Cape Town - With 600 000 people on the housing waiting list in the Western Cape, of which 350 000 applicants are from Cape Town, population growth rates have placed added pressure on Human Settlements, the provincial Department of Infrastructure said.
This comes as mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis this week said the metro was preparing to overtake Johannesburg as the most populous city in the country, nearing the 5 million residents mark.
Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers’s spokesperson, Ntobeko Mbingeleli, said the department was exploring the feasibility of an Incremental Starter House – a 40m² frame structure with a 20m² area enclosed under a roof.
“The housing backlog is an important indicator for the department, as it provides valuable insight about where the need is for human settlement development.
“According to the Western Cape housing demand database, there are approximately 600 000 people on the waiting list for the Western Cape.
“The bulk of the demand is located in the City of Cape Town, with an estimated 350 000 applicants on the waiting list.
“The remaining 250 000 applicants are located in the non-metro municipalities.
“(Incremental Starter House) is a housing opportunity that can be improved through self-building by the beneficiary based on their needs and resources,” Mbingeleli said.
In Cape Town, 2 200 social housing units across seven land parcels were released this year.
Hill-Lewis said this included the release of land for the 1 800-unit Pickwick development in Salt River.
“The development is set to include 840 social housing units, up from the forecast 600 social housing units, largely thanks to our recently published ‘land release discount’ guidelines, which helps to maximise social housing yield on every parcel of land we release.
“This year we also passed an innovative ‘No cost transfer’ policy to turn council rental unit tenants into homeowners without cost to them,” he said.
Earlier this month, the first 331 tenants of the R464 million Goodwood Station Social Housing Project were announced by Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi as part of the social housing project, jointly funded by the Social Housing Regulatory Authority and the Infrastructure Fund.
It is a blended financing instrument announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to enable the efficient execution of socio-economic infrastructure projects in the country.
“Social housing remains an important government programme to address the housing needs of the gap market, crowding in private sector investments, and building cohesive and integrated communities. The integration and alignment of all housing grants is important to ensure synergy and increased delivery of sustainable human settlements,” said Kubayi.