The importance of service delivery in the form of housing cannot be over emphasised. To alleviate the growth of informal settlements the South African government has initiated reconstruction development programmes. The study determined issues preventing adequate delivery of low-income housing in the Gauteng province.  A quantitative approach was adopted, which meant administering a structured questionnaire to the nominated occupants. Collected data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The findings revealed that availability of land, apartheid legacy, poor political will, urbanisation and migration, and budget constraints were recognised issues preventing adequate delivery of low-income housing. While poor on-site supervision, escalating construction costs and inadequate checks and controls were categorised amongst issues that showed no impact on adequate delivery of low-income housing. Adequate service delivery in the form of housing requires political willingness in order to re-write the imbalances of the past, this also includes absolute eradication of corruption. Private participation cannot be ignored for low-income housing, provisions and willingness to involve the private sector towards the acceleration of adequate delivery of low-income housing should be enhanced. Lastly, the study warns that during the delivery of adequate low-income housing, user satisfaction should also be considered.