Judging by the number of plans given the stamp of approval by local authorities, there is a veritable boom looming in the construction of low-cost housing. The activity looks set to be concentrated in Gauteng, the North West and the Northern Cape.
Numbers released by Statistics SA show that there was a 19% rise in square metres of building plans passed in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period last year.
Most new applications, and the fastest increase, came from builders planning to build homes smaller than 80m2: plans passed for these smaller dwellings increased by 41,2% compared with the first quarter of last year.
Plans passed for bigger homes, classified simply as those equal to or bigger than 80m2, grew by a sedate 8,1%.
There appears to be promise of intensive construction of flats and townhouses, too: plans passed for this category of residential dwelling expanded by 35,7%.
Jacques du Toit, Absa property economist, says the numbers suggest that a pick-up in construction activity in the low-end housing market is likely – especially since the statistics also show that there has been a drop in the completion of these types of dwellings compared with last year.
From the point of view of delivery to the poor, this is good news, Du Toit says.
The rapid growth in plans passed for high-density dwellings such as flats and townhouses confirms the trend towards secure homes, he says.
Rising building costs and property prices could also be moving households towards smaller, more affordable housing, Du Toit says.
Gauteng shows the fastest growth in building plans passed; plans passed for big and small homes, and flats and townhouses, had increased by 127% in the first quarter. At growth of 47%, off a very low base, the Northern Cape was its nearest competitor.
Plans passed for homes smaller than 80m2 were mainly in Gauteng: nearly 6 000 such new building plans (or, number of dwellings) were signed off in the first quarter, which represents a 206% increase on last year. This number accounts for nearly 60% of new plans passed for small dwellings in the first quarter.
