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
