SA Affordable Housing January - February 2020 // ISSUE: 80 | Page 27

PROJECT
and goodwill among the community and had none of the
community forum disruptions that have affected many other
construction projects around the country,” he says.
THE RENTAL MARKET
Corbett believes the South African housing market will
evolve towards rental. “People in South Africa are suffering
from poor confidence and are not willing to take a long-
term view by buying property. That is why we opted to
make this a rental-only development – it suits the current
market. In addition, the trend internationally is for people to
increasingly rent homes rather than buy them: South Africa
is behind the curve in this respect. Internationally, rental
housing comprises about 30% of the total housing stock
compared to just 2% locally. I’m expecting South Africa to
follow the global trend,” says Corbett.
This particular development does not benefit from any
government subsidy, though Century’s next development will
– a social housing one in the R1 500 to R3 000/month rental
range. Its market is a combination of aspirational people
climbing out of RDP, social or gap housing, and families
feeling the squeeze economically and downgrading. “Our
market is somebody not yet able to afford to live in Fourways,
but somebody lifting him/herself out of the subsidy housing
range.” Corbett believes that ‘green-affordable’ will become
a trend for the future, with the major limitation on more
such projects being only the pace of getting town planning
approvals. Medium-sized developer Century has, for example,
been working on getting town planning authority for its
social housing development in Linksfield for nine years.
“It is taking significantly longer to get approvals than it
did three years ago.” Just as National Treasury has put the
brakes on capital expenditure for fear of corruption, town
planning authorities similarly are so conscious of corruption
that processes have virtually ground to a halt. The demand
for such developments in this price range certainly exists, he
says. The Parks’ units are being marketed inhouse by Century
using primarily online platforms. A lot of the applicants are
people downgrading from Fourways where they’re paying
R12 000 to R13 000/month to R8 500/month to get more for
their money, due to economic pressure, with a high number
of civil servants. This saving is augmented by the extras
such as free internet, security and other benefits, saving on
transport of children to school – “a significant amount of
money,” says Corbett.
“Most people spend between R900 and R1 800 a month
on school transport and aftercare. In our estates, there is just
a gate between the housing and the school, and they can
walk. There’s also a lifestyle issue related to this as people
spend less time sitting in traffic.”
Century CEO Mark Corbett on site at The Parks.
Readying the clubhouse, one of the communal facilities which
includes walking paths, kids’ play parks, braai areas, sports fields,
free WiFi in each apartment, and a swimming pool.
LIST OF PROFESSIONALS:
• Developer: Century Property Developments
• Architect: Century Property Developments
• Civil Engineers: Century Property Developments
• Quantity Surveyor: Century Property Developments
• Structural Engineer: Struxit
SUPPLIERS:
• Plumbing fittings: Waterways
A typical block in The Parks.
www.saaffordablehousing.co.za
JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2020
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