INDUSTRY NEWS
NEW JOZI
DEVELOPMENTS
MAY HAVE TO INCLUDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Johannesburg’s proposed
new housing policy, which
recognises the need for
developments to yield a
profit, may turn out to be a
win-win solution.
A
s part of its strategy to create a
more liveable urban space, the
City of Johannesburg is introducing
a new Inclusionary Housing Policy
that could make it mandatory for
developers to build affordable housing as part of
new residential developments.
‘It is impossible for the City alone to address housing
shortages, and we have to find all possible options to
get to where we need to get to as a city,’ explains Eric
Raboshakga, director of the City’s Transformation
and Spatial Development department.
Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba writes in a
News24 column that the city has a housing backlog
of 300,000 units, and about 3,000 new people
move in every month. Further, 50% of Johannesburg
households earn less than R3,543 a month, and 40%
earn less than R2,487. He explains that there is a
high spatial mismatch between jobs and housing, as
reflected in people’s spending: ‘Most South Africans
spend up to 70% of their often meagre income on food
and transport, especially to work’. He writes that the
proposed new policy would provide developers with good
opportunities for business as well as social responsibility.
Johannesburg’s Spatial Development Framework 2040 is
intended to direct growth and development in a way that
addresses inequality and inefficiency. It promotes high-
density, mixed-use development that enables people to live
close to where they go to work or school, and reduces the
cost of providing infrastructure and services such as public
transport.
The proposed Inclusionary Housing Policy is intended as
a tool of the framework. It requires that new developments
with 10 or more units build an additional 20% affordable
housing on the same property. The inclusionary units, whether
flats or houses, are required to be a minimum of 15 square
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