FEATURES
With its ability to regulate both air humidity and temperature , a brick building maintains a comfortable interior throughout hot , rainy months – rooms don ’ t become dank and stuffy . Double leaf clay brick walls minimise interior damp and condensation in winter rainfall regions like the western and southern Cape .
Student health : Students are not the tidiest of tenants . Clay bricks are resistant to damage from borer and termites , moulds and fungi , insects and rodents . They do not release Volatile Organic Compounds ( VOCs ) or toxic gases , which results in excellent indoor air quality .
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR
At the recent Student Housing Symposium at the University of Pretoria , Blade Nzimande ( South African Minister of Higher Education and Training ) admitted that his department had insufficient funds to deal with the backlog and needed assistance from the private sector .
He said in the past three years , R1.6-billion in government grants to universities for student housing projects had been supplemented by university funds of R700-million . The combined amount had provided only 9 000 additional beds . This leaves plenty of opportunity for private investors to take up the slack .
There are a variety of options available to universities to address the issue , McMurray advises . Option one is renting a building , a common practise across the world which saves the university from high capital costs .
Secondly , they can put out a tender for someone to build and operate it for them . Then in 12 or 25 years or whatever the model is , it reverts back to the university . They don ’ t have to fork out the capital or take any of the risk – it can simply go to the private sector that specialise in this .
That is for building new capacity . The other side of the coin is upgrading existing capacity .
“ Universities are not in the game of housing , they ’ re in the game of education . That ’ s why it makes sense that everything should be outsourced to companies that specialise in this ,” says McMurray . “ Overseas , a number of Ivy League universities have sold their residences to the private sector that did upgrades , increased the capacity , modernised the buildings and it worked very well for them .”
This takes care of the problem of capital expenditure . The universities receive less funding from the government so they don ’ t have the money to fix existing buildings . The problem isn ’ t just about building student accommodation but also managing these buildings profitably . “ If you handed that whole problem over to the private sector , just imagine how much capital you ’ d free up to support students with grants and other things ,” says McMurray . “ But nobody is engaging the private sector – that ’ s the problem .”
The government is talking about taking existing government building stock such as the Johannesburg CBD and converting it to student accommodation . But it doesn ’ t help if the building isn ’ t in the right place . “ Even in the best case scenario , you ’ ll end up with a bunch of residences in places you shouldn ’ t have them . We don ’ t have the public transport to get them from there to the university . ‘’ It ’ s not safe , it ’ s far from shops and
" There is engagement with the private sector , however , it is very limited - there needs to be more collaboration ."
entertainment . A student ’ s life is not just about studying – you have to cover the full eco-system ,” says McMurray .
Private companies like Respublica build these buildings and ensure they are not reliant on government or even the universities . But often the problem is no matter how much the student wants to stay there – they are not allowed to because of grant or accreditation issues and often there is a lot of unnecessary red-tape .
FUTURE OF STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
There is a silver lining , but it does require all parties to pull together and work together . “ Although there is a relationship between universities , government and the private sector – they could do so much more to collaborate ,” says McMurray .
This collaboration becomes vital when developing new infrastructure , especially with regards to aligning with universities ’ macro-development plans . “ If you have developers going out and doing disparate things , it becomes uncoordinated . Everything becomes more efficient if it ’ s done on a structural nodal basis and not a disparate one ,” says McMurray .
“ The future is promising , though disruptions on campus and a shortage of funding present a serious challenge ,” says Schooling . “ The conversation , at a government and industry level , has shifted towards recognising the 21st Century principles – which bodes well . There is a growing body of research to back up the case for optimal design and the importance of community , connectivity and security .”
“ Green techniques are going to take off because they are cheaper , reduce waste and have the benefit of being very attractive to millennials ,” Schooling predicts . The related innovations in construction methods and materials will incentivise the private sector to step in and address the deficit without risking profit . “ Hopefully , we will see more development on those campuses outside of our main cities , where there is the greatest need .”
A desperate situation it seems , but not an impossible one .
THE FACTS
• 20 years ago , 80 % of the global student population was accommodated in residences . Today , with the dramatic increase of learners heading to university , this figure has dropped to less than 20 %.
• Solving the student accommodation crisis in South Africa alone requires an investment of R240-billion .
• At historically disadvantaged institutions , it is not uncommon for as many as six to 10 students to share a tiny room with no electricity or running water .
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2017 25