DEPARTMENTAL OF HOUSING PERSPECTIVE TOWARDS

THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVE CITY REGION

HOUSING SERMINAR 18 OCTOBER 2006

CONTENT• VISION AND MISSION

• BACKGROUND

• SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENT PROGRAMME

• PRIORITY PROJECT

• PLANNING DISPENSATION

• FINANCIAL IMPLICATION.

OVERVIEW

• VISION– A province where all households inhabit

quality homes in vibrant and sustainable communities.

• MISSION– To provide appropriate quality

services, tenure, housing in targeted precincts and communities working in partnership with stakeholders.

BACKGROUNDThe Apartheid Past

• One of the obvious manifestations of the apartheid past was the creation of racially divided communities;

• Levels of infrastructure and other public/governmentinvestments in these communities were racially motivated;

• The apartheid government invested heavily in “white” demarcated areas at the expense of “black” dormitory townships;

• “Black areas” were more for dormitory purposes, devoid of any social amenities, recreational facilities and economic activities;

BACKGROUNDThe Apartheid Past

(…continued)• In 1994, the democratically elected government inherited a

system of gross spatial inequalities in areas inhabited by mostly poverty-stricken Black people;

• About 60% of the African population was informally housed in 1994;

• Despite artificially low levels of urbanization due to influx control policies and practices:

• Urban migration from the late 1980’s had given rise to large-scale of informal settlements, without bulk infrastructure( internal services-water and sewer, electricity, roads, storm water and drainage as well as community facilities;

Comprehensive Plan for Housing DevelopmentTowards Global City Region

The following objectives have been defined by the nationalDepartment of Housing:

- Accelerating the delivery of housing as a key strategy for poverty alleviation.- Utilizing provision of housing as a major job creation strategy.- Ensuring property can be accessed by all as an asset for

wealth creation and empowerment.- Leveraging growth in the economy.- Promoting social cohesion and improving quality of life for the poor.- Support the functioning of the entire single residential property market to reduce duality within the sector by breaking the barriers between the first economy residential property boom and the second economy slump.- Utilizing housing as an instrument for the development of sustainable human settlements in support to spatial

re-structuring.

PROVINCIAL STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR THE FIVE YEAR TERM OF

GOVERNMENT• Enabling faster economic growth and job

creation• Fighting poverty and building safe ,

secure and sustainable communities • Developing healthy, skilled and

productive people• Deepening democracy and nation building• Building an effective and caring

government

Departmental Responses to the Provincial Priorities

• Strategic Objectives of the DOH– To build an effective, efficient and caring government in

the delivery of housing;– To facilitate, fund, manage the provision of tenure and

appropriate quality services and houses;– To facilitate and project manage the implementation of

broad-based urban regeneration;– To densify housing on well located land as well as

diversifying housing stock for various markets;– To complete all targeted time-bound projects;– To contribute to National policy processes and address

gaps that hinder sustainable development, and– To mainstream implementation of the EPWP and labour

intensive methods.

DEPARTMENTAL PRIORITIES TILL 2008/9

The Department of Housing has refocused its plan and the following has been prioritised

• Formalisation and Eradication of Informal Settlement

• Development of Social and Mixed Income Settlements

• Regeneration of Twenty Old established Townships

• Affordable Rental Accommodation

• Urban Regeneration

The Strategic Shift Implemented• Shifting the focus of the housing programme to a

community and area wide approach;• Stimulating the supply of a more diverse set of housing

and settlement types through greater choice of housing types, densities, locations, tenure options, housing credit, and delivery routes;

• Intervening in land and rental markets to ensure that equitable development and integration are achieved;

• Harnessing the resources of the private sector to deliver at scale;

• Mobilising communities and community-based organisations to engage more effectively with the housing programme;

• Shifting delivery to local government sphere through greater devolution of responsibility and resources to municipalities

STRATEGIC POLICY SHIFTS• The key policy development embedded in the New Comprehensive

Plan include:- A policy to upgrade informal settlements progressively based on an integrated community development approach and involving the community as a whole.- A housing land policy will serve to prioritise the release of public land and the acquisition of private land for low cost housing projects.- A social housing and medium density policy and programme aims to establish social housing institutions that will

develop and manage quality, well located, largely rental housing stock on a sustainable basis.- A policy and programme to provide primary social and economic infrastructure in low income housing developments will contribute towards enhancing the quality of the living environments by providing for community needs.

PRIORITY PROJECTS 2006-09 Social and Mixed Housing

To use innovative approaches that can deliver large scale sustainable housing in shortest time possible to help reduce the current housing backlog.Implementation strategies

• Mixed Developments ( mixed tenure & mixed land use)• High density typologies

Eradication of Informal SettlementsTo look at alternative technologies at the right cost that can help accelerate the eradication of informal settlements by 2014 Implementation Strategies

• In-situ upgrades using alternative building technologies• Relocations reception areas using alternative building

techniques

PRIORITY PROJECTS 2006-09Affordable Rental Accommodation

• To enlist partnerships that support the social contract for rapid housing delivery to respond to affordable rental needs for the income level R1-R1500.

