The Cape Town council has voted in favour of the final release of a 3 300 m2 city land parcel for the construction of a mixed-use development, including social housing.

The parcel is made up of two erven between Kent and Bloemhof streets, on the edge of District Six and the central business district (CBD).

“Locations don’t get much better than this,” says Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.

“Right on the edge of the CBD and within walking distance of the city centre, this property is just a block away from MyCiti bus stations in Buitenkant and Roeland streets.

“[It] is close to schools, mere blocks away from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and you have the entire city centre with all its economic opportunities right on your doorstep.

“By guaranteeing a large number of subsidised social housing units as part of the development, we can make sure this prime property serves Capetonians well.”

The successful bidder, the YG Group, has proposed a yield of 237 social housing units for the site, as part of a larger mixed-use development, which will include around 435 m2 of retail space.

The council has also approved, in principle, the release of three more sites for mixed-use developments with an added affordable housing component, including gap housing.

These are several erven of city-owned land in Beacon Hill; a large property west of the N7 near Killarney Gardens, called Annandale; as well as the largest property the city has yet released for development, this time in Paardevlei, Somerset West.

Developers bidding on city properties have to meet a minimum threshold of social housing units as part of their proposed mixed-use developments.

If they fail to meet this threshold, a reversionary clause will kick in and the property will revert to the City of Cape Town.

Social housing refers to subsidised rental units aimed at families with a combined monthly household income of under R22 000.

Hill-Lewis says the city currently has a social housing pipeline of 12 000 units, with 4 000 of these in inner city areas such as Woodstock, Salt River and Maitland.

“All of these developments will benefit from the steps we have taken in recent years to maximise the affordable housing yield on the land we release,” he adds.

“This includes the water, electricity and property rates discounts we offer for social housing developments.

“All of these interventions, and these releases, will help ensure that many more Capetonians can make the leap from informal housing to quality, dignified and affordable rental units.”

Hill-Lewis again lamented the national housing subsidy regime which he says presents as “the biggest handbrake” to the city’s social housing programme.

“Social housing projects in Cape Town now dominate the pipeline of the national Social Housing Regulatory Authority, but are held back by a lack of subsidy funding from the national government.

“We need national government to come to the party when it matters – in their actual budgets – as opposed to in the promises made during State of the Nation addresses.

“Pro-poor grant funding to metros that spend these funds well and responsibly, is one of the best ways national government can spend its money,” says Hill-Lewis.

“We also need the true size and growth of our metro to reflect in a fair equitable share from national government.”