By Oyisa George
Cape Town has released a parcel of land in Parow for the construction of social housing. This move aims to address the pressing housing crisis and provide affordable housing options to the residents of Cape Town.
These plots of property are in Parow near Voortrekker Road, the Tygerberg and Unisa campuses, and many other strategically placed attractive communities.
“Five inner-city land parcels worth 1,300 housing units which reached critical land release milestones in the first year of our Priority Programme for Accelerated Land Release. This is encouraging progress towards our goal of faster land release for more affordable housing in not only the inner-city, but close to important economic nodes across Cape Town, such as the critical Voortrekker Road corridor which links Cape Town CBD with Bellville,” says Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis in his interview with IOL.
It is anticipated that the precincts will provide 650 social housing units.
“‘Council’s approval of these properties with a desktop value of more than R25 million aims to unlock the well-located sites for social housing in partnership with social housing institutions to the benefit of those earning below R22 000 in household income per month,” says Alderman James Vos, Acting Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements.
There will eventually be 6,500 social housing units available around the city.
James Vos also added that, with the aid of the private sector and social housing organizations, their top objective is to increase the number of well-located land parcels that are accessible for possibilities to buy inexpensive homes.
Taking control of these valuable plots of land will also result in the creation of much-needed construction employment, and housing options for those living near commercial districts, and transportation hubs.
In addition to providing excellent, affordable housing, they also aim to make sure that their developments ignite an economic growth fire in our cities and neighborhoods. To achieve social and economic development, the city should use the land.
“The City’s social housing projects follow all due process as well as public participation,” says James Vos.
