NHFC celebrates 20 years as pioneer of affordable housing solutions

THE NATIONAL Housing Finance Corporation is creating a new Human Settlements Development Bank, which will go far in addressing the stubborn challenge of achieving scale and provision of housing finance solutions for the informally employed, says NHFC chief executive Samson Moraba.

This year, the NHFC celebrates 20 years as a leader and pioneer in unlocking access to affordable housing and housing finance. Since its establishment in 1996, it has played a role in bringing dignity to the lives of South Africans who could not afford to buy property through mainstream financial institutions.

Today, the NHFC is a leading development finance institution that has played a significant role in meeting the socio-economic challenges of the country. It has funded developments around South Africa, including KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape.

“Following the recent acquisition of the Rural Housing Loan Fund and National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency, the NHFC is preparing to take its history of leadership and corporate governance to new heights,” says Moraba.

“We are well on our way to posi- tioning the NHFC as the springboard of the new Human Settlement Development Bank.

“We are now in a position to ensure that the NHFC has greater leverage capacity to increase and sustain the banking and non-banking housing intermediary contribution to the normalised housing market; and to provide access and options for every South African who has a reasonable source of income to have their housing needs met.”

He says the organisation realised that the challenges go beyond providing finance to ensure access to housing opportunities for South Africans. The NHFC views its role in society through a broader lens, to significantly address the totality of integrated human settlements.

“Over time we have spearheaded the different imperatives of our institution and fine-tuned our product offering to ensure that it achieves the requirements set out by the Department of Human Settlements in our mandate. We have delivered on mobilising housing finance for the underserved segment of the market. The NHFC is now giving its beneficiaries a variety of choices to attain better affordability levels,” says Moraba.

Operating in a market gener- ally defined as households that earn between R1 500 and R15 000 a month, the NHFC has managed to disburse more than R26 billion, with R7.1bn direct, and leveraged R19bn in partnership with a variety of stakeholders. In addition, the NHFC has created 4.3 million houses and opportunities where more than 20 million people have benefitted.

Pilot projects included development of the Housing Investment Partners, Gateway Home Loans, Home Front Finance, Mortgage Default Insurance and the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme.

The NHFC has also achieved significant success in its strategic partnerships through other investments, funders, and joint ventures. These include Trust for Urban Housing Finance, Cape Town Community Housing Company, Agency Francaise Development, European Investment Bank, International Housing Solutions, Gauteng Partnership Fund Old Mutual, Futuregrowth, DBSA, Public Investment Corporation and the Department of Human Settlements.

In the 2015/16 financial year, the NHFC created close to 10 000 job opportunities through the various projects the organisation finances.