Housing plan’s financial pay-off

AFFORDABLE housing is possible in Cape Town, and must be seen as a business opportunity.

So says Deon van Zyl, the director at Alwyn Laubscher & Associates at a business breakfast organised by the Central City Improvement District (CCID).

Van Zyl’s argument is that affordable accommodation, housing, finance, community work and office services would create a successful society for Cape Town. These opportunities are, however, not limited by political and social tax instability, but are enhanced by the availability for affordable investments and access to information across the city.

“There are about 7 000 people staying in the CBD, and about 140 000 people coming in. If you were out in Somerset West, you would be spending about R150 to R200 a day commuting. Imagine if you could spend R150 a day on an extra coffee or sandwich, or if you could walk down to the office. This works for the rest of the world, why are we not doing it here? Because we have these political and historical hangups, and we have got to break through that,” said Van Zyl.

CCID chief executive Tasso Evangelinos said: “We all need to work together to ensure that opportunities continue into the future. We need to ensure that we are reflective, resourceful, robust and flexible, and, above all, inclusive and integrated.”

While the unemployment rate for South Africa averaged 26-27% (8 879 779 unemployed) in 2016, Cape Town’s unemployment figure stood at an average of 21% (462 442 unemployed), according to CCID’s annual report.

Reflecting on the results of last year’s report and updating the audience on trends over the last six months, author and editor Carola Koblitz said: “We are starting to see a consolidation in the central city. We have seen growth over the past few years equally across a number of sectors, from the growth of commercial property, development of new residential property, to the changing face of retail. As we face a period of economic uncertainly countrywide, now is the time to carefully examine what we have, establish where the gaps are and work hard towards filling those gaps.”