The City of Cape Town is on a mission to buy up parcels of “well-located” land across the city for housing and clinics.
|||Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has launched a shopping blitz to buy up parcels of “well-located” land across the city for housing, clinics and a range of facilities.
It has called on residents or land-owning organisations to approach it for possible purchase.
The city is after tracts of land larger than 15 hectares. (A hectare is roughly the size of a rugby field.)
Asked how much land was being sought, councillor Ernest Sonnenberg, acting mayoral committee member for human settlements, said: “This depends on the type of land, the requirements of the community and the type of development.
“The city not only builds houses but also high density rental units, social housing and others.”
And it will not only be land for houses, Sonnenberg said.
“The city is not looking to build dormant towns. The land should be well located. It is preferable for it to be located near to economic and transport nodes with education facilities and clinics in the area.”
These facilities could be newly-built too - all under the banner of the “Private Sector Engagement and Co-operation Project”.
“The land is wanted for integrated human settlements developments. This can and will include business sites, places of worship, clinics sites, schools sites, community facilities sites, to name some.
“These explorations are part of the City of Cape Town and the provincial government of the Western Cape’s joint initiative to explore innovative approaches to the common challenges posed by housing needs in the city, across all ranges of the market.”
He said the city wanted to eradicate the housing backlog as quickly as possible.
In an information brochure presented by the city on housing, it estimates the housing backlog at 350 000 households.
Once land is available, the pace of development would depend on the type of development.
“It would also be affected by what planning and environmental approvals might have to be sought,” Sonnenberg said.
The city said in a statement it wanted to establish ways of accelerating the delivery of the various projects - and would not only buy land, but facilitate deals with private land-owners and communities.
The City of Cape Town “may, where included in the project, engage with partners regarding the provision of subsidy housing, funds for infrastructure and reticulation services, and top structures,” the city said in its statement. And land owners interested in the development opportunities or co-operative agreements, were urged to e-mail maydene.cleophas@capetown.gov.za
Cape Argus