Comparing Low-Income Housing Outcomes in Self-Help and Contractor-Driven Projects: the Case for Longitudinal Research

The South African housing research environment is commonly known for its application of the case study approach as a preferred research method. Even the evaluation and assessment of low-income housing developments, to a large degree, are being done through several case studies. However, longer-term assessment or longitudinal studies are virtually absent from this fairly large body of research on low-income housing in South Africa. Although this paper does not deviate from the case study approach, the difference lies in its intent to demonstrate through the housing outcomes of two low-income housing projects (laissez-faire self-help and aided self-help which used a contractor-driven approach) the value and significance of long-term evaluation or longitudinal studies in housing research. Essentially, the paper argues that the limitations associated with one-off case studies and to a large extent, the general absence of longitudinal studies in housing research, lies in the domination of political and economic frameworks. Therefore, the paper showcases the limitations with regard to the interpretation and methods in one-off case studies as opposed to our findings based on longitudinal surveys.