Reply:

The total cost of a Government subsidised houses is made up of three major cost elements comprising of the purchase of the site (raw land), the costs relating to the township establishment process and installation of municipal engineering services, as well as the construction cost of the top structure.

The cost of acquiring raw land is influenced by factors such as its location and market value and this even varies from one human settlements project to the next situated within the same municipal area. The purchasing of raw land is funded from a Provinces' Operational Budget while in some scenarios the raw land is already in the ownership of the Province. As a result, no standard purchase price can be used for reporting purposes.

The cost of the township establishment process and the installation of municipal engineering services are influenced by whether A Grade or B Grade services are being installed. My Department has calculated these costs and announced it to be of an indicative nature. The indicative cost of A Grade services is set at R45 985,00 while that of B grade services is set at R36 258,00.

Besides, for the level of the municipal engineering services the installation costs may escalate due to the introduction of precautionary measures that are required to adequately address extraordinary circumstances such as dolomite, sinkholes, retention walls and rocky areas.

These measures are required to ensure that houses can withstand the conditions of the area. Resulting from these precautions there will also be an increase in the fees for professional services. For contract and budgeting purposes all variations in cost are calculated by using an electronic Variation Calculator.

Ultimately it is the prerogative of the Provincial Member of the Executive Council (MEC) responsible for Human Settlements to approve of the final costs of the installation of the municipal engineering services. The cost is to be funded from the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG).

For the 2018-19 financial year the subsidy amount available for the construction of a standard top structure is set at R116 867,00. The actual cost of the construction of the top structure may increase due to a number of factors. The Ministerial Minimum National Norms and Standards for the construction of Stand Alone Residential Dwellings financed through National Housing Programmes provides that each house comprising of 40m² gross floor area, must as a minimum, be designed on the basis of:

• Two bedrooms;
• A separate bathroom with a toilet, a shower and hand basin;
• A combined living area and kitchen with wash basin;
• A standard basic electrical installation comprising a pre-paid meter with distribution box and lights and plugs in all living areas of the house;

Subsidised houses to be provided to disabled persons who are dependent on wheel chair use comprises of 45m² gross floor area. The increased size provides for the specific needs in respect of the layout of the house as a bigger bathroom, and wider doors are a pre-requirement to ensure adequate movability

In addition my Department has entered into a Joint Position with the Department of Military Veterans to provide subsidised houses comprising a maximum 50m² of gross floor area to qualifying military veterans. The cost resulting from the additional 10m2 increased gross floor area and other additional aspects such as the ceramic floors tiles throughout the house, kitchen cupboards with a electric twin hop, carport with paving and perimeter fence for each property are financed by the Department of Military Veterans

With regard to the special housing needs of certain categories of disabled beneficiaries, an increase in the subsidy amount is needed to ensure that housing units delivered through the National Housing Scheme are adjusted to accommodate the special housing needs of a disabled beneficiary (or a member of the beneficiary household) to enable them to live independently, certain additions/alterations are necessary.

These disabled beneficiaries fall into the following categories and assistance is provided in line with their specific needs and additions or alterations to the housing product are effected:

• Needs walking aids;
• Partial/Full-time usage of wheel chair;
• Partially/profoundly deaf;
• Partially/totally blind; and/or
• Partially/total movement loss/paralysis in the upper body limbs.

For comparative purposes the costs involved in the provision of subsidised houses during the 2018-19 financial year are provided below. The table provides for the installation of A Grade municipal engineering services (which is R9 727,00 more expensive than B Grade services but is most often installed) and shows the financial impact of providing different sizes of houses:

	Standard 40m2 house	Disabled 45m2 house	Military Veterans 50m2 house
Land price or value if in ownership	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
A Grade municipal engineering services (indicative)	R45 985,00	R45 985,00	R45 985,00
Top structure	R116 867,00	R172 929,00	R199 014,00
Total cost	R162 852,00	R218 914,00	R244 999,00

Once again the following table provides for the installation of A Grade municipal engineering services and the different house sizes but the financial impact resulting from geo-technical circumstances and a disability that does not result in an increase of the house size:

	Standard 40m2 house	Disabled 45m2 house	Military Veterans 50m2 house
Land price or value if in ownership	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
A Grade municipal engineering services (indicative)	R45 985,00	R45 985,00	R45 985,00
Hard rock excavation (25%)	R1 554,49	R1 554,49	R1 554,49
Average ground slope of more than 1:5	R3 844,44	R3 949,42	R4 054,41
Top structure	R116 867,00	R172 929,00	R199 014,00
Category E: Partially/totally blind. Installation of fittings to improve quality of life: Access to house (12 m² paving, and ramp at doorway), kick plates to doors, hand rails and grab rails, lever action taps, 1 m vinyl folding door in bathroom, slip resistant flooring and colour contrast on doorways, stairs, corners of buildings and skirting on walls.	R20 088,95	R20 088,95	R20 088,95
Total cost	R188 339,88	R244 506,86	R270 696,85

With effect from 1 April 2018 the Housing Subsidy Scheme has been enhanced to provide for the inclusion of six new higher density housing typologies for individual and sectional title ownership. The new higher density housing typologies and the maximum subsidy amount per unit are:

• Double storey semi detached unit with mono pitch roof R133 147,82
• Double storey semi detached unit with dual pitch roof R135 176,54
• Double storey semi detached unit with mono pitch roof R138 577,15
• Three storey walk-up: 12 units per block R166 046,32
• Three storey walk-up: 12 units per block R166 704,99
• Three storey walk-up: 6 units per block R180 104,38

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NUMBER: 2468

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 24 AUGUST 2018

A VAWDA

DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL: HUMAN SETTLEMENTS DELIVERY FRAMEWORKS

DATE:

___________________________________________________________________

Recommended/not recommended

M TSHANGANA

DIRECTOR-GENERAL

DATE:

___________________________________________________________________

Approved/Not approved

N MFEKETO, MP

MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

DATE: