EVENTS
DAY TWO
Day two shared practical steps taken by the private sector to provide affordable housing . Guy Briggs , director and head of urban design at dhk Architects , and as chairperson he welcomed delegates back for the day .
Paul Jackson , CEO of TUHF Limited , was first up to talk about tackling housing affordability . He looked at future directions and the ‘ game changers ’ for affordable housing , touching on some success stories . One of these stories featured Josephine Tshaboeng , a former domestic worker , who was one of the recipients of financial assistance . She is now a property owner in the inner-city .
Briggs was up next ; he talked about co-creating the future of housing in Africa for better housing delivery . “ There is an extraordinary market out there for micro developers and investors ,” he said .
PROTESTING THEIR CAUSE
There was quite a bit of commotion after the morning refreshment break in anticipation of Councillor Brett Herron , Mayoral Committee member of Transport and Urban Development Authority ( TDA )’ s presentation . Various protestors who are unhappy with the gentrification of Salt River in Woodstock ( Cape Town ) showed up with placards in hope of getting the councillor ’ s attention . Journalists also came along and the extra ‘ guests ’ caused quite a stir in the proceedings .
Councillor Herron managed to calm down the crowd , engaging with the housing activists and advising that he would address them after his presentation .
Herron ’ s informative presentation talked about developing a road map for housing delivery to systematically increase access to housing and introduce sustainable , long term solutions . “ We are determined and committed to make Cape Town an inclusive city ,” he said . “ Change does not happen overnight but we ’ re making a good start .”
Just before lunch , Grahame Cruickshanks , EDGE technical manager from the Green Building Council of South Africa ( GBCSA ), delved into the excellence in design for greater efficiencies through appraising the benefits of EDGE certification for the affordable housing sector .
CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE CONTINUED
After lunch , the two streams once again broke into their respective sessions . Llewellyn van Wyk , principle researcher , Built Environment from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ( CSIR ), chaired the first stream , delivered the opening remarks and presented on mitigating the escalating costs of materials and labour using alternative building technologies ( ABTs ).
Such as choosing the right materials , design and engineering at little or no additional cost , cultivating a green building mindset from project inception and increasing resistance to hazards and developing projects that comply with green building codes .
Turner & Townsend directors , Wanda Chunnett and Stephen O ’ Brien , looked at unlocking the value in supporting infrastructure . They addressed the challenges with supporting infrastructure , transport equity for children , unemployed and older people , examined the funding models that can be leveraged and discussed case studies and success stories surrounding the topic .
Discussing the significance of the implementation of National Building Regulations in relation to ABTs in the affordable housing sector was led by Rudolf Opperman , technical advisor for the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications ( NRCS ). He dug into the mandatory performance requirements , how to enforce compliance with National Building Regulation requirements by home builders and how to ensure ‘ fitnessfor-purpose ’ of the design elements .
INCLUSIVE HOUSING FINANCE PART TWO
The opening remarks of the second stream were delivered by professor Jeremy Gorelick , senior infrastructure finance advisor from USAID .
Gregory Connellan , executive director of Chartwell , discussed how to approach a housing market at a tipping point through innovative private equity solutions . This can be done by understanding the opportunities and challenges in the African housing market , by utilising product innovation to overcome the challenges of affordability as well as through developing innovative financing solutions to unlock the housing value chain .
Gorelick examined how to engage sub-sovereign governments in financing the delivery of affordable
Alvin Paules chief enterprise architect , Public Services , SAP Africa .
Dave Duke , GM urban and social development , SMEC SA . See more on page 16 .
14
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2017
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING