SA Affordable Housing May / June 2018 // Issue: 70 | Page 31

FEATURES
for Low-Income Rental Accommodation in the Inner City
Johannesburg’ it found that 50% of people who live in the
City earn less than R3 200 per month. “They are unable to
afford more than R800 on housing. Within the public /
private sector there isn’t anyone offering accommodation
at that price, including water and electricity,” he shares.
Pressage Nyoni, liaison officer at property development
financier, TUHF, says that although the company has aimed
to provide inclusionary housing at a rate of R900, making
the property financially feasible is tricky.
“The cost of maintaining a unit often exceeds the rate,
however, cross subsidisation and other methods are used
wherever possible.” Cross subsidisation refers to
developments that cater for a mix of income groups. “We
can create integrated communities where higher-income
groups cross-subsidise lower-income groups,” says
Councillor Herron. “Another important aspect is that we
want to see housing units offering a similar design, quality
and architecture irrespective of the target market and
income group,” he adds.
According to Councillor Herron, the City’s Problem
Building Unit is investigating more than 1 000 cases of
problem buildings. “These buildings are found across the
Mother City, however, Bellville, Parow, Somerset West and
Wynberg are some of the most problematic areas.”
The City of Cape Town seeks to create more inclusive
communities with access to improved services, job
opportunities, as well as affordable housing and public
transport. To this effect, the City has located 11 City-
owned sites in Salt River, Woodstock and the inner-city
for development.
The sites are less than five kilometres from the central
business district (CBD) and within walking distance of
facilities people in the market require (transport, schools
and hospitals).
Councillor Herron stresses the importance of involving
the private sector to redevelop properties fit for the
provision of affordable housing. “In 2017 the City’s
Transport and Urban Development Authority (TDA)
initiated a request for proposal (RFP) process to interested
social housing institutions (SHIs) to partner with the City in
the development of the Salt River Market site for the
provision of social housing. The site is about 1.4 hectares.
Property developer Communicare’s submission of a mixed
income, high density development was the preferred
submission,” he shares. The design of the proposed
development is still in its early stages and comprises
market-related residential units for rental; units for rental
to students or single young professionals; social housing
units; retail space; and parking.
“The site is located within the Voortrekker Road
Corridor Integration Zone (VRCIZ) – one of three
integration zones that link Bellville, Maitland, Parow,
Goodwood and Salt River,” says Herron.
Nyoni is also for the public-private partnership (PPP) to
redevelop the City.
“Developers do require the assistance of the City of
Johannesburg.”
As acquiring, funding and repurposing the building in a
complicated issue, he highlights a few areas where the
City can assist.
“On some occasions, the owners of the buildings are not
available, and the City may need to expropriate the
property to make it available to developers.
A sketch by Hariwe Johnson depicting the decay bad buildings
endure from different angles.
SERI doesn’t think private owners
or developers are the solution to
providing accommodation.
Other bad buildings are owned by the City or other
departments of Provincial or Local Government,” he says.
In these cases, the City needs to release the buildings onto
the market through a supply chain management tender
process to comply with governing legislation such as the
Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Municipal
Finance Management Act (MFMA).
“These buildings also typically have large utility arrears
– often exceeding the value of the building. This requires
the City to either writ