Implementation strategies• Project clustering to allow flexibility in income and product

mix for sustainable development.• Innovative property management structure and transfer of

ownership models.

PRIORITY PROJECTS 2006-09Urban Renewal

• Initiate new approaches which aim to deliver visible impact at a shortest time possible to urban renewal projects with the aim of using this visible impact to attract new investors for commercial & other developments.

Implementation strategies• Prioritize infrastructure projects using private

sector partnerships for visible impact.• Drive LED projects using private sector,

Community and Social Investment projects to ensure sustainable livelihoods.

PRIORITY PROJECTS 2006-09

Twenty (20)Priority Townships Programme

The objective of the Programme is to achieve:• Integrated planning & Infrastructure development

partnerships across spheres of Govt• Private sector involvement• Enabling Polices to Fast Track Service Delivery• Explore Innovative Funding models (investors)• Social Investment Projects to Ensure Sustainable

Livelihoods

STRATEGIC INTERVENTIONS NEEDING ONGOING ATTENTION

• Shortcomings in the Integrated Development Plans (IDP)• Most of the IDP’s submitted by the municipalities do not address the

challenges posed by the housing backlog within their areas of jurisdiction. In addition the absence of the spatial development frameworks in most IDP’s, means that Gauteng Housing activities are not integrated in these plans, thereby undermining the sustainability and successful integration of housing within the wider urban environment. Municipality Housing Development Plans (MHDPs) are prepared by the department in co-operation with the municipalities to address this gap.

• The MHDP review will consistently ensure revelation and implementation of the Department’s strategic objectives to those set by municipalities. The MHDPs will comprise the housing component of the municipal IDP’s.

• The Implementation of National Norms and Standards relating to Size and Quality

• Maintain the National norms and standards to regulate the quality of the housing projects as well as tenders awarded for construction of housing and units..

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN THE CITY REGION

• Promotion of integrated planning and improved co-ordination;

• Avoid fragmented development and “edge” cities;

• Equal distribution to limit the competition for urban services;

• Land uses to compliment each and not hamper sustainability;

PLANNING IN A CITY REGION• Through urban development gear the city for competition

globally• Synergy and alignment between various municipal Spatial

Development Frameworks• Avoid spaces that are spatially juxtaposed• Avoid polarized areas of economic activity and prosperity• The planning approval processes are lengthy and are mostly

outside the direct sphere of control of the Housing Department.• The planning cycle from project identification until start of

implementation can take on average from 18 – 24 months. The main contributors to the lengthy planning process is EIA approval, land purchase and township approval

HOUSING AS DRIVER OF THE GLOBAL CITY REGION

• Promote in-fill development and the promotion of nodes and corridors;– Strengthening of transport routes– Even spread of various income groups across the urban

landscape– Promote opportunities close to place or work and play

• Restoring previous distorted residential spatial patterns;– Integrating urban centres as a cohesive complex– Inclusionary Housing

• Promote planning across municipal borders• Free flow of goods and services irrespective of

location

Financial Implication• Alignment of budget for housing development

– It has become imperative that the alignment of the budgets received by both Provincial and Local Municipalities towards the achievement of a common goal in terms of housing and infrastructure development.

– At present the primary provider in terms of Housing Development and funding hereof still emanates from the Provincial Housing Department. It is therefore on this very note that the funding from the respective sources needs to be co-ordinated and pulled in order to achieve an Integrated Human Settlement

Financial Implication• Governance and budget implications with

the cross boarder – Whilst the Constitutions refers to co-operative

governance being a practice that both National, Provincial and Local Municipalities should be fostering, our operations tend to lean towards a silo approach rather than a fully fledged integrated approach hence governance structures are fashioned in the same approach relative to the silo mentality

Financial Implications• Utilisation of resources to achieve the 2014 vision

– resources from various sectors would have to be used to achieve this goal. The respective municipalities, in particular the housing units within the municipalities, should therefore be encouraged to be vocal when it comes to the MIG allocation in that the said MMC should table a motion in council for approval whereby a dedicated portion of the MIG funding be utilized for internal reticulation apart from the normal bulk services provision.

– In this fashion it is able to assist with the speeding up of top structure construction within its’ municipal boundaries

– Donor funding/Loan Acquisition from other agencies such as Development Bank of SA

Financial Implications• Incentives – balance of priorities

– The role out of the Inclusionary Policy is of utmost importance in order bridge the divide between the first economy and the second economy.

– Serious consideration should then be built into the system whereby various incentives such as tax breaks should then be accorded to developers

WHAT IS REQUIRED FROM THE HOUSING SECTOR

• To interrogate all our strategies and plans:– How can these be aligned to our vision of building

Gauteng as a globally competitive city region?– What would need to be done to increase

intergovernmental co-operation particularly in those areas that can take our vision forward?

– What are the governance implications?

BNG CHALLENGES

•Immigration increase •Old township are deteriorating through lack of maintenance •Unavailability of well located land •Slumlordism •Unavailability of rental accommodation •Court orders •Decaying of inner city properties •Need diversification of product from the RDP stereotype •Lack of financial resources and capacity

INTERVENTION

Think globally – act locally

THANK YOU