Using Xanita’s X-Board Plus, Newwall Manufacturing (South Africa) is making excellent headway with their housing solution that is aimed at creating affordable homes for the South Africa mass market.

The project, which has been approved by the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), allows a trained team to complete a three-bedroomed house in approximately 20 days. Upgraded honeycomb core (X-Board Plus) gives the panels the required strength yet remains lightweight, speeding up the production time.

The delivery of affordable housing to South Africans has become a major challenge facing the government and private sector. It has become one of the national priorities in the focus to end homelessness. A huge backlog of housing units, due to the dramatic increase in population growth and consequently the number of households over the past years, is the challenge being met. In 2005, the housing backlog for the affordable housing sector was estimated to be at 640 000 houses. This current project aims to create many more homes for South Africans at substantially less than the R4 500 per m² currently quoted in this market.

“As government, our priority in this second decade of our freedom is to provide our people with homes where they can live in security and comfort close to places of work and social amenities.”