There shall be houses, security and comfort

This paper outlines the centrality of housing to sustainable livelihoods within the rubric of human security and focuses on South Africa's national housing subsidy programme, its delivery output and impact on livelihoods. It also discusses the primacy of security of tenure within the context of the contemporary mortgage-induced international financial crisis-- to which South Africa has not been immune. The paper argues that housing is an important element of human security and that its role in a holistic approach to improving safety should be assessed through further research.