Click for bricks

To raise awareness around South Africa’s housing shortages, Property24.com has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity South Africa to launch the Property24 Clicks for Bricks Challenge. According to Propoerty24.com, while the challenge is running, it will donate R5 towards the R91 000 cost of building a home for every ‚like’ it gets on its Facebook page.

The South African housing backlog is expected to take another two decades to clear and according to the latest statistics from the President’s Coordinating Council, 2.1 million homes are still required for 12 million people. Yet, Habitat for Humanity South Africa maintains that simple, decent, affordable housing is a vital platform for effecting change from one generation to the next for families, communities and South Africa at large.

To make a contribution towards housing in South Africa and raise awareness around the country’s housing shortage, Property24.com has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity South Africa to launch the Property24 Clicks for Bricks Challenge. For every ‚like‚ that Property24.com receives on its Facebook page, facebook.com/property24, they have pledged to donate R5 towards the R91,000 cost of building a home. The goal is to achieve 18,200 likes, donate the R91,000 to Habitat for Humanity South Africa, and then invite members of the page to be part of the building team that constructs the actual home. Property24.com will share the challenge’s progress with its Facebook community via a fun and interactive application that portrays the construction stages of the home being built as the target draws nearer.

‚Every day we see thousands of people searching for their dream homes on Property24.com,‚ said JP Farinha, Property24.com General Manager. ‚But the stark reality is that for so many South Africans formal, sustainable housing seems like a pipe dream. The Property24 Clicks for Bricks Challenge is our way to give something back and support social change in the country.

‚We’re looking forward to sharing our progress with our community so that they know their ‚like‚ wasn’t an empty gesture but actually contributed to changing the life of a family.‚

Since 1996, Habitat for Humanity South Africa has built homes for 3,045 families comprising 15,225 individuals across 34 communities in the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Its model is based on community participation as well as 60 hours of ‚sweat equity‚ ¬≠¬≠from the beneficiary, meaning physical work on other people’s houses, before qualifying for their own house.

‚We don’t just build houses and walk away – we believe in providing a holistic process in vital skills and social development,‚ said Adrienne Burke, National Marketing and Communications Officer.

Once a beneficiary qualifies for a house, they are taken through a series of workshops covering essential topics such as budgeting, how to pay your rates and taxes, home maintenance and financial planning for the future.

In addition, Habitat for Humanity employs and uses artisans from the community or provides on-site skills training for those wishing to find employment or start their own business.

‚We believe a decent home is not merely bricks and mortar,‚ said Adrienne Burke. ‚A home is instrumental in breaking the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next by giving families a safe, healthy environment in which to live and study in, as well as provide a viable investment for the future.

‚We applaud the Property24 Clicks for Bricks Challenge and look forward to them reaching their goal.‚

Property24.com’s Facebook page shares useful property-related information with house-hunters, homeowners and estate agents.

To contribute towards building the house, visit www.facebook.com/property24 and simply click on the ‚like‚ button.