City’s plan for low-cost housing

THE CITY of Cape Town is one step closer in its ambitious megaplan to “speed up” affordable housing opportunities in the inner city and surrounding areas following intense pressure from housing and land activists in recent months.

The municipality has sought to have the city declared a restructuring zone, a move it said would help accelerate efforts in providing affordable housing opportunities “wherever suitable land is available”.

Households with a monthly income of between R3 500 and R25 000 fall into the affordable housing bracket. Mayoral committee member for urban development Brett Herron said letters had been sent to the provincial and national departments of Human Settlement for their approval.

In so doing, any restriction on the City’s intention to speed up the delivery of affordable housing opportunities will be eliminated, Herron said. Provincial Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said: “We look forward to this process now being implemented (and) we are glad that we could be of assistance.

“Once these amendments are achieved it will enable affordable housing initiatives by our government in areas currently falling outside these zones, such as Green Point, to benefit from the state grants provided for under this Act.”

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya yesterday confirmed the national department had received the letter, adding Sisulu was “looking into the matter”.

Herron said: “Declaring the whole city a restructuring zone is quite a different approach, so we are hoping to have an indication that this will be approved before concluding the final process.

“I hope to take this to the next council meeting in May.

“In an effort to remove any uncertainty, we are proposing to extend our restructuring zones, subject to the Western Cape government and the National Minister’s approval, so that no area is excluded in future.

“This will be initiated through the City’s Spatial Development Framework, Integrated Development Plan and Built Environment Performance Plan processes.

“The City is committed to actively redressing and reversing the spatial legacy of apartheid planning and has always considered all centrally located areas… Our Integrated Human Settlements Framework – the strategy we adopted in 2013 to address the dire housing need – found that we will need to provide an additional 650 000 housing opportunities at an estimated cost of R101 billion over the next 20 years.” –