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Affordable housing opportunities in Woodstock, Salt River precincts remain a priority

The City of Cape Town’s Human Settlements Directorate remains determined to deliver on the social housing projects around the city centre. The Salt River Market and the Pine Road projects are proceeding as planned, while the Pickwick Street Transitional Housing Project has been completed.The City of Cape Town’s Human Settlements Directorate remains committed to providing hundreds of affordable and social housing opportunities around the city centre on sites such as at the Salt River Market, Woodstock Hospital and Pine Road, as well as other areas across the city. Despite conflicting reports, the City can confirm that the affordable social housing opportunities planned for the Salt River Market site and the Pine Road site are still on track and are making progress. The Pickwick Street Transitional housing site was completed in May 2019.This is the progress regarding these projects:<ul><li>The rezoning application for the Salt River Market site was approved by the Municipal Planning Tribunal. The appeals period expired in June 2019 and an appeals report will be referred to the Mayor’s Appeal Committee for a decision.</li><li>The City is awaiting approval for the building plans for the Pine Road social housing project. In May 2019, residents who were living in the informal settlement in Pine Road were moved to the Pickwick transitional housing site, which avails the land in Pine Road to provide approximately 240 social housing (affordable rental) opportunities.</li></ul> The City’s Supply Chain Management Bid Adjudication Committee’s (SCM BAC) cancelled the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Woodstock Hospital site, the public open space next to Woodstock Hospital, Fruit and Veg in Roeland Street, New Market Street and the Pickwick Street social housing site on 29 July 2019. This is so that the City can follow a different process for the disposal of these sites that are earmarked for social housing opportunities, and to ensure that we comply with the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) and the Municipal Asset Transfer Regulations (MATR).Each of these sites has its own complexities and will trigger different land use application processes and therefore it is vital that due processes are followed.The City’s Human Settlements Directorate will repackage the RFP for each of these five sites in due course. The new RFP will include the updated information pertaining to current valuations of the land to ensure a more efficient process when considering the disposal of the parcels of land for social housing opportunities. Currently the directorate is working on the various land use application processes required for the specific sites. Thus, we want to assure residents that we remain committed to providing affordable housing opportunities near the city centre, but that we are also committed to following due process in so doing.There is a dire need for housing opportunities that are situated on well-located land, close to employment opportunities and economic nodes. Yet, there are no quick fixes. We remain committed to building integrated communities with different types of residential developments based on a mix of income groups and circumstances. Social housing is but one of the avenues that we are investing in to provide more affordable housing opportunities for our people.We will continue to assess City-owned land, including in and near the Cape Town CBD, to determine whether some of these properties could be developed for housing opportunities.In addition, the development and availability of affordable rental accommodation in central areas of the city must play a key role in the future development of Cape Town.Cape Town is a place for all. We are committed to inclusivity and will keep on exploring all possibilities to provide more affordable housing opportunities for our residents. End

2019-08-04T22:00:00Z

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