City of Cape Town unlocks prime CBD land for 237 social housing units

Mike Wills (standing in for CapeTalk's John Maytham) chats to City of Cape Town Mayco Member for Human Settlements, Carl Pophaim. 

Listen below:

"It's a good opportunity to identify City-owned land to redress apartheid spatial planning."

- Carl Pophaim, Mayco Member for Human Settlements - City of Cape Town 

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis recently announced the release of prime inner-city land for the development of 237 social housing units as part of the City of Cape Town’s push to expand affordable accommodation. 

According to the City, the Fruit & Veg site (located on the edge of District Six and the CBD) forms part of its broader effort to reverse apartheid-era spatial planning by bringing affordable rental opportunities into well-located urban areas.

Social housing, aimed at individuals earning between R1,800 and R22,500 per month, will make up the bulk of the 375 residential units planned for the site. 

Pophaim says the homes will be rented out through regulated partnerships with private developers, not managed by the City itself, and will include income-based rent scaling to ensure accessibility across different income brackets.

"We've learnt over the decades that the City is not the greatest landlord, because we've inherited a lot of our stock from the previous regime. This is where we partner with the private sector, which is regulated through the Social Housing Act... and the private sector manages, transacts and leases with citizens in this regard." 

- Carl Pophaim, Mayco Member for Human Settlements - City of Cape Town 

"We've made a commitment that in the second quarter of next year we should be in construction mode, we want to make the CBD and the inner city a construction site for affordable housing.”

- Carl Pophaim, Mayco Member for Human Settlements - City of Cape Town 

Scroll up to listen to the full conversation.