Chairperson

Social housing is state subsidised rental housing for medium and low income people. It services groups who cannot afford to buy a house groups that are in transition, either geographically or in their life cycle, for example the young, the upwardly or downwardly mobile, single parents with children, especially women or specific high priority target groups such as pensioners and physically challenged.

In our case, social housing specifically targets people who would normally not qualify for state subsidised housing because of their income bracket or because they have previously benefited from subsidised housing.

Social housing has been the most common and successful form of government housing in Europe and the United Kingdom, and is recognised as the important form of government intervention in many other countries.

In a country such as The Netherlands, it constitutes up to 50% of total housing stock and 80% of rental housing stock. Support for the rental housing sector has been strong internationally in recognition of the fact the rental housing is a necessary part of any healthy housing sector.

In South Africa, Social housing has been identified as a key area in government's attempt to create integrated human settlements.

Chairperson, the events of the past month have emphasised to us just how important this form of access to housing is. Foreign nationals who come into our country and settle in informal settlements have no hope of ever acquiring affordable houses, either through the government subsidy scheme or through the banks. If we are to ensure that this problem is solved for the future, then we have to increase our affordable rental stock.

At our recent Minmec we took a conscious decision that we would prioritise and ring fence funding for this segment of our work. The trade union movement has been particularly keen to see us move in this direction, because the bulk of their workforce is in dire need of this form of housing, by virtue of their being a highly mobile force.

The most significant aspect of the sector is that the majority of its developments are in central city areas, and is thus the best example of a government funded programme which has reversed the apartheid city.

Over the years the social housing sector has grown, and has been the beneficiary of significant funding from government. It is, however characterised by a patchwork of policies, funding and institutions that do not adequately support its growth of the sector, nor do they allow for proper regulation and monitoring of funding and policy.

For these reasons the Department of Housing has now taken steps to assist the governance and regulatory processes through the promulgation of the Social Housing Bill and the establishment of the Social Housing Regulatory Authority, all framed by the approved Social Housing policy.

Therefore, the objectives of the Social Housing Bill, 2007 being tabled here are to establish and consolidate general definitions and principles which can then be recognised as the authoritative guidelines for the sector as a whole, to establish the Social Housing Regulator and to provide for the recognition and accreditation of social housing institutions.

The bill provides specific functions and responsibilities to the three tiers of government. It requires of us, the national government, to create the kind of legislative, financial and policy and institutional frameworks that will enable the sector to grow whilst provincial governments are given responsibilities to approve and administer grant funds and monitor project level compliance.

Local governments are, on the other hand, required to ensure access to land, infrastructure and services, as well as initiating the identification of restructuring zones.

The bill's major purpose is the establishment of the social housing regulatory authority, the body that in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act and the guide for creating public entities at the national sphere of government would amongst other things, be responsible for accrediting social housing institutions, administer and disburse capital and institutional grants as well as conduct compliance monitoring to norms and standards by the sector. It will have powers to intervene to resolve maladministration issues and take remedial steps where necessary.

These interventions have been necessitated by the recognition that issues of corporate governance are at present handled poorly by some of our social housing institutions.

The concern that this raises is that apart from publicly assisted housing this is the sector on which we would like to greatly rely on for creating the kind of sustainable human settlements envisaged through our policies.

It is therefore necessary that institutions within the sector are geared towards better managing their portfolios in order to provide a better service or product. The business case for the envisaged regulatory authority has been finalised and approved to enable speedy implementation.

Chairperson, the bill was submitted to cabinet during October 2006 for approval after which process it was published in the government gazette for public comment. Its consultation process included the setting up of a task team consisting of provincial departments, metros and other stakeholders who all participated in the preparation of the official policy and guidelines that culminated in this bill.

In addition, consultations also took place with the social housing foundation, National Treasury, the Department of Public Service and Administration, the National Housing Finance Corporation, Dutch, Canadian and United Kingdom social housing experts, and the National Association of Social Housing Organisations.

Further consultations were with nineteen other institutions that included the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Yeast City Housing, South African Local Government Association (SALGA), the Banking Association, South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) et cetera.

The depth of this consultation confirms the existing interest amongst public, private and community organisations on the performance of the social hosing sector. All their comments and including those of the portfolio committee had been duly considered and taken aboard in finalising the bill.

Chairperson, I would like therefore to commend the bill, which is truly overdue, to the house for approval.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Housing
25 June 2008
Source: Department of Housing (http://www.housing.gov.za)