According to the city, 237 social housing units will be built as part of a larger mixed-use development.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced on Thursday that 237 social housing units will be built in the inner city.
This follows the council’s approval to release city-owned land known as the ‘Fruit & Veg’ site for affordable housing development.
1. Where it will be built and what makes the location special?
According to the city, the development will be constructed on a 3 300 square metre site between Kent and Bloemhof streets.
It stated that the location sits on the edge of District Six and the CBD.
Additionally, residents will have walking distance access to the city centre, MyCiTi bus stations, schools and universities.
“This is the kind of address that can change people’s lives and open up entire new avenues of opportunity for them,” Hill-Lewis said.
He described this as breaking down “the spatial legacy of the apartheid era by offering far more affordable housing options in all well-located urban centres in the metro where people want to live and work”.
2. What will be built and how it has grown?
According to the city, developer YG Group will construct 237 social housing units as part of a larger mixed-use development.
The city added that the complete project will include 375 residential units in total and 435 square metres of retail space.
“Social housing unit yield has increased from the originally proposed 180 to 237 units as part of the proposal by developer, YG Group.”
The city is maximising social housing on this site through new measures, including guidelines for discounting land, property rates, and utility charges for this development.
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3. Who qualifies and the broader housing pipeline
The social housing units target households earning between R1 850 and R32 000 per month.
Cape Town is pioneering efforts to enable greater social and affordable housing delivery for this income bracket.
Hill-Lewis revealed that this project forms part of a massive affordable housing pipeline of 12 000 well-located units across the city, including thousands of units in inner city areas such as Woodstock, Salt River and Maitland.
“We pledged to speed up the delivery of more affordable accommodation across Cape Town, and so far this term we’ve released more land for social and affordable housing than in the 10 years prior combined,” Hill-Lewis stated.
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4. How Cape Town is speeding up development
According to the mayor, the city has implemented significant legislative reform to make building approval quicker and easier.
“Hands-on support for micro-developers including a new township development fund to help reduce development costs, and pre-approved building plan templates,” Hill-Lewsi added.
These initiatives form part of the city’s programme for accelerated land release for affordable housing.
Cape Town’s accelerated land release means the city’s projects now feature strongly in the Social Housing Regulatory Authority’s national funding pipeline.
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5. What’s holding back more social housing?
Mayoral committee member for human settlements, Carl Pophaim, identified constraints in the national housing subsidy regime as the biggest handbrake to Cape Town’s social and affordable housing programme.
“To really ignite the social housing sector in South Africa, we need national government to come to the party when it matters – in their actual budgets – as opposed to the promises made during state of the nation addresses,” Pophaim said.
“Pro-poor grant funding to metros that spend these funds well and responsibly is one of the best ways national government can spend its money. It is crucial that all three spheres of government pull together in the same direction to deliver affordable housing at scale and pace.”
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