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The article seeks to provide innovative measures aimed at addressing the delivery of affordable housing market in South Africa in view of diminishing fiscus and rising interest rates. It defines the mortgage finance trends in South Africa through analysis of primary data from financial institutions to establish the level of activity and contrarians. Upon understanding the market challenges, the author recommends sound proposition with respect to engineering responsive interventions diversify with respect to demand and supply side blockages in the Affordable Housing Market in South Africa. Based on the findings, the author has found that interest rate increases have hurt the property market activity greatly and lenders in turn also apply very stringent underwriting standards at the height of high interest rate cycles. Furthermore, it has been established the mortgage credit impairments have increased resulting in significant credit loss as the majority of low- and middle-income households are overindebted and mortgage debtors are on the verge of being foreclosed on due to the risk of default. The article concludes by providing recommendations as interventions and measures aimed at upscaling the delivery of affordable housing in South Africa. 

This article reflects on social welfare system and governance of housing markets from an end-user perspective. The article criticallyanalyses the way in which social welfare has correlated to unsustainable development and created self entitlement behaviours andattitudes in the South African low income housing market. The phenomenon was demonstrable by empirical research whosefindings confirmed an existence of an association between a fully subsidized social housing model (as underpinned by South Africa’s social welfare) and propensity to default on mortgages. The study found that the risk of default by homeowners in the low income housing market in South Africa is influenced by government’s housing grant model. In other words, the research established that the principle of servicing a mortgaged starter property (that is almost similar to a government free house by both structure and design) is not universally accepted by homeowners of these mortgaged houses. The unintended consequences are that the system has created indefinite expectations that potentially could; (i) erode the country’s balance sheet; (ii) add to non-payment behaviour; (iii) pressurize the economic and credit systems; (iv) propagate entitlement attitudes and mindsets; (v) create social instability and (v) widened the country’s balance of payment deficits.

The article seeks to provide innovative measures aimed at addressing the delivery of affordable housing market in South Africa in view of diminishing fiscus and rising interest rates. It defines the mortgage finance trends in South Africa through analysis of primary data from financial institutions to establish the level of activity and contrarians. Upon understanding the market challenges, the author recommends sound proposition with respect to engineering responsive interventions diversify with respect to demand and supply side blockages in the Affordable Housing Market in South Africa. Based on the findings, the author has found that interest rate increases have hurt the property market activity greatly and lenders in turn also apply very stringent underwriting standards at the height of high interest rate cycles. Furthermore, it has been established the mortgage credit impairments have increased resulting in significant credit loss as the majority of low- and middle-income households are overindebted and mortgage debtors are on the verge of being foreclosed on due to the risk of default. The article concludes by providing recommendations as interventions and measures aimed at upscaling the delivery of affordable housing in South Africa. 

This article reflects on social welfare system and governance of housing markets from an end-user perspective. The article criticallyanalyses the way in which social welfare has correlated to unsustainable development and created self entitlement behaviours andattitudes in the South African low income housing market. The phenomenon was demonstrable by empirical research whosefindings confirmed an existence of an association between a fully subsidized social housing model (as underpinned by South Africa’s social welfare) and propensity to default on mortgages. The study found that the risk of default by homeowners in the low income housing market in South Africa is influenced by government’s housing grant model. In other words, the research established that the principle of servicing a mortgaged starter property (that is almost similar to a government free house by both structure and design) is not universally accepted by homeowners of these mortgaged houses. The unintended consequences are that the system has created indefinite expectations that potentially could; (i) erode the country’s balance sheet; (ii) add to non-payment behaviour; (iii) pressurize the economic and credit systems; (iv) propagate entitlement attitudes and mindsets; (v) create social instability and (v) widened the country’s balance of payment deficits.