An initiative by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), promoting timber as a possible solution to the massive housing shortage has commenced with the Steering Committee having been formed with a number of sub-groups to look into the feasibility.

Image Credit: The Conversation
Timber is used in many parts of the world for housing and is streets ahead of South Africa in Africa.
There are many positive aspects of wood than many believe, and the negative ones are countered effectively by the positives. Wood homes are not new to South Africa having been around in 1800s, and the development of wood and appropriate preservatives and preventative measures has been enormous.
The DTIC is to be commended on this initiative as well as those who have joined the committees coming from architecture, forestry, manufacturing, academia, timber and wood official bodies, associated departments like, Human Settlements, Public Works, Green Building Council of SA, SABS, NRCS and others who have indicated willingness to be part of this initiative.
Several meetings have been held and progress is being made.
The need to house the people of this beautiful country has become critical and such an initiative should be supported by industry, professionals, contractors, developers, government and municipalities.
In a future article, we will look at the pros and cons of timber for affordable housing in South Africa.