Government to free up buildings, land in inner cities for low-cost housing
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced an initiative to help people find homes closer to where they work.
'We will address the apartheid legacy of spatial inequality, which has forced millions of South Africans to live far from economic opportunity,' he said on Wednesday.
'The poorest South Africans spend as much as 40% of their income on transport to get to work, more than almost any other country in the world.'
He proposed changes to the government's housing policy to provide people with 'demand-side subsidies' for home ownership and affordable rentals.
'We will accelerate the release of publicly owned land and buildings for affordable housing, with a particular focus on inner cities.
'And we will clear the backlog of title deeds for affordable housing, while making the titling system more accessible and affordable. This will turn houses into an asset for poor households. It will enable these households to access credit and use this asset to advance themselves.'
Ramaphosa said the government would also to seek to remove barriers to low-cost housing development and incentivise investment in urban centres as opposed to outlying areas.
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