Residential satisfaction with subsidised housing in South Africa: implications for innovative transformative policies in human settlements

A study conducted in 2016–2017 in Gauteng province, South Africa, assessed resident satisfaction using both quantitative and qualitative tools (mixed methods). The study was conducted in the five regions of the province, namely, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, Sedibeng, Tshwane and West Rand. Of the 1800 households targeted for the survey, 1718 were visited. The response rate for the study was 95%; that is, 1626 households agreed to participate in the study, 1.9% (33) of these refused to complete the questionnaire and 2.9% (46 households) were “other”, which implied that the members were absent from their households during the survey, despite efforts to return and find them. The highest response rate for the survey was in West Rand (99.6%) and the lowest response rate was in the Johannesburg region (87.9%). Although the study covered different satisfaction levels, this chapter focuses on satisfaction with housing services in the province. The findings reveal that more than half of the subsidy beneficiaries were satisfied with their housing units, electricity and water supply. Satisfaction with housing services should not be confused with satisfaction with the services. Residents in different regions were dissatisfied with the infrequent water and electricity supply. The water and electricity costs were a source of complaints among the residents. This paper argues that the provision of subsidised housing to people who previously did not own any property within the province has granted them access to the city. However, infrequency of water and electricity and the costs of these utilities are a source of dissatisfaction for residents of Gauteng. The contribution of this chapter lies in identifying the elements that cause dissatisfaction and the reasons underlying resident dissatisfaction in the different housing projects and regions. Gender differences in satisfaction were also identified. The paper recommends deploying transformative innovative policies in human settlements to address the underlying causes of resident dissatisfaction in subsidised housing projects