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Here is selection of journal articles and books available from our Resource Centre. Some of this information can be accessed directly from the original source and others from the Resource Centre.

Location, Location, Location: The 3L Approach To House Price Determination
Katherine A. Kiel a, Jeffrey E. Zabel, Jnl of Housing Economics 17 (2008)

The immobility of houses means that their location affects their values. This explains the common belief that three things determine the price of a house: location, location, and location. We use this notion to develop the 3L Approach to house price determination. That is, prices are determined by the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), town, and street where the house is located. This study creates a unique data set based on data from the American Housing Survey (AHS) consisting of small ‘clusters’ of housing units with information on structure and resident characteristics that is merged with census tract-level attributes. We use these data to test the 3L Approach: we find that all three levels of location are significant when estimating the house price hedonic equation. This indicates that the concept of ‘‘neighborhood” is multifaceted; individuals care about their very local surroundings such as the general upkeep of their street and possibly their neighbors’ characteristics (cluster variables), and a broader area such as the school district and/or the town that accounts for school quality and crime rates (tract variables). We show that price indices and evidence of discrimination and prejudice in the housing market are affected if all three levels of location are not included in the house price hedonic model.

What Is Ailing Low-Cost Housing Delivery In The EC
Kusambiza, F ; Transformer v14(3) 2008

Housing delivery in the Eastern Cape is under the microscope, having once again attracted the scrutiny of the national Department of Housing and media. This article discusses the key factors that have contributed to the current dissatisfaction in housing delivery in the Eastern Cape.

Banking Millions On Affordable Housing
Township Property, Issue 1 2008

As the government-set deadline for building low-cost houses looms, major banks are releasing money from their coffers to try and meet the 2008 target to reduce the housing backlog.

Basil Read – Giving A New Face To Townships
Township Property, Issue 1 2008

Basil Read is the company which pioneered Cosmo City, a R3,5 billion mixed –use residential township north of Randburg. Cosmo City is the flagship for integrated mixed-use projects which has proved to be highly successful. Basil Read is now expanding the concept to other areas of Gauteng and the rest of the country. One of their new projects is with Old Mutual is in Doornkuil, near Orange Farm, in the Midvaal municipal area. There will be 60% of fincanced Linked houses and 40% bonded houses to cross subside the project. The entire new project will eventually see 18 000 houses built.

The Urban Edge
The Property Developer, March 2008

An urban edge is a demarcated line to manage, direct and control the outer limits of development around an urban area, with the intention of establishing limits beyond which urban development should as a rule not occur, and to promote urban urban environmental efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the interests of all.

Development And The Law
The Property Developer, March 2008

Court finds that there is no conflict between the Townships Ordinance and the Facilitation Act: either the one or the other may be followed in rezonings and township establishments. City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Gauteng Development Tribunal (05/6181)

Yay Or Nay To Mixed-Income Developments As A Viable Housing Solution
Commercial and Industrial Property News, June 2008

South Africa’s government is set to clear out informal settlements by 2014, with some saying that mixed-income developments are the way to go to meet this deadline. The concept of mixed-income developments arouses heated responses from those for and against it, with differing views on the impact they will have on property values. And even though mixed-income developments have worked in other countries, their viability in South Africa has to been seen in its own specific context.

Rules And Orders: The Building Blocks Of Good Governance
Local Government Bulletin, April/May 2008

How does a municipality makes its decision-making procedures clear and legally sound? How does it ensure that every councillor can participate meaningfully in council meetings? How does it keep council and committee meetings orderly and prevent councillors from abusing their freedom of expressions.

Community Residential Unit Toolkits and Guide

The Community Residential Units (CRU) programme is an initiative of the National Department of Housing (NDoH) in South Africa. The CRU is a relatively new programme whose implementation cuts across all three spheres of government. It has as its overall aim the provision of secure, stable rental tenure for lower income persons (with an income of between R800 and R3, 500 per month). The CRU programme provides a once-off capital grant and supports the long-term maintenance of public owned stock that is being used for affordable rental housing. This guide is intended to introduce the CRU programme and set out the principles, procedures and practices that are required to implement CRU projects. It separates these into the actions required from each sphere of government and those that will need inter-governmental decisions. Also included are a number of tools and templates that are intended to assist government planners and managers in their tasks.

Enforcement of Rental Housing Tribunal Orders
Dr Sayed Iqbal Mohamed, Property Law Digest (June 2008)

The Rental Housing Tribunals are said to have no "teeth" since they cannot enforce rulings and cannot (after serving a subpoena) compel a witness to attend or to have a party produce documents. Six years after the establishment of at least three Rental Housing Tribunals (RHTs), enforcing its rulings still poses the greatest challenge. If a party is affected by non-compliance of the RHT's ruling, there is no "Notice to Renew Proceedings" to have the matter heard. The members of the RHT are said to be functus officio and the doctrine of the res judicata rule applies.If a party ignores a summons to appear before the RHT, there is no recourse to hold the party in "contempt of court" and to compel the party to attend a hearing or to comply with any orders or rulings
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The Resource Book on Housing Chapters for Sustainable Human Settlement
National Department of Housing

The National Department of Housing has introduced the Housing Chapters of IDP's guidelines for the development of housing plans in the integrated development planning process and suggests an approach to the formulation of Housing Chapters of Municipal IDP's. The Housing Chapter of Municipal IDP's must be considerably enhanced to include municipal housing needs assessment, the identification, surveying and prioritisation of informal settlements, the identification of well located land for housing, the identification of areas for densification, the linkages between housing and urban renewal and the integration of housing, planning and transportation frameworks. The objective of the Resource Book is to provide a practical resource to support the undertaking of planning for housing delivery within the Framework of Sustainable Human Settlement.
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The Urban Development Programme: 1996- 2007 Swedish-South African Cooperation
Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)

This publication consists of 7 booklets, each covering a different theme: integrated municipal development; ownership upgrading and community development; housing; transport and traffic safety; environment, waste management, water and sanitation ; hiv and aids; municipal partnerships. The intention of these booklets is to share lessons learned from ten years of urban development cooperation between South Africa and Sweden, involving active partners in both countries. It is hoped that the experience gained by the municipalities of Sol Plaatje, Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay will inspire other local government staff and politicians to explore development possibilities and sustainable solutions in their communities.
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Resources of the Week: Open...Stuff
Shirl Kennedy. www.freepint.com

When we hear the term “open source,” we typically think of software. When we hear the term “open access,” we typically think of journals. But you’ll find other types of open…stuff out there on the Web, and we’ve got a couple of stellar examples for you.
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Adapted from SHF Resource Centre Information Bulletin.

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