Real Estate Investor Magazine July/ Aug 2020 July 2020 | Page 8

Direct your property questions to [email protected] or participate in our weekly webinars to ask your questions live. Q Social Housing How do you integrate social housing with 1.5 million worth apartment market units? Do you find resistance in from property owners of these R1,5 million+ (plus) units about staying next to subsidised rental units? A One of the major challenges that we’ve been facing in the business is the perception of property (unit) owners who pay so much money, but reside next-door to a grant funded housing unit. To counter this, we have visited many social housing developments around the country and they are as up to standard and quality just as the R1,5 million worth units. A perception change is needed in this regard, because these are social housing owners are people like us, the difference is that they own less than us. MARK SCHONROCK Development Manager, Concor A I think people can’t look past the subsidisation effect of this integrated development. If it’s not how the project is structured, that R1,5 million would have gone to the market at about R2 million to make the feasibility work. So, people should realise that they are buying R1,5 million product at a big discount because it is an integrated development. WIKUS LATEGAN CEO, Calgro M3 Holdings It is also very important that we look at the impact of the Reserve bank’s reduced interest rates, the Reserve bank have created for us a huge advantage in interest rates. We have got 275 basis points in the last couple of months, that, effectively on a half a million-rand house, touching on FLISP housing. The difference you make in instalments is R1 200 p/m on R500 000, now if you take all in costs R500 000 house costing you R600 000 - that’s instalment, rates and taxes etc. That’s 20% saving comparison which is greater than the year-on-year increases. It’s greater than what the extra R100 000 bond would have cost you and that is a great discount for consumers. 4 JULY/AUGUST 2020 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine