In 1994 millions of people in South Africa stayed in informal houses, overcrowded backyard shacks or far from where they worked. The housing backlog and the slum living conditions it created was a central concern of the government.

In September 2004, the government released a comprehensive housing plan for the following five years. This plan, called Breaking New Ground, had the following targets:

1. Removal or improvement of all slums in South Africa as rapidly as possible, but not later than 2014.
2. Fast-tracking of the provision of formal housing within human settlements for the poorest of the poor and those people able to afford rent and or mortgages.
3. The creation of rental stock of housing for a rapidly growing, mobile (migrant) and urban population within the inner city and other locations close to employment opportunities.
4. To speed up development by removing administrative blockages and to aim to reduce the time for permission to be granted for building to 50% of the current time.
5. To educate and train housing consumers (owners and rental users) on their rights and responsibilities.

The Breaking New ground plan includes the development of low-cost housing, a stronger emphasis on medium-density housing, affordable rental accommodation, the strengthening of partnerships with private housing developers; social infra-structure and facilities. The plan also aims to change existing spatial settlement patterns, driven by the need to build multicultural communities in a non-racial South Africa. The gradual replacement of informal settlements with adequate and secure housing in well-serviced communities is a critical aspect of the plan.