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Cape Town’s revised Municipal Planning By-law to enable more affordable housing

Cape Town’s Council has approved a number changes to the Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL) to make it easier to build and develop in the city. In an address to Council on 26 June, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the new land-use right to build affordable rental units in areas with highest demand as per the approved map will enable many more people to make the leap from informal housing to dignified affordable rental units. Further by-law revisions aim to streamline development planning processes, accommodate advancements in the renewable energy sector, and enable the City to stop illegal building work by impounding moveable property.

‘These by-law changes will blow open the property development industry for thousands of new micro-developers in townships, informal, and lower-income suburbs which have, over the past decade, experienced very rapid densification of backyard dwellings and other less formal structures. ‘The City will now be better able to incentivise and regulate development in these areas so that units can be of a better quality, safer, compliant with National Building regulations, and importantly, legally connected to services such as water, sanitation, and electricity. ‘I believe this is the only workable plan in South Africa for reducing informality over time, and we are excited to the see benefits for micro-developers, property owners in low-income communities, and everyone who dreams to move their family from informal housing to dignified, affordable accommodation,’ said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.Also included in the by-law amendments are new incentive overlay zones to enhance development rights in several focus areas for mixed-use development backed by affordable housing and public transport. The focus areas are Athlone, Maitland, Parow/Elsies River, Bellville and Diep River.<ul><li>The amended by-law will run alongside various other strategic measures under the Mayoral Priority Programme for affordable housing and land release, including: • Hands-on support for micro-developers in the form of pre-approved building plans and development charges discounts from a new incentive fund. • Releasing more land for affordable housing in this term of office than in the last ten years, with a pipeline of 12,000 well-located affordable housing units close to the CBD and other important parts of the metro. • Publishing Land Discount Guidelines allowing city-owned land to be heavily discounted to maximise the number of social housing units that can be viably developed - a national first. • And utility discounts for Social Housing developments on water, electricity, and property rates bills, another first.</li></ul>A further by-law amendment gives the City immediate recourse in situations where developers continue with illegal building work, despite an order to stop work. Some developers ignore the orders, and continue their construction work as they are prepared to pay the fines involved. In the meantime, and given the fact that these matters often take considerable time to be concluded in court, the surrounding communities are impacted while the City is seeking legal recourse.‘This new addition not only allows the City to impound the developer’s movable property, but also those belonging to the owner of the said moveable property and those belonging to the contractor involved in the illegal work – this is to close any loopholes. By adding this provision we trust that those who ignore the Municipal Planning By-law and notices issued in terms of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act will think twice before doing so,’ said Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment.Other new revisions aim to regulate the installation of renewable energy structures such as solar roof panels and wind turbines.The City followed an extensive public participation process, including a call for input prior to the drafting of the by-law proposals. The 90 days of public participation included public meetings, both in-person and online, and various engagements with residents and interested stakeholders. ‘I want to thank residents and stakeholders for robust engagements on the revisions and for their invaluable contributions. We received a significant number of comments from the public, internal City departments, professionals from the development fraternity, and other spheres of government during the drafting of the by-law review process. All of this feedback has been essential in improving and simplifying the new provisions. This amended MPBL refines planning processes, offers greater clarity, and strengthens our ability to promote social and economic development. It also gives greater effect to policies such as the Municipal Spatial Development Framework, and related district and local frameworks,’ said Alderman Andrews.This latest review of the MPBL formed part of a five-year review process which took into account policies and strategies adopted by Council since the last review in 2019.<ul><li>The revised MPBL includes the following amendments and new provisions, amongst others: • Incentive overlay zonings (IOZs) making it easier and more cost-effective to develop in these focus areas: Athlone, Maitland, Parow/Elsies River, Bellville and Diep River. The IOZs assign additional and enhanced development rights to properties that fall within certain areas in these overlay zonings. • Additional use rights for R1 include affordable rental flats, supplementary dwelling units, and place of instruction. These are subject to certain conditions to control any impact • An ‘affordable rental flat’ is a new additional use right on properties as per the approved map. This enables the development of small scale affordable rental accommodation in these areas. The number of small scale affordable rental units on a single property may not exceed 8 units plus a dwelling house, or 12 units if there is no dwelling house on the land. • New additions under Section 135 allow the City to impound moveable property that is being used for illegal building or demolition work if an order to stop work is being disobeyed. This amendment intends to address the challenge of owners and contractors continuing illegal work without tangible consequences • Revised or new definitions for ‘affordable rental flat’; ‘affordable rental unit’; ‘commune’; ‘electric vehicle charging station’; ‘structure-mounted energy system’; ‘ground-mounted energy system’; ‘micro wind turbine’; ‘outdoor restaurant dining area’ and so forth • Single Residential zoning is renamed ‘Residential Zoning’ (R1) and provides for single-family dwelling houses and additional use rights in low- to medium-density residential neighbourhoods • Amendments to the emergency housing provisions, now called ‘temporary disaster housing’, under Section 68 to enable the City to provide temporary housing on land that may not be zoned for such purpose for a period of 12 months without needing to undertake a public participation process beforehand if it is reasonable and justifiable, and complies with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. The amendment allows for those who are left homeless due to emergencies such as fires and floods to be temporarily relocated to an alternative site in a timeous manner • Amendments under Section 111 to allow the City to use email as the method of contacting, and notifying interested and affected parties; that parties must provide the City with their email addresses and update these; and a person who does not have access to email may apply for notification by other means. If a resident already has their latest email address with the City they do not have to update it again • A new rectification chapter combines the existing regularisation provisions with new revocation and amendment provisions to provide an internal remedy for irregular decisions. This is a cost-effective and quicker alternative to review litigation. The process is procedurally fair.</li></ul>The revised MPBL will become effective on the date as provided for in the promulgation.

2025-06-25T22:00:00Z

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