The Department of Human Settlements (DHS) released a call for proposals for the future impact evaluation of informal settlements targeted for upgrading. This proposal was drawn up in response to this call and proposes to undertake the study as per the terms of reference. The purpose of the study is to collect data for use by the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) in achieving the following specific objectives: 1. Strengthen implementation and improve the performance of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme 2. Determine the nature and sustainability of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme outcomes 3. Determine measureable impacts on beneficiaries and communities that the upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme produces At the inception meeting held in January 2014, both the DHS and HSRC met to agree on the deliverables of the current study. The meeting agreed that the HSRC was to fill in the gaps in the proposal that was submitted, cite authors recommended by the DHS and include key policy documents that were not cited in the proposal. Subsequent meetings required the research team to provide more details on their understanding of the UISP, NUSP, the theory of change framework provided. This report is an attempt to address the recommendations of the inception meeting and the technical working group.