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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sustain. Cities
Sec. Social Inclusion in Cities
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frsc.2024.1468668
This article is part of the Research Topic The Dynamics of Sustainable, Inclusive and Equitable Human Settlements View all 5 articles

From Perceptions by Beneficiaries, Can Homelessness Be Reduced Through Self-Help Housing in the Central Region of South Africa?

Provisionally accepted
Nolwazi Qumbisa Nolwazi Qumbisa 1*Fidelis A Emuze Fidelis A Emuze 1John Julian Smallwood John Julian Smallwood 2
  • 1 Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, South Africa
  • 2 Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Self-help housing has been implemented for many years, particularly in developing nations, as an alternative housing approachAs an alternative housing approach, self-help housing has been implemented for many years, particularly in developing nations. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of self-help housing as a mitigation strategy for reducing homelessness in South Africa. The focus was on the perception that housing is commonly regarded as a fundamental necessity provided by the governmentthe government provides, even though beneficiaries ultimately construct their own homes. A qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 25 key informants involved in five projects located in the central region of South Africa. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of self-help housing in addressing homelessness, understand beneficiary perceptions, and identify the challenges associated with both conventional and non-conventional housing delivery methods. The key findings revealed that while both methods present challenges, beneficiaries preferred self-help housing due to their involvement in the projects, the larger housing units they received, and their overall satisfaction with the outcomes. The study concluded that there is a need to reform self-help housing policies in South Africa to efficiently regulate and support incremental housing initiatives across the countryto efficiently regulate and support incremental housing initiatives across the country.Housing is not only a basic human necessity and an indicator of a country's standard of living but alsoa basic human necessity and an indicator of a country's standard of living and a crucial aspect of life, providing shelter, protection, warmth, and a place to sleep (Daly, 2013;Henilane, 2016). In developing countries like South Africa, the government is obligated tomust make efforts to offer subsidised housing options, specifically public housing, to the marginalised segments of the population (Williams-Formatted: English (South Africa) Formatted: English (South Africa) Formatted: English (South Africa) Formatted: English (South Africa) Formatted: English (South Africa) Formatted: Justified Formatted: English (South Africa

    Keywords: Beneficiaries1, Homelessness 21, Public housing 32, Self-help housing43, Sustainable human settlement 54 Left, Space After: 12 pt

    Received: 22 Jul 2024; Accepted: 17 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Qumbisa, Emuze and Smallwood. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nolwazi Qumbisa, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, South Africa

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