The City of Cape Town is set to release five more properties for affordable housing development, totalling 1,300 units, following City Council approval on 30 October 2024.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis stated in his address to Council that this initiative would be a game changer for families in need of well-located affordable rental housing.
Efforts to enable affordable housing opportunities are underway on well-located land across the metro, with the City’s pipeline now standing at over 12,000 affordable units.
The properties are located in Lansdowne (308 units), Ottery (375), Brackenfell (145), Wesfleur (116), and Belhar (400), with the land release following the completion of public participation in these areas.
Public participation will also take place on the proposed release of portions of Mowbray Golf Course for a major long-term development spanning over 42 hectares following Council approval on Wednesday.
Further details on the public participation period will follow in due course.
Various municipal-owned properties – with a yield of over 4,200 units – have already been released as part of the Mayoral Priority Programme for accelerated land release for affordable housing.
Overall, the City has some 12,000 affordable units in the pipeline.
“Bit by bit, property by property, we are changing the affordable housing picture in Cape Town. Each of these developments might seem relatively small on their own compared to the pressing overall need.
"But take a step back and look at the full scale of our affordable housing pipeline, and you will see that housing in our city is undergoing a transformation," said Hill-Lewis.
The City foresees around 375 social housing units in a development of between two and four storeys on the Ottery site, while the Lansdowne site will deliver around 308 units in a four-storey development.
The Brackenfell property is earmarked for a mixed-use development that will include around 115 social housing units, 30 gap housing units, and retail space.
The other two properties – one in the Robinvale area of Wesfleur, and the other in Belhar – will be developed for single residential gap housing units.
Both the Wesfleur and the Belhar properties are in established residential areas, close to schools, churches, and transport corridors, and are ideally situated for gap housing developments, which is housing aimed at people who fall in that income gap of not earning enough to qualify for a home loan, but earning too much to qualify for housing subsidies.
The City estimates that the Wesfleur property will deliver around 116 gap housing units, while the Belhar property should yield around 400 gap housing units.
Comments