall responsibility for providing houses to all. The government inherited a critical housing shortage, with the 1996 Census reflecting a housing backlog of 2 202 519. Since coming to power in 1994, the state has built 1,4 million housing units, providing more than 5 million people with secure homes. For indicators on the progress of housing delivery since 1994,

Home ownership
The government’s goal is to create sustainable housing developments whereby people own their properties. This engenders a sense of pride in their homes, streets and areas and advances the entire community. At least 2 million people have benefited from the transfer of ownership of 398 000 houses to their residents since the government came to power. In the past 8 years, the percentage of home-owners has risen from 66 to 77 percent of all household dwellers, despite the fact that the number of households has also increased by 1,5-million since then.

Housing subsidies
The National Housing Subsidy Programme aims to stimulate both rural and urban development. Since 1994, 1 323 205 housing subsidies were allocated, 36 percent of these to women-headed households. National housing policy specifies that all housing subsidies offered be met with a contribution from the recipient – either in the form of funds or labour - to encourage a culture of responsibility and saving for housing. The Housing Subsidy Scheme gives six different funding options for those who are eligible and who earn R3 500 or less per month.

Finance for the poor
For housing developments to be sustainable, contributions are required from all sectors of society – government, communities, NGOs, the private sector and individuals. Access to finance remains the biggest obstacle to housing delivery. Since 1994 the government has attempted to work out solutions with banks on issues like red-lining, bad debts and subsidy-linked bonds. Servcon was established as a public-private partnership to tackle the problem of bond defaulting and has so far cleared 15 000 bad loans worth R612-million. The National Housing Finance Corporation was also set up (in 1996) to give banks access to capital for subsidy-linked and lower income housing. So far the NHFC has given out R1,5-billion to finance institutions for housing.

Job creation and skills development
The government’s low cost housing programme creates jobs by promoting labour-intensive methods, employing local labour and small-time contractors. It also supports those who prefer to build their own homes and provides technical, financial and other support to them.

Human settlement
Around 53,6 percent of the population live in urban areas. The Human Settlement Redevelopment Programme, initiated in 1999, aims to improve the quality of the urban environment and address the imbalances and backlogs inherited from the apartheid government. This involves yearly roll-on housing development plans spanning all three tiers of government. So far the government has spent more than R40-million in 15 areas in all 9 provinces in human settlement programmes.

Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/about/social/govthousing.htm#ixzz1rVxKTFZM