'Policy change' slows down the delivery of housing

09 September 2015 - 02:25 By Kingdom Mabuza

The Department of Human Settlements says the declining number of free RDP houses built in the past five years is a result of a policy change. Department spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya said yesterday the change in policy meant the building of houses could take three to five years."We have moved away from building houses all over the place. We identify big land, get zonal approval and have it established as a township. We put down infrastructure and align necessary grants and start building houses."That process takes a lot of time, and is the reason behind the slowdown. We have plans to shorten the cycle, and are on track to meet our target by 2019."Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said recently the housing delivery rate had fallen by 25% in the past five years and the backlog was 2.3million houses...

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