The pace of housing delivery appears to be slowing down, according to the Intergovernmental Fiscal Review (IGFR), released on Tuesday.
The document, compiled by the National Treasury, says despite evidence of an improvement, the pace of delivery continues to be below the required rate of low-income household construction, namely 200 000 houses a year.
Annual figures show delivery peaked in 1997/98 when 322 638 houses were built, but construction dropped to only 124 291 in 2001/02.
The performance improved in 2002/03, with 126 785 homes built between April and December 2002.
”The slowing down in the approval rate of subsidies in 2002/03 will slow down expenditure over the next three years. This suggests that, despite the progress made since 1994, some blockages remain in the housing sector,” the IGFR says.
A total of 1 463-million low-income houses have been completed since 1994.
Of those, 26,5% were built in Gauteng, 15,9% in KwaZulu-Natal, 14,3% in the Eastern Cape and 11,4% in the Western Cape.
The review says some of the factors affecting delivery included:
the non-availability of suitable land for low-cost housing, and slow processing of land transfers;
poor planning which could result in late completion of new contracts with developers;
limited project management and administrative capacity in some provincial departments of housing, and local authorities;
and, in some cases, adverse weather conditions resulting in project delays.
It adds that provincial delivery mechanisms that will achieve the ”vision and mission” of housing policy need to be improved.
”Many housing projects do not have an holistic approach and do not take the totality of basic needs of communities into account.
”In a number of cases, housing projects are not supported by adequate schools, roads, clinics and retail facilities.”
The housing policy is currently being reviewed through a consultative process that will culminate in a National Housing Summit this year, the review says. – Sapa