The City of Cape Town will subsidize entrepreneurs to build rental housing in townships, covering 90% of development costs such as water, sewerage, roads, etc. The initiative targets "micro-developers," including landowners with space for backyard accommodation.

This continues the recent trendy obsession with “densification” in town planning circles. The notion of gardens and open spaces, or of living space in general has been considered anathema to green ideas, which favours the condensation of people into the smallest possible space, and to drain the countryside and press people into metropolitan areas, which drives up property prices while driving down birth rates.

A R20 million Development Charges Fund will kick-start the program in 194 areas, aiming to address the housing backlog of 600,000 households, including Beacon Valley, Bloekombos, Delft, Dunoon, Enkanini, Fisantekraal, Gugulethu, Joe Slovo, Khayelitsha, Strandfontein, Steenberg, Scottsdene, Saxonsea, Retreat, Philippi, Ocean View, Nyanga, Nomzamo, Langa, Lavender Hill, Vrygrond, Wallacedene, and Westridge.

Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis sees this as a way to leverage private investment for public good, fostering a thriving small-scale construction industry. The initiative will be implemented in partnership with the Development Action Group, aiming to increase the supply of affordable rental units where needed most.

The City of Cape Town's Mayoral Committee has approved the creation of a Development Charges Fund to support micro-developers in building affordable housing in lower-income areas.

The fund, starting with R20 million, will subsidize development charges for small-scale rental unit projects in targeted areas. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis sees this as a way to spur investment in affordable housing more quickly than government-led initiatives.

The subsidy, covering up to 90% of development charges, aims to facilitate the development of affordable housing in 194 designated areas. Micro-developers, including entrepreneurs building six to 12 rental units or landowners with space for compliant rental units, will be eligible. The initiative will be executed in partnership with the Development Action Group.

Further details will be provided upon Council approval.

This program is financed by massive hikes in municipal rates and construction charges for middle class and upmarket developments, redistributing the marginal wealth of the ratepaying public to those areas still dependent on the state, or in land invasion zones.

The overall effect is to make it cheaper and easier for low-income migrants to settle in the city, while imposing hard financial barriers to middle class migrants and new families by driving up the overall cost of housing.

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