Banks eye developing low-cost housing
SOUTH African banks are taking the initiative to drive business in the low- cost housing arena by buying land themselves and getting it zoned, but they are being held back by delays of three years in getting plans approved.
While there is a profit motive behind the move – some banks are seeing business of R5- to R6-billion in this area – and they charge interest on loans of about R400000, a quicker move into this direction has an enormous social economic imperative.
First National Bank chief executive Michael Jordaan said 240000 families could qualify for low-cost housing right now, but the problem was a lack of supply – for every one house on sale there are seven potential buyers waiting to buy.
Because of the delays in getting everything approved – from zoning to roads to setting up electricity with Eskom – developers are unable to fund the projects, which is why banks have stepped in to buy, zone and set up bulk services.
Jordaan said unblocking supply was a key to solving many of the country’s ills, as once people owned homes it developed the middle class – the lifeblood of an emerging economy. It then flowed through to ensure better education for children who have roofs over their heads and sustainability of jobs as people want to keep their houses.
“We have to unblock supply,” Jordaan said.
FNB has 22% of new business in this area, behind Standard Bank, but wants to grow if it could it as it is a sustainable business. An interesting fact is arrears at this area of the market are lower than those in higher- earning areas.
The low-cost housing arena is also an area where Absa is looking to play a more active role as well.
Absa entry-level banking managing executive Lawrence Twigg has noted that 20% of personal loans are related to improvements on houses bought through the low-cost housing unit. – BusinessLive
moladi at www.moladi.net
Keywords - ABSA, FNB, Standard Bank, low cost housing, moladi, banks, development, winner, award, alternative, backlog
Showing posts with label housing backlog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label housing backlog. Show all posts
RDP houses from hell
RDP houses from hell - DA
Parliament for the People: Visit to RDP housing projects in Limpopo
On Monday, we visited a number of RDP housing projects in Limpopo along with DA Limpopo Provincial Leader Desiree van der Walt and DA MP Mpowele Swathe. We were also accompanied by DA MPLs Jacobus Smalle and Meisie Kennedy, DA Councillors Danie van Heerden and Moses Matlala, as well as a number of DA members and activists.
We visited three RDP housing projects across the province namely:
an urban RDP housing project in Mokopane in the Mogalakwena municipality;
a rural RDP housing project in the Motwaneng village in Marble Hall;
a rural RDP housing project in the Makurung village in Lepelle-Nkumpi.
Visit our Parliament for the People webpage on the DA Media Centre where we have uploaded a detailed report and photos
By far the most disturbing things we found at the three housing projects we visited were the following:
Houses have been built below ground level which results in sewage from higher lying extensions and rain water flowing into these houses;
Houses have been abandoned by beneficiaries due to this flooding;
Toilets have not been connected to sewerage pipes resulting in residents having to use the fields outside their houses and sewerage flowing into their houses through these open pipes;
No running water or electricity supplied to the houses;
Holes in the roof sheeting and no window panes in many of the houses;
None of the resident's have signed "happy letters" when allocated their houses - a prerequisite which beneficiaries are meant to sign before occupying their houses;
Slabs cast by contractors as far back as 2006 with no building taking place since then;
People who were thrown out of their houses, which were demolished and have not been replaced;
A number of RDP houses that have been half-built and are standing empty as a result;
A family of seven orphans who have been promised a house four years ago are still waiting for their house which has been standing for years without a roof or windows.
We spoke to many of the people living in these three housing developments who told us how government officials visited them before the elections and made numerous promises including supplying them with candles on a regular basis and also that it would start building houses for them from 1 May 2009 - which has not happened.
The situation we found in Limpopo means the following:
The housing backlog in the province continues to grow on a yearly basis;
Money is wasted on building houses that are never completed or occupied;
More money has to be spent to repair or rebuild houses that have not been properly built, resulting in houses costing way more than what was originally budgeted;
A large number of contractors are paid despite reneging on their contracts and no action is ever taken against them.
The people worst affected by the current situation are the ordinary South Africans we met during our visit who continue to live without proper shelter and access to basic services such as running water, proper sanitation and electricity.
It is imperative that both the National Department of Human Settlements and the Limpopo Provincial Department of Local Government and Housing urgently intervene in this regard to ensure that the incomplete houses in the three areas we visited, as well as the rest of the province, are completed, that action is taken against contractors who fail to fulfil their contracts, and that money is spent efficiently and effectively when it comes to the provision of housing.
