Analysis of Housing in Cape Town, South Africa

According to Newman (2008), housing of the poor has to allow for economic independence and self-care while providing a safe and adequate place to live. The debate about decent housing alone is sufficient to provide a healthier living environment has its roots in the late 1920s, when the unhealthy environment of the slums was associated with numerous social ills. The hands-on approach of the housing and social service agencies was

Another topic demonstrated in the book is inequality at home. For many, home symbolizes stability and physical security; for others it signifies an investment, an identity, or a crucial mark of citizenship. Yet, not every home and community offers all of these advantages, and not everyone takes the same path home. In recent years, buying a home has become more difficult as both wealth and race matter. High cost of home ownership is just one of the many reasons underlying the stratification of secure housing in a strong

The readings for this week fall under the umbrella of “Issues in Housing Policy”, more specifically race, discrimination and segregation. Looking at this topic with the naked eye may lead one to conclude that these issues are age-old, but by looking at the occurrences within the housing policy we can very much conclude that these drawbacks still remain and are salient to the present. To begin, the Schwartz piece highlights that housing policies are mandated to condemn the discriminatory practices that plague real estate and mortgage markets, where African-Americans and other minorities are at a “decided disadvantage”. However, the federal laws passed, such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, prohibiting racial discrimination by real estate

Demitress Ewers Mr. Vandyke English 103 04 February 2016 “Gentrification: Affecting the Poor” Imagine if you have built a life in a community for generations and big project developers push you out of the community. In today’s society, this would be labeled gentrification. Gentrification as a universal definition, pertains to the process of renewal and rebuilding, accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.

The average price for a single family home in the San Francisco Bay Area in the nine-county region was $775,000, according to the CoreLogic real estate information service. The information contains some striking data about the current market and its affordability issues. Year after year in family home sales shows a 4.4 percent increase as buyers look for more expensive homes, driving the prices up higher.

“Gentrification” captures class disparities and injustices created by capitalist urban land markets and policies. This in turn can cause an increasing house expense encumbrance for low-income and working-class households, and the associated personal catastrophes of displacement, removal, and homelessness, are symptoms of a set of institutional arrangements (private property rights and a free market) that support the creation of urban environments to serve the needs of capital accumulation at the expense of the social needs of home, community, family. Displacement from home and neighbourhood can be a shattering experience. At worst it leads to homelessness, at best it impairs a sense of community. Public policy should, by general agreement,

Housing affordability is the relationship between household income and burden of housing costs and is an issue when it prevents population groups from accessing appropriate or secure housing. (3, 4) Australia has seen a severe escalation in rent and house prices that have not been matched by growth of household income. This decline in housing affordability is a result of economic growth, tax incentives for owners and investors, more accessible finance and population growths, which consequently result in an increased demand for housing. (3, 5) Moreover, this is further compounded by land and development limitations that restrict increases in housing

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, any night of the year finds more than 600,000 without shelter, while “3.5 million experience homelessness each year.” There are many factors that contribute to homelessness in America, but overwhelmingly, it is the economic factor which is largely responsible for the continuing rise in our homeless population. Quite simply, there is a shortage of affordable housing in our nation and the housing that is available requires the poor to spend the better part of half of their income on rent alone. This leaves almost nothing leftover to cover basic needs; making putting something away for a rainy day out of the question. Clearly, the cost of housing cannot be met with a minimum

Chapter nine best shows the economic situation of black South Africa, and in turn, the housing situation. “If the crops fail, there is Johannesburg. If there are taxes to be paid, there is work in Johannesburg. If the farm is too small to be divided further, some must go to Johannesburg.” (Paton 83) People are leaving their homes as their land is dying and there is not enough money, so they must relocate to big cities. There is not enough homes for the influx of people in these cities, causing many, primarily black residents to have to rent out rooms in their already full homes. The jobs

On 03/22/2016 Ms. Donna Williams stopped by the office to meet with HS De La Torre to discuss a Housing Plan in order to find any opportunities that family may be eligible to transition into permanent housing. The following was discussed during meeting:

District of Saanich is biggest municipality in Victoria. Saanich has mix of both urban and rural communities on southern Vancouver Island. Saanich has parks, trails, recreation centres, numerous beaches and amenities that a beautiful municipality needs. As beautiful the Saanich can be, people of all age in this community are facing housing affordability issue. We can study this issue by examining the history of Saanich and its local government statistics. However, to address the problem in Saanich by building multifamily housing, and involvement of various organization, and other level of government in municipal, provincial and federal level.

It is the dream of many parents in poor families working dead end jobs, that their children will have the many opportunities that they were not given. Which is why they try their hardest to save up enough money to relocate their families to the suburbs. Regardless, there are some people that believe that if they let such families into their neighborhoods, then they will bring with them all the bad events that that happen in poor neighborhood. As a person that has transitioned from a wealthy to poor then middle class I can give my insight on this matter. I will do so by explaining if a neighborhood shapes who you are, if I would be different if I grew up someplace else. and if suburbs should allow affordable housing.

Multiple reasons exist for the the lack of affordable housing. On the demand side these include population growth and increased migration to urban areas, easily accessible housing finance, tax incentives and a “strong cultural preference for owner-occupied detached houses”. On the supply side, affordability problems are exacerbated by inflexible and slow responses to the need for new housing stock, lack of infrastructure and generally inefficient planning processes and development assessment by local governments.

The housing shortage was one of the main reasons there was no other option. The families in these houses made so little that whatever money they had contributed to the high rent (5-10 shillings per week). There weren’t excess funds to improve the home let alone move to somewhere better. In addition, many of these homes were so decrepit that were deemed condemned. Even so, the houses were not repaired nor rebuilt since

A Slum refers to informal settlements within urban areas or cities. The informal settlements depict inadequate housing and miserable condition with reference to living standards (Meade p 43). In the slums, numerous individuals seek housing facilities within small living spaces. The slums also lack basic local authority services such as sanitation, collection of waste, water, drainage systems, street lighting, and emergency roads. Most slums also lack schools, hospital, and public places that might offer adequate environment for social amenities. The experience of France illustrates the essence of slums within the modern society (Oberti p 58). Crime and unemployment are on the rise within the slums because of the poor