The government plans to launch a new development agency early next year, as it looks to accelerate its housing development plans.

Joseph Leshabane, chief of operations at the Department of Housing, said the Housing Development Agency would be launched in February, with its main goal being the acquisition of land for housing development.

The agency was established in order to deal with the challenge of acquiring and releasing land, which is seen as being one of the major obstacles to the government meeting its target of eradicating slums by 2014.

“We identified land release as a major bottleneck, especially in urban areas,” said Leshabane.