Housing in Southern Africa October 2015

Housing

A lthough the snail pace of housing delivery has irked the Minister and caused massive headaches for developers and stake- holders, Sisuluhas pickedup the pace and has not disappointed the sector. Speaking at the recent Human Settle- ments Developers and Contractors Workshop in Johannesburg, Sisulu said that these mega projects will roll out over a five to 10 year period. So far, 77 projects have been iden- tified, 31 are government initiatives and the balance of 46 are fromthe pri- vate sector. Almost 1,3 million houses will be rolled out, with a projected development cost of R295 billion. Sisulu shared that of the govern- ment’s 31 projects – 11 are in the planning stages, 20 are being imple- mented, 23 have been budgeted for and eight still require funding. Of the private sector’s projects 15 are still in the planning stages, 31 are currently being implemented, budgets have been approved for 17 and 29 require additional leveraging and funding. Government has already identified and acquired 24 332 ha, while the pri- vate sector has earmarked 34 004 ha for development in Catalytic Projects. Government has put in place proj- ect delivery arrangements, starting with the Memorandum of Under- standing between theMinister, Mayor and MEC to oversee the projects and key strategic operations. Implementation protocol will fall under the Director General of the National Department of Human Settlements in conjunction with the municipalities and metros and the CEO of the Housing Development Agency (H DA). They will ensure that the projects are implemented within the prescribed timelines and within budget. T h e M i n i s t e r o f H uma n Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu has announced that anumber of new Catalytic Projects will be rolled out to meet government’s 1,5 million housing target by 2019. Catalytic Projects

Funding and business plan approvals will be vetted by the provincial gov- ernment, metro and the H DA. The Implementing Agent contrac- tor and principle agent will be the H DA together with the metro to assist with beneficiary management and facilitation. National, provincial andmunicipal project deliver will be coordinated by the H DA. These projects will be fast tracked and developers need to indicate the nature and type of government support required. The Minister pro- vided contact numbers for all the key people in state-owned entities if there are any problems. The benefits and incentives in the Medium Term Strategic Framework and Master Spatial Plan will include ring fencing and top slicing of specific capital grants across sectors such as the Urban Settlements Development Grant, Human Settlements Develop- ment Grant, Municipal Infrastructure Grant, Integrated transport grant and national electrification grant (10% of each grant) to upscale delivery of Catalytic Projects, as well as the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s Capital Grant and Project preparation. The National Upgrade Support Programme and City Support pro- grammes will be prioritised for Catalytic Projects.

These Catalytic Projects offer projects of scale to deliver 10 000 houses and 5 000 serviced stands with a variety of housing typologies. The Minister plans to mobilise youth brigades, create job opportunities, as well as gearing government investment into human settlements and to demon- strate sustainability of these projects post completion. She talks of a regionalised ‘War Room’. a one-stop shop approach to ensure that these projects are opti- mised and that her ‘generals’ unblock delivery problems, identify and miti- gate risks in the delivery value chain, provide support to the provinces, metros, human settlements entities and private sector developers. The provinces have been divided into three regions: Region 1: Gauteng, North West, Free State; Region 2: Kwazulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpuma- langa; Region 3: Eastern Cape, West- ern Cape, Northern Cape. A team of professionals will assist each Re- gional Head to focus on the Business Plan Delivery, Catalytic Programme Planning and Implementation, Title Deeds backlog, Informal Settlement Upgrading and Affordable Housing delivery. It is an exciting time to be in the residential sector and one thing we can bank on is that the Minister will deliver and utilise her budget and any other funding that is within Human Settlements scope. ■

October 2015