SA's 2.6-million housing backlog stalled by high land costs, budget cuts

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane highlighted the challenges faced in addressing South Africa's housing backlog, which currently stands at 2.6 million units affecting over 12 million people. She cited limited availability and high cost of well-located land, fiscal constraints, and declining grant funding value as key obstacles.

Simelane explained that suitable land near employment, transport, and social amenities is scarce and costly, often delayed by ownership issues, planning approvals, rezoning, and infrastructure requirements. She also noted that fiscal constraints and reduced grant funding hinder the expansion of alternative housing models like social housing, affordable rentals, and serviced sites.

The minister emphasized that the development of well-located land requires substantial capital investment for infrastructure such as water, sanitation, electricity, roads, and transport, which is often not fully covered by project budgets. Additionally, municipalities may have constrained capital budgets and weak revenue bases, further delaying projects.

Simelane acknowledged that fragmented planning, underprepared project pipelines, regulatory delays, procurement inefficiencies, and skills constraints also pose systemic impediments to housing delivery. Despite these challenges, the government delivered 183,788 fully subsidized housing units between 2021/22 and 2025/26, along with 2,199 hostel units and 72 institutional units during the same period.