Bridging the divide in the affordable housing sector

Abstract

The road to success is one often paved with obstacles that prevent the top structure developers in the affordable housing sector from reaching their goal of becoming serious market contenders. This study has therefore been dedicated to developing a management model that may be applied by top structure developers to assist them in reaching this goal. This management model has been developed based by firstly introducing the top structure developer to the concepts of competitiveness and strategy that will enable them to adopt a mindset conducive to this. This was followed by developing a model supported by research conducted in literature to establish a sound foundation from which to conduct empirical research on the topic. The findings of the empirical research indicated that the affordable housing sector is characterised by a dynamic environment that lends itself to being susceptible to numerous internal and external influences. Two factors have been identified as being of paramount importance in their contribution in creating volatility in this industry. These factors are: access to serviced erven and access to mortgage finance that top structure developers need to meet the requirements and needs of the affordable housing consumer. A methodology has thus been developed based on the insights gained from literature and respondents that have been interviewed as part of the empirical research component of this study. This will aid the top structure developer in dealing with this and other issues in becoming able to bridge the divide in the affordable housing sector. Success is not guaranteed, only a better chance of being considered a serious market contender.