Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [109-111]). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-116). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves ii-xv). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Also available in print.

Both Namibia and South Africa have had mixed success in their housing policies since the advent of democracy in both countries in the 1990s. This paper proceeds from the hypothesis that each country can learn useful lessons from each other in respect of housing policy. The primary purpose of this research was to describe and systematically compare the housing policies of Namibia and South Africa. The historical backgrounds of the countries, existing policies and the manner in which the policies are implemented were investigated. The research examined the housing policies of Namibia and South Africa in terms of their similarities and differences and to consider the impact and implications. Namibia and South Africa vary in their expenditure commitments to provide affordable homes. Their housing policy strategies also differ. Differences reflect different levels of prosperity and differences in governance and institutional arrangements. The study concluded that the policies of Namibia and South Africa are, in the main, similar in that both Namibia and South Africa have enacted legislation that govern matters related to housing – either as housing relates to financing and affordability or as a function of ownership. South Africa stands out, however, in that the right to adequate housing is a prescript of the constitution. In both the investigated countries, there is evidence that their policies are committed to a housing process built on the foundations of people’s participation and partnerships. But there are also differences with regard to implementation. In this study, it is brought to bear on both countries that the provision of housing was not all that successful. But good policies are a good start to a successful outcome of a process.

Paradigms of housing policies in developing countries have undergone significant changes since the 1940s in the post-colonial era. The involvement of international development agencies such as the World Bank and the United Nations with their substantial financial and technical resources have engendered a conventional narrative of the hegemony of paradigms sponsored by these agencies. It is in this light that the “enabling principles” of housing policy emerged as the dominant policy discourse from the 1980s. This housing paradigm -“enabling shelter policies” –was actively promoted by the World Bank and the United Nations, acting through its housing agency the UN-Habitat, for adoption by developing countries to reform their housing sectors from the 1980s. One of the main instruments of the enabling principles was the withdrawal or contraction of the state from direct housing development in preference for private sector-led and community initiatives in housing development. Government involvement in direct development of housing was conceived to be an ineffective policy choice which had little geographic impact and therefore had to give way to a systematised approach to housing delivery. Ghana was one of the first African countries to adopt these principles for the reform of the housing sector in the country. Two decades later, it has been observed that the government was making housing policy choices that contradicted the ethos of the enabling principles. In particular it was observed that the state was re-engaging in direct housing development. In the light of the past conception of these activities as being defective policies, their re-emergence was characteristic of policy “reversionism”. This concept of policy reversionism is adopted from theories of theology and criminal justice (where it is known as recidivism) in which processes of reform or progression are reversed. The question explored by the thesis is why housing policy reversionism was emerging and what were the generating factors. The thesis draws on a critical realist perspective to deconstruct the conventional narratives about the homogenous state and the hegemony of international agencies such as the World Bank and the UN in the advancement of “unproblematic” enabling principles through which the housing sector reforms were designed and implemented. In doing so the thesis established the heterogeneity of the state driven by competition for domination by sectoral, intra-state as well as supra-state interests. In this process, hegemony becomes vulnerable to manipulation as these principles were translated or “indigenised”. Furthermore it is established that this nuanced perspective is further complicated by a dialectical relationship between the contexts of events and prevailing material conditions and the actions taken by policy agents. These complexities layered the housing policy sphere in ways that masked the primary motivations of class interests and political legitimisation underpinning the incidence of reversionism.

No description available.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study attempts to establish the determinants of house prices in Namibia and their implications foraffordability of houses. The study made use of the ARDL time series model. The study established that the seven variables in the study are cointegrated. The cointegration results enabled the specification and estimation of the ARDL Error Correction Model. The results established that gross domestic product and interest rates are important in explaining the variations in house prices in the short run. Ironically, money supply and inflation, which are closely linked, were found not to affect house prices in the short run. In addition, national domestic credit, which was used as a proxy for total mortgages advanced in the country,wasnot a significant explanation of house prices in the short run. The study also established that the independent variables included in the ARDL Error Correction Model collectively influence house prices in Namibia in the long run. The implication of this is that policies that are meant to influence house prices in the long term can actually target any one or a combination of the variables included in the study. The main recommendation emanating from the study is that the government should redouble its efforts to provide affordable land and housing to the lower and/or middle income households in Namibia.