The DA will therefore be taking a number of action steps at both a national level in Parliament as well as a provincial level through the Limpopo Provincial Legislature to deal with the current housing crisis in Limpopo. We will also conduct a follow-up visit within a year to see whether any improvements have been made to these three housing projects.
We will provide continuous feedback on outcomes of our actions steps as well as what we find during our follow-up visit on our Parliament for the People webpage.
Joint statement by Athol Trollip, MP, Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader, and Butch Steyn, MP, DA shadow minister of human settlements, October 21 2009
Parliament for the People: Visit to RDP housing projects in Limpopo
On Monday, we visited a number of RDP housing projects in Limpopo along with DA Limpopo Provincial Leader Desiree van der Walt and DA MP Mpowele Swathe. We were also accompanied by DA MPLs Jacobus Smalle and Meisie Kennedy, DA Councillors Danie van Heerden and Moses Matlala, as well as a number of DA members and activists.
We visited three RDP housing projects across the province namely:
an urban RDP housing project in Mokopane in the Mogalakwena municipality;
a rural RDP housing project in the Motwaneng village in Marble Hall;
a rural RDP housing project in the Makurung village in Lepelle-Nkumpi.
Visit our Parliament for the People webpage on the DA Media Centre where we have uploaded a detailed report and photos
By far the most disturbing things we found at the three housing projects we visited were the following:
Houses have been built below ground level which results in sewage from higher lying extensions and rain water flowing into these houses;
Houses have been abandoned by beneficiaries due to this flooding;
Toilets have not been connected to sewerage pipes resulting in residents having to use the fields outside their houses and sewerage flowing into their houses through these open pipes;
No running water or electricity supplied to the houses;
Holes in the roof sheeting and no window panes in many of the houses;
None of the resident's have signed "happy letters" when allocated their houses - a prerequisite which beneficiaries are meant to sign before occupying their houses;
Slabs cast by contractors as far back as 2006 with no building taking place since then;
People who were thrown out of their houses, which were demolished and have not been replaced;
A number of RDP houses that have been half-built and are standing empty as a result;
A family of seven orphans who have been promised a house four years ago are still waiting for their house which has been standing for years without a roof or windows.
We spoke to many of the people living in these three housing developments who told us how government officials visited them before the elections and made numerous promises including supplying them with candles on a regular basis and also that it would start building houses for them from 1 May 2009 - which has not happened.
The situation we found in Limpopo means the following:
The housing backlog in the province continues to grow on a yearly basis;
Money is wasted on building houses that are never completed or occupied;
More money has to be spent to repair or rebuild houses that have not been properly built, resulting in houses costing way more than what was originally budgeted;
A large number of contractors are paid despite reneging on their contracts and no action is ever taken against them.
The people worst affected by the current situation are the ordinary South Africans we met during our visit who continue to live without proper shelter and access to basic services such as running water, proper sanitation and electricity.
It is imperative that both the National Department of Human Settlements and the Limpopo Provincial Department of Local Government and Housing urgently intervene in this regard to ensure that the incomplete houses in the three areas we visited, as well as the rest of the province, are completed, that action is taken against contractors who fail to fulfil their contracts, and that money is spent efficiently and effectively when it comes to the provision of housing.
The DA will therefore be taking a number of action steps at both a national level in Parliament as well as a provincial level through the Limpopo Provincial Legislature to deal with the current housing crisis in Limpopo. We will also conduct a follow-up visit within a year to see whether any improvements have been made to these three housing projects.
We will provide continuous feedback on outcomes of our actions steps as well as what we find during our follow-up visit on our Parliament for the People webpage.
Joint statement by Athol Trollip, MP, Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader, and Butch Steyn, MP, DA shadow minister of human settlements, October 21 2009
Metro has R335m shortfall for housing projects
The Herald Online
Metro has R335m shortfall for housing projects2009/08/26 POLITICAL EDITOR
NELSON Mandela Bay has a shortfall of R335-million for the housing projects it wishes to implement in the current financial year, the housing and land committee was told yesterday.
Briefing the committee on the performance of the past financial year and looking ahead, executive director Seth Maqetuka said the metro had received R376-million but needed R711-million with the provincial department having requested motivation for the projects it wished to pursue and “realistic cash flows for the additional funding”.
