FEATURES
45
By Benjamin Brits | All image credits SA Affordable Housing
A common misconception is that
affordable housing refers to the prior
“RDP” houses that government issues to
qualifying citizens at a value of between
R50 000 and R70 000 (depending on who
you speak to). However, the affordable
housing market is, in fact, the entire
bracket up to a value of around R800
000 per unit according to values given by
the South African Affordable Residential
Development Association (SAARDA). This
excludes RDP, or now commonly known as
breaking new ground (BNG) housing, which
is considered the upgraded scheme.
The affordable housing sector covers
everything from social housing, private
developments — for sale and rental, joint
ventures between local governments and
construction companies, and a common target
being old inner-city buildings that are re-
developed from derelict to mixed use to cater
to the needs of the sector.
At first glance the sector appears highly
complex with various rules and procedures
in play, involvement of regulatory authorities,
subsidies and various income brackets that
determine affordability, but underneath the
complexity lies an estimated backlog of
2.1 million houses in South Africa. It is little
surprise that this portion of the construction
sector is by far the most active, accounting for
an estimated 75% of construction projects in
the country. A very attractive draw card is that
at current status the sector holds an estimated
total value of more than R1-trillion.
Considering the potential scale of work for
both suppliers and plumbers in this sector, it
is something that should not be overlooked,
especially since the pie is so big and at current
estimates, to reduce the backlog of housing,
this will continue for at least another 10 years.
More importantly, it is an opportunity to sell
2.1 million products or services.
DEVELOPERS AND PLUMBING
Developers or construction companies
unfortunately don’t have the best reputation
as they are seen to bypass the laws in terms
of plumbing products and the use of an
unqualified workforce to drive costs down, as
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
well as push out sub-standard building work.
There are instances where they purchase and
import containers of huge amounts of stock
from the lowest bidder that clearly would be
sub-standard quality, don’t complete projects
and run with the money, and close corporations
when a development is complete so as to not
have any liability or accountability for any poor
or non-compliant workmanship.
However, the industry in general has seen a
shift towards better practices and has been
engaging more regularly with such things
as wet services engineers and registered
plumbers, because although the industry has
been ‘under the radar’ so to speak, it is now
set to take a position in the spotlight where
unscrupulous behaviour will not go unpunished
— especially because the recipients in
the affordable housing units are essentially
vulnerable lower income groups, where every
cent of costs has an impact, and because the
building regulations call for compliance.
Many plumbing companies and suppliers
have already jumped on the bandwagon and
are active in the sector. They will also tell
you that because of the different variations
of how housing is delivered, there will be a
different solution for each project. The product
in affordable housing varies from stand-alone
units, adjoined units, multi-storey units to re-
development projects — all of which require
different solutions.
An estimated value of between R23 000 and
R55 000 per unit may be allocated to plumbing,
depending on the size and scope of the
development and requirements. For example,
some developments include a hot water plant
valued in the millions as well as rainwater
harvesting and greywater treatment plants.
WATER HEATING SOLUTIONS
Most single and adjoined units would use solar
water heating solutions where multi-storey and
re-development of existing buildings would
usually make use of a combination of solar,
heat pumps, industrial boilers, in-line heaters,
and depending on demand may also include
element hot water vessels per floor or unit.
Indirect heating solutions are one of the newer
methods of hot water generation technology.
June 2019 Volume 25 I Number 4