Housing in Southern Africa July 2016

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July 2016
ED’S NOTES
AVERAGE CIRCULATION
(FIRST QUARTER 2016)
3 727
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H OUSI NG
in Southern Africa
DESIGN
Colin Mazibuko
CIRCULATION
Karen Smith
PUBLISHER
Karen Grant
DEPUTY PUBLISHER
Wilhelm du Plessis
Govan Mbeki Awards 2014 - Best Media - Housing in Southern Africa
Carol Dalglish • Editor
NHFC... in the pursuit of housing
Over the years, the NHFC has
certainly played an integral
part in developing housing
finance, funding and creating a social
housingmarket, and givingmany en-
trepreneurs the opportunity to build
sizeable housing stock portfolios
within the inner city of Johannesburg
and around the country. It is probably
the only state-owned entity that has
had the same CEO and Chairperson
for 16 years. This stability has been
endorsed by each successiveMinister
of Housing/Human Settlements since
Joe Slovo and Eric Molobi, the iconic
ANC stalwart, businessman and first
Chairperson of the NHFC.
The NHFC is certainly not nimble
or quick in terms of commercial cor-
porate companies, but it is steadfast,
meticulous, careful, and expects sec-
tor players to repay their debts. This
is in order for the institution not only
to be sustainable but to continue to
provide funding. Set upwith a limited
injection of capital, the institution
was self-sustaining until the recent
global economicmeltdown – the only
time that the state’s leading Develop-
ment Finance Institution asked Trea-
sury for more money. Government
entities, irrespective of portfolio,
could take a leaf out of NHFC’s play
book instead of asking Treasury for
bail outs annually.
NHFC CEO, Samson Moraba and
Chairperson, Michael Katz, reflect on
some of the highlights and difficult
moments of the NHFC. Renney Plit
from inner city housing specialist,
Afhco, recently renamed the African
HousingCompany, says that they owe
much of their success to the NHFC.
Paul Jackson, CEO of the Trust for
Urban Housing Finance (TUHF), gives
credit to the NHFC for the establish-
ment of TUHF and the impact that
it has made in the Johannesburg
inner city.
In Cape Town, ExecutiveMayor Pa-
tricia de Lille, is looking for partners
to finishhighways around the city and
to propose housing developments
in these areas. The prospectus will
be available on the city’s website by
mid-July.
The Council for Scientific and Indus-
trial Research (CSIR) has created a re-
cycling waste model, which contains
data on each suburb for every metro
and municipality in the country. The
model compares various collection
methods, different household waste
options and is currently being ex-
panded to take into account the so-
cial and environmental implications
of each option.
Harvard’s Joint Centre for Housing
Studies recently released the State
of the Nation’s Housing report which
tends to mirror South Africa’s long
road to economic wellbeing in the
residential low cost market. After an
unprecedented 10 year downward
trend, the United States housing
market is now strengthening.
Finally, entrepreneurs and devel-
opers need to meet the housing ex-
pectations of the next wave of home
buyers – the millennials – and what
they expect in a residential space.
Enjoy the read!
The National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), the state’s key
development finance institution for Human Settlements, celebrates
its 20th anniversary this year and tomark the occasionwe talk to some
of the leading players in the sector and track its history.