Maqetuka said the metro had been promised additional funds that would come from the local authorities, whose performance to date had “not been very positive”.
He said the target for the past financial year ending in June had been 5 000 units and the directorate had delivered 8301.
With regard to the accreditation process, Maqetuka said the metro had level two and would submit a business plan by the end of next month.
An assessment of the municipality’s compliance with level one would be conducted by the province on September 9.
As far as social housing was concerned that sought to address apartheid residential patterns, Maqetuka said four land parcels had been identified and two social housing partners identified. Pipeline projects included the Walmer Gold site, Mount Croix and John Street, Uitenhage.
He said a workshop of social housing would be held on Friday when details of all projects would be released.
The committee was also told yesterday that informal settlements “will remain a reality for decades”.
A lengthy presentation on the subject listing the challenges in areas such as land invasions did not, however, satisfy some councillors.
Andile Mfunda (ANC) said he did not want to know about operational issues and administrative details but “time- frames in terms of which the people in shacks will be relocated. We want a programme of action”.
Mfunda warned that shacks were “a big issue”, adding that by 2014 “we must have dealt with shacks not only here but in the whole of South Africa”.
The committee was told that currently there were 105 informal settlements in the metro occupied by about 26950 households, of which 95 were on municipal land and 10 on private land. Of these, 13950 will have houses built where they are with the balance being relocated.
The housing backlog currently stands at 80 000.
With regard to land invasions, the committee was informed that during the three months to June this year, the land invasion sub-directorate patrolled 117 areas across all wards seven days a week.
During this period 963 illegal structures were demolished in Schauderville, Booysen Park, Tiryville, Kleinskool, Motherwell and KwaNobuhle.
In addition, 12 house invasion cases were investigated at Langa, Chatty, Walmer and Motherwell.
moladi is closer to its goal www.moladi.net or www.moladisouthafrica.co.za
Metro has R335m shortfall for housing projects2009/08/26 POLITICAL EDITOR
NELSON Mandela Bay has a shortfall of R335-million for the housing projects it wishes to implement in the current financial year, the housing and land committee was told yesterday.
Briefing the committee on the performance of the past financial year and looking ahead, executive director Seth Maqetuka said the metro had received R376-million but needed R711-million with the provincial department having requested motivation for the projects it wished to pursue and “realistic cash flows for the additional funding”.
Maqetuka said the metro had been promised additional funds that would come from the local authorities, whose performance to date had “not been very positive”.
He said the target for the past financial year ending in June had been 5 000 units and the directorate had delivered 8301.
With regard to the accreditation process, Maqetuka said the metro had level two and would submit a business plan by the end of next month.
An assessment of the municipality’s compliance with level one would be conducted by the province on September 9.
As far as social housing was concerned that sought to address apartheid residential patterns, Maqetuka said four land parcels had been identified and two social housing partners identified. Pipeline projects included the Walmer Gold site, Mount Croix and John Street, Uitenhage.
He said a workshop of social housing would be held on Friday when details of all projects would be released.
The committee was also told yesterday that informal settlements “will remain a reality for decades”.
A lengthy presentation on the subject listing the challenges in areas such as land invasions did not, however, satisfy some councillors.
Andile Mfunda (ANC) said he did not want to know about operational issues and administrative details but “time- frames in terms of which the people in shacks will be relocated. We want a programme of action”.
Mfunda warned that shacks were “a big issue”, adding that by 2014 “we must have dealt with shacks not only here but in the whole of South Africa”.
The committee was told that currently there were 105 informal settlements in the metro occupied by about 26950 households, of which 95 were on municipal land and 10 on private land. Of these, 13950 will have houses built where they are with the balance being relocated.
The housing backlog currently stands at 80 000.
With regard to land invasions, the committee was informed that during the three months to June this year, the land invasion sub-directorate patrolled 117 areas across all wards seven days a week.
During this period 963 illegal structures were demolished in Schauderville, Booysen Park, Tiryville, Kleinskool, Motherwell and KwaNobuhle.
In addition, 12 house invasion cases were investigated at Langa, Chatty, Walmer and Motherwell.
moladi is closer to its goal www.moladi.net or www.moladisouthafrica.co.za
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