Research Report: ‘Jumping The Queue’, Waiting Lists And Other Myths: Perceptions And Practice Around Housing Demand And Allocation In South Africa

seri-sa.org. July 3, 2013. SERI and the Community Law Centre (CLC), based at the University of the Western Cape, have published a new research report entitled ‘Jumping the Queue’, Waiting Lists and other Myths: Perceptions and Practice around Housing Demand and Allocation in South Africa. The report analyses perceptions and practice around housing demand and allocation in South Africa, looking at the policies and processes operating at national, provincial and local level. It attempts to unpack some of the complexity and provide recommendations to government departments at all levels.

It argues that the housing waiting list is a myth and should be eradicated from public discourse on housing in favour of a more nuanced way of characterising the rational, appropriate and humane responses to the broad range of housing needs in South Africa, which are not currently catered for by the market.