The MLS Story
Bulk Preparation Phase
This is the story of how Pam and her family and friends were involved in building a neighbourhood for themselves. It starts with Pam and some of her friends starting to save for their future housing needs, and then through the contacts they made finding land that a church was willing to donate to them. It also identifies all the processes that they needed to follow to get this land ready for development, including getting planning and environmental approvals.
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Initiation and management: The Flood
A flood, service delivery protest or something else triggers an interest in the Managed Land Settlement approach from the community and / or municipality.
Bulk organising: Electing community leadership
Households in need of land and shelter organise themselves and elect a committee to represent their needs.
Bulk land: Negotiating for land
The committee negotiates with government and others to find land that is well located relative to communities needs and is suitable from a municipal planning point of view.
Bulk planning and environment: Getting planning approvals
A broad framework plan is developed for the identified land and the necessary environmental and other approvals are obtained.
Bulk services: Installing bulk infrastructure
It is confirmed that a minimum level of bulk services is available or can be provided to the project area.
Bulk access: Linking into municipal bus routes
It is also confirmed that the project area is linked into the municipal wide public transport system.
Bulk allocation: Determining who allocated to land
Allocation criteria and process are agreed to by role-players and households are identified who will benefit from the Managed Land Settlement project.
Bulk financing: Securing project finance
The necessary finance is secured to undertake land feasibility studies, develop preliminary plans, buy the land (if required), and put in the bulk infrastructure.
Basic Development Phase
Pam and her friends from the savings schemes now have approval to undertake a Managed Land settlement pilot project on the church land.
Attention now shifts to planning what the blocks will look like, how tenure security will be ensured and how to get some basic level of revives onto the land.
Basic organisation: Learning new skills
Households allocated to the piece of land establish block and/or neighbourhood groups that can make decisions on how to develop their blocks / neighbourhoods.
Basic planning / demarcation: Marking out the plots
Organised groups, with support, determine what the plots and internal roads will look alike a mark out plots within a formally marked out outer boundary.
Basic tenure: Receiving basic tenure certificate
Households are provided with some form of tenure security that outlines their rights and responsibilities related to living on the land, and in relation to the owners of the land and/or those that have authority over managing the land.
Basic services: Using basic services
Households are provided with access to at least a basic minimally accepted level of services, such as communal standpipes and toilets.
Basic facilities: Meeting in rudimentary hall
As soon as possible, from the start of the process, households are provided with access to rudimentary communal facilities and services like schools, clinics, community halls and building material yards.
Basic access: Walking to local taxi stop
The local pedestrian network is prioritised over the vehicular network through the provision of, for example, taxi shelters, pavements, and traffic calming features.
Basic financing: Funders launching new project
Government and other funds are prioritised for the provision of basic planning, tenure, services, facilities and access.
Aided Self Development Phase
Finally Pam, her family and other savings scheme members are now on the land, in blocks, with basic services and tenure, and with access to opportunities beyond the neighbourhood. There challenge now is to create a nice home and neighbourhood for themselves.
Aided organisational development: Self study group learning about organising
Allocated households, at the local scale, organise themselves to be able to accountably represent their needs through the development process.
Aided local resource mobilisation: Members savings through savings scheme
Households start saving money and material and conducting skills surveys so these resources can be channelled towards home and neighbourhood improvement.
Local tenure administration: Households transferring basic tenure rights
The municipality or community structures administer agreed procedures to deal with the transfer of occupation rights and land use etc. so records for tenure rights is maintained.
Aided self build: Households building their own houses
Households organise the building of their own houses using their own resources, following rules for construction as agreed with land owner and municipality. Building support may or may not be provided by government and others.
Aided self growing: Household growing their own food
Households, who want to, start using their plots to grow food and raise small livestock. Agricultural support may or may not be provided by government and others.
Aided self work: Household using plot for business
Households, if they want and after getting the necessary approvals, use their plots to run small businesses. Business support may or may not be provided by government and others.
Aided health and safety: Reporting to community police forum
The community, working with others, undertakes community policing activities; and creating an environment that is safe to and healthy to live in.
Financing aided support: Crèche built with donated funds
Households and community use their own and other local resources to start doing things for themselves on their plots and in their community, with government and others adding to what is already taking place.
Upgrading Phase
Pam and her neighbours achieved a lot in the 7 or 8 years they were on the land without much further government support. They used what money and resources they could get to build themselves some very nice homes, even if these houses where not always of the type normally associated with low income housing.
The housing process has been turned upside down from one where people used to wait for government subsidies to come first and then use their own money to add to what government provided; to one where they first used their own resources (with a little support where possible) to build and create houses and neighbourhoods they could afford and used government money to add to what they had already started.
We now turn our attention to look at how government money and resources can be used to add to what people have started themselves.
Upgrade tenure: Household receiving title deeds
Households who want too, with the support of government and others, arrange for their occupation rights to be converted to individual title deeds, communal title, rental or other form of tenure.
Upgrade Services: Household using internal bathroom
The municipality, in consultation with the community, uses housing subsidies and other funds to upgrade the water, sewerage, roads, storm water, electricity and other services.
Upgrade facilities: Hall converted to business advice centre
The municipality, department of education, health, public works or any other appropriate agency, working with the community, upgrades the social and economic facilities in the community.
Upgrade access: Improved taxi interchange
The municipality or appropriate authority, upgrades the pedestrian paths and shelters as well as the public transport system, improving access and movement within the community and to other parts of the municipality.
Upgrade house: Improved houses and services
The municipality, a developer identified by the community, working with the community and others, using government subsidies upgrades the house that the household has already started building.
Financing upgrading: Celebrating subsidised project completion
The municipality or developer identified by the community, accesses housing subsidies (usually Upgrading of Informal Settlement, peoples Housing process, or individual subsidy) and other subsidies to upgrade the tenure, services, houses and other community facilities.
On-going Phase
Pam and her friends have now finally received government housing subsidies, which were used to add to what they had already started. This is not the end of the process as incremental settlement never ends. People are always maintaining, modifying and improving their homes to suite their changing circumstances. All of the aided support interventions started in the aided self development phase now continues into the future. Lessons continue to be learnt and applied in future phases and projects. The incremental settlement approach is replicated and expanded. Pam’s experience is shared with others in the town, province, country and world.
Continue with aided self development: Painting new room built in house
Households continue, using their own resources, to maintain and improve their homes, gardens, and local small businesses; and where possible to access housing, agricultural and small business support services.
Continue with government maintenance and improvement: Removal of refuse
Government, in consultation with the community, continues to maintain, improve and expand the spaces, services and facilities they have provided.
Diagnosis and planning: Conducting evaluation survey
The community, municipality and others, regularly and throughout the incremental settlement process, reflects on what has been done in previous phases and uses this information to inform subsequent interventions.
Affordability and Sustainability: Making extra money by sewing
Households are able to afford to stay in the house and neighbourhood; and government collects the necessary taxes, rates, service fees and intergovernmental transfers to be able to continue to provide and maintain the spaces, services and facilities at to an appropriate standard.
Replication and expansion: Presenting experience to new community
The government and community share lessons of their experience with others who also undertake develop land and settlements following incremental settlement processes.