Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa April 2018 - 100th Issue! | Page 7

EDITORIAL VIEW
Land and
housing
issues mean
opportunities
for all
T
he Emerging Trends in Real Es-
tate® Europe 2018 report reveals
that the global real estate sector
is becoming more complex, more trans-
parent and accessible to all. The same
applies in South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is under-
pinning the support for fast tracking
land distribution through expropriation
of land without compensation. Parlia-
ment has passed a motion to amend
the Constitution to allow for the expro-
priation of land without compensation
with the idea of returning land to people
within the confines of the law.
Real estate delivers an important rev-
enue stream - from transfer fees to
property taxes for government - and
that must also be protected. We have all
seen examples of land grabs go wrong
in Zimbabwe. We don’t need a repeat
of the same mistakes here. We need
to identify idle state land that can be
repurposed for both agricultural and
housing purposes, delivered with a spe-
cific purpose and plan.
NELSON
MANDELA
“
There is no easy walk to
freedom anywhere, and
many of us will have to pass
through the valley of the
shadow of death again and
again before we reach the
mountaintop of our desires.
Basic service delivery from municipali-
ties for things such as electricity, water,
and roads (and even food) are not a
given anymore. Ratepayers have been
dealt a very poor hand with corrupt and
incompetent politicians using unethical
practices. This has resulted in an inabil-
ity to deliver a proper service, causing
economic chaos at municipal level. The
demand for good services is needed and
is evading us because of ill-equipped
municipalities.
Government needs far more engage-
ment with the private business sector
and property owners on the land expro-
priation issue to find solutions through
their 24-member committee due to re-
port back to parliament by 30 August.
This also creates huge opportunities for
the entire property industry, so let’s en-
gage.
The affordable segment remains an
opportunity but at the same time, it is
difficult for developers to make a good
profit. Regardless, somebody needs to
come up with a solution that is work-
able, profitable and provides affordable
housing as part of a greater plan.
Yes, we do need to address the inequali-
ties of the past, the imbalance of private
and agricultural land ownership, and ad-
dress the current under-supply of hous-
ing. However, property rights and own-
ership needs clarity and policies need to
be put into place to create certainty for
investors and confidence in the market.
Real estate investment adds value to so-
ciety in many ways. It provides a com-
munity for people, housing for people, a
business opportunity for creating land-
lords, gives governments rates and taxes,
and provides a neighbourhood with ser-
vices such as schools, shopping centres,
and sports facilities.
As they say, the biggest lie in investing
in real estate is getting the right infor-
mation. There are two types: The in-
formation for the masses, which is not
accurate; and the information for the
classes, which is the information that is
well researched and sourced by the indi-
vidual investor willing to look past the
general data.
Successful investing
NEALE PETERSEN
FOUNDER/PUBLISHER
SA Real Estate Investor Magazine APRIL/MAY 2018
5
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