The City of Cape Town has awarded a tract of land in Rugby to Nedbank, which will use it to develop affordable housing for the gap income group.

The land, which is situated off Koeberg Road on the corner of Max and Zalkin Roads in Rugby, will be used to build affordable housing for the gap housing market, which comprises people who typically earn between R3 500 and R10 000 per month - too little to enable them to participate in the private property market, yet too much to qualify for state assistance.

About 180 bachelor and one bedroom sectional title homes will be built. The basic price for the smaller, 30 square metre bachelor units will be R145 000 and the one bedroom homes will sell at R230 000.

Approval from the authorities must be obtained before construction and marketing can commence and rezoning applications are being prepared for submission to Council.

The development is based on an agreement signed by the City of Cape Town and Nedbank in November 2007 to co-operate in the development of affordable housing projects on land owned by the municipality.

Manie Annandale, Head of Affordable Housing Development at Nedbank Corporate Property Finance, said: “This step further illustrates Nedbank’s commitment to addressing the housing shortage in South Africa. We are delighted to be awarded a fourth piece of land for the development of affordable housing. We wish to thank the City of Cape Town for affording Nedbank the opportunity to provide much-needed accommodation in the gap/affordable housing market in Cape Town”. Nedbank will provide loan finance for developers, owners, occupiers and investors.

Besides the Rugby development, the City has also allocated three City-owned properties in Wetton, Ottery and Silvertown for development.

“The development of the first three properties allocated to Nedbank is progressing as planned,” said Councillor Shehaam Sims, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Housing.
“Environmental assessment studies are underway at the Wetton and Ottery sites and rezoning and subdivision applications are being submitted. Silvertown is awaiting a decision regarding the extent to which the site must undergo an environmental impact assessment.”

The Wetton development is situated near the Ottery Shopping Mall and is accessed from Old Strandfontein Road. It is within walking distance of the Ottery and Wetton railway stations. The land is expected to accommodate 616 units, 360 of which will be affordable housing units, with the remaining 256 being marketed as open market units. The affordable units are priced from R145 000 for a bachelor apartment and R230 000 for a one-bedroom unit. The open market units will range from R450 000 to around R750 000 and will comprise two and three storey walk-up, sectional title units. A commercial/retail facility will also be developed on the site.

The Ottery development is two blocks from the Wetton site, and comprises 265 open market homes ranging between R450 000 to around R750 000. The configuration will be two and three storey walk-up, sectional title units, as well as some single residential duplexes for the more expensive, open market units.

The Silvertown development is situated near the Vanguard Road/ Settlersway N2 on- and off-ramp. It is opposite the Vygekraal Sports Centre and 3,5km from Rondebosch East, Mowbray and Pinelands. Eight duplex homes of approximately 75m2 are envisaged, priced at about R750 000.