Housing in Southern Africa July 2016

H O U S I N G in Southern Africa

ED’S NOTES

NHFC... in the pursuit of housing The National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), the state’s key development finance institution for Human Settlements, celebrates its 20 th anniversary this year and tomark the occasionwe talk to some of the leading players in the sector and track its history.

THE TEAM

EDITOR Carol Dalglish housing@crown.co.za ADVERTISING Brenda Grossmann brendag@crown.co.za DESIGN Karen Smith PUBLISHER Karen Grant DEPUTY PUBLISHER Wilhelm du Plessis Colin Mazibuko CIRCULATION

O ver the years, the NHFC has certainly played an integral part in developing housing finance, funding and creating a social housingmarket, and givingmany en- trepreneurs the opportunity to build sizeable housing stock portfolios within the inner city of Johannesburg and around the country. It is probably the only state-owned entity that has had the same CEO and Chairperson for 16 years. This stability has been endorsed by each successiveMinister of Housing/Human Settlements since Joe Slovo and Eric Molobi, the iconic ANC stalwart, businessman and first Chairperson of the NHFC. The NHFC is certainly not nimble or quick in terms of commercial cor- porate companies, but it is steadfast, meticulous, careful, and expects sec- tor players to repay their debts. This is in order for the institution not only to be sustainable but to continue to provide funding. Set upwith a limited injection of capital, the institution was self-sustaining until the recent global economicmeltdown – the only time that the state’s leading Develop- ment Finance Institution asked Trea- sury for more money. Government entities, irrespective of portfolio, could take a leaf out of NHFC’s play book instead of asking Treasury for bail outs annually. NHFC CEO, Samson Moraba and Chairperson, Michael Katz, reflect on some of the highlights and difficult moments of the NHFC. Renney Plit from inner city housing specialist, Afhco, recently renamed the African HousingCompany, says that they owe much of their success to the NHFC. Paul Jackson, CEO of the Trust for Urban Housing Finance (TUHF), gives credit to the NHFC for the establish- ment of TUHF and the impact that it has made in the Johannesburg inner city. In Cape Town, ExecutiveMayor Pa- tricia de Lille, is looking for partners to finishhighways around the city and to propose housing developments in these areas. The prospectus will be available on the city’s website by mid-July.

The Council for Scientific and Indus- trial Research (CSIR) has created a re- cycling waste model, which contains data on each suburb for every metro and municipality in the country. The model compares various collection methods, different household waste options and is currently being ex- panded to take into account the so- cial and environmental implications of each option. Harvard’s Joint Centre for Housing Studies recently released the State of the Nation’s Housing report which tends to mirror South Africa’s long road to economic wellbeing in the residential low cost market. After an unprecedented 10 year downward trend, the United States housing market is now strengthening. Finally, entrepreneurs and devel- opers need to meet the housing ex- pectations of the next wave of home buyers – the millennials – and what they expect in a residential space. Enjoy the read!

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Carol Dalglish • Editor

AVERAGE CIRCULATION (FIRST QUARTER 2016) 3 727

Govan Mbeki Awards 2014 - Best Media - Housing in Southern Africa

July 2016