Cape Town’s R100 billion plan to keep housing affordable for locals
The City of Cape Town says it aims to take drastic measures to provide more properties for lower and middle-class residents around the city within the next few years.
These new developments would be targeted at households with a monthly income of between R3,500 and R25,000 amid concerns that locals are being priced out of the city.
“This is a mammoth task,” said mayoral committee member Brett Herron. “Addressing such a scale of need requires a radical shift in our financing and planning strategies and delivery methods.
“This would be achieved by spending R101 billlion over the course of the next 20 years, to provide over 650,000 housing opportunities,” he said.
Herron pointed out that by rezoning the entire city, it would become much easier to fulfill these promises and speed up the development of affordable housing.
“Currently, the city cannot get access to social housing grants from national government unless suitable land is located within a restructuring zone.
“No eligible site or land that meets the criteria for the provision of affordable housing should be excluded to promote integration, reverse the legacy of apartheid, and provide safe and accessible housing to lower-income groups on the basis of the Social Housing Act of 2008.”
Herron noted that the plan is subject to Western Cape government, and the national minister’s approval, but that there are plans to move the project forward at the next council meeting in May.
Read: A look inside the R100 million luxury apartments for sale in Cape Town
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