The National Housing Code Presentation to the Portfolio Committee August 2009

1. The National Housing Code Presentation to the Portfolio Committee August 2009

2. The National Housing Code 2009 • Is required in terms of Section 4 of the Housing Act,1997 • Guides the housing development programme • Replaces the Code of 2000 • Is aligned to the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Sustainable Human Settlements (“Breaking New Ground”) • Approved by Minister on 19 February 2009

3. The Housing Code 2009 • Is cast in a user friendly format - each programme is a complete unit and there is no need to cross reference; • Contains prescripts only in as much as required by law (Eg. the Public Finance Management Act and the Municipal Finance Management Act); • The discretionary guide-lines provide maximum flexibility to housing practitioners and decision makers (MECs).

4. Alignment to the Comprehensive Plan • Stimulating the Residential Market: Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP); • Spatial Restructuring and Sustainable Human Settlements: • Integrated Residential Development Programme (IRDP); • Social & Economic Amenities Programme; • Enhanced People’s Housing Process; • Farm Residents Housing Programme

5. Alignment to the Comprehensive Plan • Social Housing: • Social Housing Programme; • Community Residential Units Programme • Informal Settlement Upgrading: • The Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme; • The Emergency Housing Assistance Programme

6. Alignment to the Comprehensive Plan • Subsidy Funding Reforms: • Review of FLISP; • Annual adjustment of the subsidy quantum • Job Creation: • The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and its principles form part of the Code; • IRDP provides for a range of contracting strategies to maximise community employment opportunities

7. Structure of the Code • Policy context • Technical & General Guidelines • Financial Interventions • Incremental Interventions • Social & Rental Interventions • Rural Interventions

8. Financial Interventions

9. Individual Subsidy • Programme intended to stimulate the growth of secondary housing market; • For individual households who wish to apply for a housing subsidy to purchase an existing house; or • To purchase a vacant stand and enter into a building contract for the construction of a house; • The latter subsidy option may only be awarded to households that have entered into loan agreements with a financial institution

10. Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme • EEDBS is intended to stimulate and facilitate the transfer of public stock to qualifying beneficiaries; • To ensure that occupants are provided with the opportunity to secure individual ownership of their housing units; • Entails discounting of an amount up to the prevailing housing subsidies on the balance of the properties in question

11. Operational Capital Budget Programme • Provides for the application of a certain percentage of voted provincial housing funding allocation to support the implementation of national and provincial housing programmes; • For the appointment of external expertise to augment capacity with particular emphasis on, amongst others: • The Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme • Projects that facilitate integrated delivery

12. Rectification of pre 1994 housing stock • To facilitate the improvement of certain state financed residential properties created through any of the pre 1994 State financed housing; • Could be utilised for: • Renovation and / upgrading or complete construction of structurally damaged dwellings; • Services upgrading;

13. Social and Economic Amenities Programme • Promotes provision of certain basic social & economic amenities in existing townships and new housing areas • Grants to Municipalities to fund: • Community halls • Parks • Sport fields • Taxi rank facilities • Informal trading areas

14. Housing Chapters of IDP • To support housing planning as a component of the Integrated Development Plans; • Municipal housing needs assessed and defined; • Community participation a key component of this process; • Local situations to dictate local solutions; • Councillors to also be actively involved in the planning process

15. Incremental Interventions

16. Consolidation Subsidy • Provides for the completion of houses on serviced sitesreceived through state housing schemes pre 1994; • Applicable to serviced sites that were obtained on the basis of ownership, leasehold and deed of grant, and must be used to construct a house complying to the current norms and standards.

17. Integrated Residential Development Programme • To promote social, spatial and economic integration; • To facilitate the development of projects with a variety of land uses and income groups (subsidy and bonded housing) which make for sustainable communities; • To improve/simplify subsidy beneficiary administration; • To facilitate the participation of the private sector in low income housing

18. Informal Settlement Upgrading • To upgrade the living conditions of poor people by providing secure tenure and access to basic services and housing; • An area wide/community approach, • In situ upgrade of informal settlements; • Relocation recommended as a last resort; • Housing construction from basket of options; • Community involvement a key requisite

19. Emergency Housing Assistance • Provides temporary housing relief to households in stress as a first phase towards a permanent housing solution; • The programme applies in the following cases: • Second phase disaster intervention; • Persons living in dangerous conditions; • The totally destitute; • To assist households facing the threat of imminent evictions

20. Enhanced People’s Process • To assisthouseholds to access housing subsidies (consolidation, institutional or rural subsidies) with technical, financial, logistical and administrative support to build their own homes; • Empowers communities to participate in satisfying their own housing needs and has the potential to deliver quality housing and promote “ownership”.

21. Social & Rental Interventions

22. Social Housing • A rental or co-operative housing option which requires institutionalised management; • Contributes to addressing structural, economic, social and spatial dysfunctionalities; • Promotes non-racial and integrated society in sustainable human settlements; • Social housing projects in designated restructuring zones e.g. economic, spatial and social objectives.

23. Institutional Housing • Targeted at housing Institutions that provide tenure arrangements alternative to immediate ownership (e.g. rental, installment sale, share block or co-operative tenure) to subsidy beneficiaries; • The programme applies outside of Restructuring areas of Social Housing Programme

24. Community Residential Units • Facilitate the provision of secure, stable rental tenure for lower income persons; • Target persons & households earning below R3500 not able to access private rental and social rental market; • Covers hostels; • Replaces National Hostel Re-development programme

25. Rural Interventions

26. Farm Residents Programme • A flexible approach to the needs of farm residents to provide secure tenure to farm workers; • Practicable development options: Provision for rental as well as ownership options; • On farm and off-farm development options; • For farm residents and occupiers as defined in ESTA; • Not for seasonal workers

27. Farm Residents Programme • Project based developments for beneficiaries of the Labour Tenant Strategy: • The programme will apply in alignment with the projects under the LRAD programme; • It will fund houses and residential engineering services where required; • The subsidy will be granted to individual households; • However, the funding will only be available in the context of a project based approach

28. Informal Land Rights • Facilitates project based housing development on communal land of both old order and new order land tenure secured in terms of ClaRA, 2004; • Not accessible on an individual basis; • Housing development for households in rural areas who enjoy functional security of tenure (communal tenure); • Beneficiaries should have uncontested land rights on State or communal land

29. Informal Land Rights • Funding is allocated for: • Construction of new housing structures; • Repair and upgrading of existing houses; • Purchasing of building materials where persons wish to construct, repair or upgrade their own houses; • Where houses are adequate, subsidy can be used for provision of residential engineering services or other housing purposes

30. Thank You