Factors influencing the quality of low-income housing in Polokwane Municipality South Africa

Abstract

Recent South African and international evidence highlights the broad and lasting impacts of households, particularly those on low income, when unable to afford higher income counterparts to live in apartments, maintained public housing, and other high-quality houses. A broad range of lowincome houses recently built in South African local municipalities are reportedly defective, due to poor building and construction quality. This study aims to assess and determine the factors influencing highquality housing positively impacting on the lives of a significant proportion of low-income housing projects. Reasons for and obstacles to quality design, construction quality and the development of low-income housing projects were identified. To assess the research questions, a quantitative survey (n=103) was carried out, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select contractors who were active in low-income housing projects within the Polokwane Municipality. The quantitative data gathered were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to determine a combination of descriptive and nonparametric statistics of the data computing the frequencies, mean scores and standard deviations. Selected results show that poor-quality and low-income housing projects are perceived to be related to the contractors, builders and construction practitioners not complying with the standards, variously because of insufficient training or accountability to public authorities and end users of low-income houses, i.e., the beneficiaries. The respondents were of the view that house builders and local government authorities could use five factors, namely quality standards, management, involvement of people, process design and process, planning and scheduling to assess non-conformance to quality requirements in low-income housing projects in South Africa. The finding of this study provides a platform for improving the quality of housing design, construction projects,  sustainability and an opportunity for local and international design and construction professionals to rethink design in the context of low-income housing projects.

Onlangse Suid-Afrikaanse en internasionale bewyse beklemtoon die breë en blywende impak van huishoudings, veral dié op lae inkomste, wanneer hulle nie in staat is om hoër-inkomste eweknieë te kan bekostig, in woonstelle te woon, openbare behuising te onderhou of in ander hoë-gehalte huise te kan woon nie. ’n Wye reeks laeinkomstehuise wat onlangs in Suid-Afrikaanse plaaslike munisipaliteite gebou is, is glo gebrekkig, wat verband hou met swak bou- en konstruksiegehalte. Die doel van hierdie studie is om die faktore wat hoë kwaliteit behuising beïnvloed wat ’n positiewe impak het op die lewens van ’n beduidende deel van lae-inkomstebehuisingsprojekte te bepaal. Redes en struikelblokke vir kwaliteitontwerp, konstruksiekwaliteit en die ontwikkeling van lae-inkomstebehuisingsprojekte is geïdentifiseer. Om die navorsingsvrae te assesseer, is ’n kwantitatiewe opname (n=103) uitgevoer, eenvoudige ewekansige en doelgerigte steekproeftegnieke is gebruik om kontrakteurs te kies wat aktief is in lae-inkomstebehuisingsprojekte binne Polokwane Munisipaliteit. Die kwantitatiewe data wat ingesamel is, is ontleed deur gebruik te maak van Statistiese Pakket vir die Sosiale Wetenskappe (SPSS) om ’n kombinasie van beskrywende en nieparametriese statistieke van die data te bepaal wat die frekwensies, gemiddelde tellings en standaardafwykings bereken. Resultate het getoon dat behuising en lae-inkomstebehuisingsprojekte van swak gehalte beskou word as verwant aan die kontrakteurs, bouers en konstruksiepraktisyns wat nie aan die standaarde voldoen nie, en hulle verskil vanweë onvoldoende opleiding of aanspreeklikheid teenoor openbare owerhede en eindgebruikers van lae-inkomstehuise, dit wil sê die begunstigdes. Die respondente was van mening dat huisbouers en plaaslike regeringsowerhede vyf faktore, naamlik gehaltestandaarde, bestuur, betrokkenheid van mense, prosesontwerp en proses, beplanning en skedulering kan gebruik om die nie-nakoming aan gehaltevereistes in lae-inkomstebehuisingsprojekte in Suid-Afrika te meet. Die bevinding van hierdie studie bied ’n platform vir die verbetering van kwaliteit van behuisingsontwerp, konstruksieprojekte, volhoubaarheid en ’n geleentheid vir plaaslike en internasionale ontwerp- en konstruksiekundiges om ontwerp in die konteks van laeinkomstebehuisingsprojekte te heroorweeg.