SA’s housing policy and finance regime has generally been unresponsive to the needs of people earning between R3,500 and R15,000 a month. Households in this income group earn above the threshold income eligible for fully subsidised RDP houses and too little to qualify for bonded houses. Many resort to informal backyard rentals for accommodation — not always conducive to a safe and healthy living environment — and only in exceptional cases qualify for site and service stands, a rental unit through social housing institutions or a mortgage bond with the assistance of the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme. The programme has been marred by banks’ lack of interest in financing low-cost housing, a limited supply of affordable housing stock in well-located land and underfunding by provincial governments. With the recent establishment of the Human Settlements Development Bank, the government expects to unblock the policy and financing bottlenecks that hamper the accessibility and ...
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