The development of housing policy in South Africa in the post apartheid period

Housing is one of the greatest problems facing the new South Africa. This paper outlines the ways housing policies have been developed in the period up to and following the first free elections in May 1994. The paper summarises the Housing White Paper (Department of Housing, 1994a) which forms a comprehensive basis for current policies. The most interesting feature which emerges from this policy‐making process is how far consultation and consensus, with the active involvement of many pressure groups such as the National Housing Forum, allowed an African National Congress (ANC) dominated government, to produce a package of proposals which have private finance rather than collectivist solutions at their core.