Integrating Poor Populations in South African Cities - Agence ...
Integrating Poor Populations in South African Cities - Agence ...
Integrating Poor Populations in South African Cities - Agence ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
7. Access to Hous<strong>in</strong>g: The Ma<strong>in</strong> End Goal of Urban Development Policies<br />
responsibilities are specified <strong>in</strong> the SRU law and are social rental hous<strong>in</strong>g, access to home<br />
ownership, development, and service provision.<br />
F<strong>in</strong>ancial Mechanisms<br />
The fund<strong>in</strong>g supply devoted to f<strong>in</strong>anc<strong>in</strong>g the social hous<strong>in</strong>g commodity cha<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> France<br />
depends greatly on deposits <strong>in</strong> ‘livret A’ sav<strong>in</strong>gs accounts. Indeed, the loans granted by<br />
social donors are f<strong>in</strong>anced from the funds collected via the ‘livret A’ through the <strong>in</strong>termediary<br />
of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (bank of deposits and escrow). The loan for social<br />
donors is the Prêt Locatif à Usage Social (PLUS, rental loan for social uses). It can be used<br />
to buy land and for construction, as well as to acquire and improve hous<strong>in</strong>g. Hous<strong>in</strong>g<br />
renovation or construction operations break even with the help of not only these ‘livret A’<br />
loans but also of the “1% for hous<strong>in</strong>g”, assistance from local governments, state subsidies,<br />
and tax advantages. The 1% for hous<strong>in</strong>g corresponds to a levy of 0.45% on the payrolls<br />
of companies employ<strong>in</strong>g more than twenty staff. It enables the grant<strong>in</strong>g of subsidies or<br />
construction loans. The subsidies from local governments can be <strong>in</strong>vestment grants or<br />
balanc<strong>in</strong>g and operat<strong>in</strong>g subsidies. In this last case, the local government may reserve up<br />
to 20% of the hous<strong>in</strong>g units concerned for its own use.<br />
108<br />
There are several types of assistance <strong>in</strong> the field of social hous<strong>in</strong>g: build<strong>in</strong>g grants,<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividual assistance, and tax assistance that corresponds to <strong>in</strong>vestment assistance and<br />
can often be likened to a build<strong>in</strong>g grant. The build<strong>in</strong>g grants are dest<strong>in</strong>ed for hous<strong>in</strong>g<br />
producers and lower the cost of <strong>in</strong>vestment dur<strong>in</strong>g the operation. The <strong>in</strong>dividual assistance<br />
is dest<strong>in</strong>ed for recipient households and depends on household <strong>in</strong>come. Concretely,<br />
donors utilize a m<strong>in</strong>imum build<strong>in</strong>g grant to build hous<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> order to optimize resources<br />
because the f<strong>in</strong>anc<strong>in</strong>g is costly.<br />
F<strong>in</strong>ally, <strong>in</strong>dividual assistance makes it possible to bridge the gap between the rent at<br />
which equilibrium would be atta<strong>in</strong>ed and the amount the households are able to devote to<br />
pay<strong>in</strong>g rent. In France, as <strong>in</strong> most European countries, build<strong>in</strong>g grants have been used<br />
massively because they make it possible to ensure a certa<strong>in</strong> level of production, notably<br />
dur<strong>in</strong>g quantitative crises. However, they have turned out to be <strong>in</strong>equitable and costly, and<br />
they were reduced when the state backed away from them <strong>in</strong> favour of <strong>in</strong>dividual assistance<br />
that makes it possible to <strong>in</strong>troduce more flexibility and equity. Individual assistance is more<br />
<strong>Integrat<strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>Poor</strong> <strong>Populations</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> <strong>Cities</strong> © AFD 2009