Social Housing Foundation's Contributors

SUPPORT PROGRAMME FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

The Support Programme for Social Housing was co-funded by the
European Union and the Government of the Republic of South Africa

The products on this website have been produced with the financial assistance of the European Commission. The views expressed herein are those of the SPSH and can therefore in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Commission

Programme Overview

About the Support Programme for Social Housing (SPSH)

Monitoring and Evaluation

Grant Support

Network Support Grants

Public Sector Support Programme

Technical Support Programme

Bridging Finance Programme

Long Term Sustainability

Tool Kits and Documents

Contact the SPSH

SPSH Links

Programme Overview

Support Programme for Social Housing (SPSH)

The Support for Social Housing (SPSH) is a programme of National Government, administered by the National Department of Housing (NDoH). The SPSH is an Institutional Development and Capacity Building Programme of the National Social Housing Programme for South Africa.

What is the purpose of the Programme?

The main purpose of the programme is to support the establishment of a viable sustainable social housing sector and provide the basis for its future expansion through:

Supporting the establishment, capacitation and growth of Social Housing Institutions through funding facilitation and technical support.
Assisting government, national agencies and the sector at large to establish an institutional framework for regulating.
Assisting with the development of a policy environment conducive to the growth and sustainability of social housing.
Identifying and advocating good social housing practice.

The SPSH therefore exists in order to assist Government to grow the National Social Housing Programme into a sustainable vehicle for social housing production.

Why is this important for South Africa?

It is very important for South Africa that an effective and sustainable supply of Social Housing units (rental and co-operative housing) is produced in the bigger towns and cities so that the demand for this type of housing product and tenure type is met. The result of meeting this demand will be the normalization of these urban centres into more productive and healthy places that will be better placed to compete economically. The supply of these housing units will normalize the often abnormal structure of these towns and cities by housing people in a way that deliberately integrates income groups and races of people into the most appropriate locations within these towns and cities.

The Department of Housing has designed a strategy and a policy that is geared to achieving social housing production. The SPSH is a component of this strategy and mist gear up the institutional capacity needed to achieve the strategy and implement the policy

Where do the resources come from?

The SPSH is presently co-funded by the Community of the European Union and the South African Government. The European Union is an investor of development grant funds into South Africa through the EU Programme for Reconstruction and Development. The South African Government is responsible for managing the programme and for ensuring access to subsidies for the actual house construction.

How is the Programme Structured?

The SPSH has been structured in a way that allows for sector wide co-ordination and alignment across all organizations. The Programme is governed by a committee comprised of National and Provincial Government; SALGA; NASHO; TUHF; and Government's two agents - the NHFC and SHF.

This Programme Steering Committee (PSC) is convened and led by the National Department of Housing. Approvals of funding, bridging finance, and technical support are co-ordinated also through a committee structure that brings all relevant organizations into one meeting, called the Approvals Co-ordinating Committee (ACC). This committee is comprised of the Department; the NHFC; TUHF; SHF; and management of the SPSH.

The committee is convened and led by the head of the SPSH. The day to day management and operations of the SPSH are carried out by a team of both local and international social housing and development support experts who have been recruited and appointed by the National Department of Housing. The international experts have been carefully sourced through contracts that National Government has entered into with the European Union; the Government of the Netherlands; and Rooftops Canada.

The local experts have been contracted either on the basis of their particular field of expertise, or have been seconded to the SPSH from the Department of Housing, the NHFC; TUHF; and the SHF.

What practical assistance does the Programme offer?

The SPSH offers practical support to a limited range of recipients. This support is all structured in one of three ways - either Grant Support; Technical Support; or Bridging Finance. The recipients of this support are the following:-

1. Social Housing Institution's (including housing associations and municipal entities)
2. Local, Provincial and National Departments of Housing
3. The National Association of Social Housing Organisations (NASHO)
4. The Trust for Urban Housing Finance (TUHF)

A detailed description of this support has been supplied in this brochure. Look for the leaflet enclosed outlining the specific area that you may be interested in.

Last Update: 14 November 2007

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