Cape Town - Housing advocacy group Ndifuna Ukwazi has welcomed the release of public land near the inner city for affordable housing projects.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis on Thursday announced that the city Council agreed to release the Salt River Market precinct for development and construction of social housing, as well as the release of a second, even larger site at Pickwick Road.
The Salt River site would deliver over 200 social housing units within a mixed-use development
NU noted that it had been five years since 11 pieces of public land in Woodstock, Salt River and the inner city were earmarked for affordable and social housing, with only the Salt River Market so far being released to a social housing company.
“This is a welcome step towards seeing affordable housing on the site and we do applaud the mayor for fast-tracking this process. We hope to see the same effort going into completing the projects as soon as possible.
“The struggle to release the Salt River Market for affordable housing dates back to as early as 2008. Fourteen years have passed since then; the entire lifespan of someone in grade 9.
“While people die, waiting patiently on the housing waiting list, can the City really afford to take this long just to release land? These protracted delays need to be addressed systematically and accounted for,” they said.
Hill-Lewis said overall, the Salt River Market development comprised 700 mixed market units, including 216 social housing units.
“The property is also in close proximity to key public transport interchanges. It is across the road from Salt River Station (where Northern, Central and Southern Lines converge), as well as MyCiti Route 261, which connects Century City to the City Bowl via Voortrekker Road, and Route 102, which connects Salt River Station to the CBD via Woodstock, Walmer Estate and District 6.
Mayco Member for Human Settlements, Malusi Booi said the City currently has more than 6 500 social housing units in the overall pipeline across 50 land parcels citywide.
“Social Housing policy, set nationally, targets households with gross monthly incomes ranging from R1 850 to R22 000. The Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) recently estimated average monthly rentals of R722 - R6 475 for these projects, depending on household income.”
Cape Times