Weekly Mail Reporter
THE White Paper on Housing presented by Housing Minister Joe Slovo to the cabinet this week formalises agreements reached by bankers, the Department of Housing, community representatives, materials suppliers, builders and others at a housing summit in Botshabelo at the end of October.
But there is one major change: the White Paper calls for an increase in the one-off capital subsidy to families earning less than R800 a month — from the current R12 500 to R15 000.
The change could affect up to 40 percent of the population and the department estimates it will cost an extra R270- million a year.
Subsidies generally are envisaged to support a range of housing categories, including project-based development, individual transactions on new and existing homes, social housing schemes, rental stock. In some cases, funds will go to make up the difference on the Independent Development Trust’s site and service schemes, which carried a R7 500 subsidy per unit.
The White Paper recommends an increase in housing’s share of the Budget, from one percent to five percent.
The Botshabelo agreement tied housing stakeholders to a commitment to building standards, an end to boycotts and a policy of incrementalism, as well as a mortgage indemnity scheme to safeguard the banks, the establishment of a National Housing Finance Corporation, and the release of land for housing.
All these agreements are reflected in the White Paper, which also calls for a nationally consistent approach towards service charges and tariffs.
The Development Facilitation Bill, worked on by the Housing and Land Affairs Departments, will act as the basis for speedy land delivery for housing.
See also Interview with Joe Slovo