From Rejection to Resignation: Beneficiaries' Views on the South African Government's New Housing Subsidy System

Abstract

South Africa's housing policy arose from a multi-party negotiating body, the National Housing Forum, made up of representatives of the housing sector and key political constituencies. Negotiations carried out over a two-year period (1992-94) resulted in a housing delivery approach whereby government facilitates a framework in which the private sector carries out the delivery of 'incremental housing'. This paper briefly describes the process through which the policy was formulated and presents the policy framework and the key programme through which the housing options are to be delivered. It offers the first attempt to gauge beneficiaries' feelings about their experience in accessing a subsidy; their views about their levels of satisfaction with their new housing option; and tests whether policy options negotiated by the stakeholders at the NHF matched the preferences of beneficiaries.