Moving in day for new Goodwood social housing tenants

The City of Cape Town has welcomed the latest group of tenants at the massive 1 055-unit Goodwood Station social housing partnership project, a new well-located, affordable housing development, valued at more than R500 million. 

In a statement on Saturday, the City said the purpose of social housing is to provide good quality rental housing in well-located parts of the City to households earning less than R22 000 per month.

The City of Cape Town has provided grant funding, land for parking, and various rates discounts and incentives to enable a viable social housing project at Goodwood Station.  

The project is a partnership between all spheres of government, including the City, National and Provincial Departments of Human Settlements, the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA), DCI Community Housing Services (the social housing institution undertaking the development), the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), and the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) Infrastructure Fund, among others. 

Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Carl Pophaim, said that the City continues to leverage well-located land across the metro for affordable housing initiatives. 

In under two years, various municipal-owned properties – with a yield of more than 4 200 units – have already been released as part of the Mayoral Priority Programme for accelerated land release for affordable housing. Overall, the City has some 12 000 affordable units in the pipeline.

“Thousands of families are already tenanted at various well-located developments around the metro, including right here in Goodwood, nearby in Bothasig Gardens, Maitland Mews in the inner city, and the Western Cape government’s Conradie Park development in Pinelands. The City has further released several inner city land parcels for affordable housing, including Salt River Market, Pine Road, Dillon Lane, and New Market Street in the Woodstock and Salt River areas.

“All of these affordable rental units are close to economic and transport hubs. We are truly changing the metro, one affordable housing opportunity at a time, for families in various areas across the city. It was an honour to hand over the keys to these brand-new beautiful units to these families,” Pophaim said. 

Facts about social housing:

• It is managed by accredited social housing institutions (SHIs).
• SHIs are solely dependent on rental income. They receive no operational grants. They are able to service their debt finance through rental income.
• As with any rental contract, tenants formally enter into lease agreements. The landlord is the SHI.
• If tenants do not adhere to their lease agreements, the responsible SHI will follow the necessary legal process. Tenants must therefore pay to stay, as the rental money is used for the day-to-day operation and upkeep of the complex. 
• The City has nothing to do with the day-to-day management of SHIs, the rental amount or evictions for not paying. 
• Before potential beneficiaries can apply for social housing, they are required to register on the City’s Housing Needs Register.
• Projects are developed on well-located, accessible land in and near urban centres.
• It is not low-income subsidised government housing, such as Breaking New Ground (or the commonly called RDP housing and it is not City Council Rental Units).
• It is managed with 24-hour security and access control.
• The City may sell City-owned land at a discounted price for social housing developments to make projects economically viable.
• Social housing offers improved access to social facilities and other amenities.
• A single grant subsidy can benefit on average five households versus one household for council rental units.
• Social housing adds value to vacant pieces of land.
• Social housing has the potential to improve property values in an area.

For more information and to apply, those who qualify can visit: https://www.capetown.gov.za/City-Connect/Apply/City-housing-and-properties/Housing-opportunities/Apply-for-social-housing   – SAnews.gov.za 

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