Investment & Economic Empowerment Opportunities in South Africa's Affordable Housing Sector

The delivery of affordable housing over the past twenty-four years has had a profound effect on South Africa’s residential property market: today, the majority of properties (58%) fall in the “affordable” category of properties valued below R600 000.  As at the end of 2017, an estimated 1.88 million (almost 30%) of all residential properties on the national deeds registry were those that had been financed by the state, as part of the national housing subsidy programme.  This presentation outlines the investment opportunities to be found in South Africa’s affordable housing sector.  Considering housing as an asset, the presentation explores its performance and potential for individual home owners, as a social, financial and economic (income-earning) asset; and for the nation as a whole, in terms of how the housing sector contributes to economic growth and job creation, financial intermediation and sustainable human settlements.  A key opportunity lies in the mobilisation of the state-financed housing assets – RDP and BNG houses built by the government since 1994 and transferred to qualifying beneficiaries as part of the state’s overall national housing programme.

Read this presentation together with our recent paper on South Africa’s mortgage market: Bringing Life to Mortgage Markets in South Africa.