By Nozipho Dlamini

The Gauteng Partnership Fund (GPF) will invest R107 million for various housing projects in the province in the next financial year.

The GPF was established to promote public/private partnerships and is tasked with improving residential buildings and the construction of housing units in the inner city.

According to the MEC, this investment will be used to provide a bridging facility in partnership with the Trust for Urban Housing Fund (TUHF) for small entrepreneurs to acquire buildings for refurbishment.

The fund has also collaborated with the French Development Agency and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to provide funding for pre-feasibility funding for various housing projects in the province.

“This funding will ease up the burden on government to provide a portion of the housing subsidy for planning,” said the MEC.

In government’s quest to de-racialise human settlements, she said they had diversified housing products to give people a wide scope of choice.

“We launched a mixed-income housing project called the Cosmo City in the northern part of Johannesburg.

“Cosmo City is well on track with almost 1 245 houses being finalised,” she said, adding it was government’s endeavour to improve the quality of housing products.

“The department in conjunction with National Home Builders Registration Council will be experimenting with alternative building technology.

“In this regard we have approved a pilot project consisting of 200 stands in Thorntree View, in Tshwane, in which houses with a floor area of 45m2 using the full subsidy amount of R39 929 will be constructed,” said Mokonyane

She added that last year the provincial government had resolved to issue title deeds timeously through the Transfer of Rental Properties (TORPS) and the Regulation and Transfer of Ownership (RETRO) sub-programmes.

By December 2005 a total of 15 391 properties were transferred through TORPS and the target is to transfer 20 000 properties by March 2006.

In the next fiscal year plans are to transfer another 20 000 properties.

With regard to the RETRO sub-programme 6 700 properties had been transferred by December 2005 and aims are to finalise the programme by December 2006.

Source: BuaNews