Housing Policy Briefing: Priorities & Progress 2008

2. Briefing to the Joint Budget Committee on 28 October 2008

3. Outline of presentation • Mandate and medium-term policy priorities • Progress on measurable objectives & performance indicators • Budget bids for 2008 MTEF • Approved budget bids • Budgeting challenges

4. Mandate and medium-term policy priorities • Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) – sets out framework and principles for sustainable development • Botshabelo Housing Accord (1994) Signed by housing stakeholders • Subsequent white paper on Housing (1994) and the Housing Act (1997) • Millennium Development goals • SA CONSTITUTION • Section 26: Right to access adequate housing • Schedule 4: National and Provincial Governments have concurrent legislative competence

5. Mandate and medium-term policy priorities cont. • The White paper on Housing remains the pillar of housing policy. • The priorities of the Comprehensive Plan are to: • Accelerate housing delivery within the context of sustainable human settlements; • Improve the quality of housing products and environments and turn housing into assets; • Create a single and efficient formal housing market; • Restructure and integrate human settlements; • Utilize the provision of housing as a job creation strategy; and • Ensure access to property to alleviate asset poverty and foster empowerment.

6. Mandate and medium-term policy priorities cont. • Identified priorities: • Housing for veterans of the struggle; • Impact of increasing construction costs; • Intervention of increased informal settlements; • Upscale delivery of affordable rental stock; • Address land bottleneck – establish the HDA; and • Provision of once-off funding injection to upscale delivery

7. Prog 2: Housing Policy Research & Planning • Measurable Objectives • Improve quality and equity in the provision of housing by developing policy and legislation and providing planning frameworks and models over the MTEF period. • Progress • Finalize report on the diversification of tenure options and subsidy programmes.

8. Prog 2: Housing Policy Research & Planning cont. • Measurable Objectives • Improve performance management information and data relating to housing planning and delivery by managing and implementing the following information systems and databases: the housing subsidy system (HSS), the national housing database and the monitoring and evaluation system, increasing the percentage of critical data fields captured in the HSS, for example. • Progress • Provided support/capacity to municipal and provincial officials on HHS.

9. Prog 2: Housing Policy Research & Planning cont. • Measurable Objectives • Improve information on the housing sector by publishing regular research and impact analyses on the performance of the housing programme. • Progress • Completed 3 research papers on policy alternatives for beneficiaries.

10. Prog. 3: Housing Delivery Support • Measurable Objectives • Improve the delivery value chain by providing development support to provinces and municipalities, providing capacity support, and monitoring and facilitating municipal accreditation to decrease the turnaround time from project to units. • Progress • In process of developing a monitoring & evaluation framework to implement capacity building programmes in provinces.

11. Prog. 3: Housing Delivery Support cont. • Measurable Objectives • Implement the social contract to improve collective capacities, create partnerships, and improve consumer education by providing sector support, intergovernmental and stakeholder management and communication to increase number of call centre queries concluded. • Progress • Supported social contract task teams.

12. Prog. 3: Housing Delivery Support cont. • Measurable Objectives • Facilitate rental and social housing uptake and accelerate People’s Housing Process programmes by providing regulatory and implementation support resulting in more rental and social housing and People’s Housing Process units. • Progress • Finalized the social housing policy & developed a rental housing strategy.

13. Prog. 3: Housing Delivery Support cont. • Measurable Objectives • Facilitate integrated mixed income settlements by providing implementation and oversight for priority projects to increase private sector investment in affordable housing. • Progress • Handing over of 1 000 houses at the Zanemvula project; managing the intervention project of the Eastern Cape.

14. Prog. 4: Housing Development Finance • Measurable Objectives • Improve the expenditure efficiency of provinces on housing delivery, measured by total spending as a percentage of funds transferred, by providing financial and grant management support for the integrated housing and human settlement development grant and business planning and reporting support. • Progress • Monitor monthly expenditure to provinces and completed quarterly reviews to provinces and reported the outcome of expenditure to management.

15. Prog. 4: Housing Development Finance cont. • Measurable Objectives • Oversee entities reporting to the Minister of Housing by ensuring that all entities receive unqualified audit reports from the auditor-general, to engender legal compliance and improve governance and delivery on mandates against financial and performance targets. • Progress • Quarterly review sessions were held with housing institutions.

16. Prog. 4: Housing Development Finance cont. • Measurable Objectives • Improve access to housing finance and facilitate a single housing market by monitoring trends in housing investment and facilitating the approval of credit linked subsidies to decrease complaints relating to the Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Act. • Progress • Report prepared on the monitoring & investigation of financial institutions.

17. Performance indicators

18. Performance indicators • Is in line with projection • Only five months available as the department was still in verification process • Rental housing delivery: • currently 900 units across 4 projects are under construction in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. • Progress on various projects varying at between 30% and 60%. • Expected to be completed by the end of the current financial year.

19. Budget bids for 2008 MTEF • The Department’s budget bids is summarised as follows:

20. Approved budget bids • The following additional funding were provided:

21. Inadequate Housing and MDG’s • Estimated 2.2 million households live in inadequate housing • Capacity constraints • Rapid Urbanisation & Migration • Resources • Delivery output • Rising house prices • rising construction cost • complex residential market

22. Budget challenges & financial implications • The allocation for the current financial year is R9,8 billion to finalize/complete current committed multi-year projects • While the grant funding allocation has increased, the Department’s projections indicate that: • if the backlog is to be eradicated by 2014, a funding shortfall of R102,5 bn would exist • if the backlog is to be eradicated by 2016 the funding shortfall would increase to R253 billion. • As a result, the housing backlog must be eradicated within the shortest time possible as the cost projections indicate a doubling of costs for every two years delayed.

23. Budgeting challenges cont. • Housing Development Agency – no allocation to operationalization of agency • Social Housing Regulatory Authority - limited funding to create rental units • Thubelisha Homes & Servcon – Closure costs not provided for • Occupancy audit – no funds to audit approved beneficiaries occupying subsidized houses

24. THANK YOU