SA Affordable Housing May - June 2020 // ISSUE: 82 | Page 38

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY
Densification dictates future
affordable housing market
By Eamonn Ryan
Building plans approved for new housing was down 15.4% year-on-year
(YOY) to 31 427 plans in January to July last year, Statistics SA figures
show. August to December figures are imminent and are expected to
continue this trend. This decline in plans approved was evident across
all segments of new housing over this period.
Within the statistic of plans approved, it is evident
that there is a skewing in favour of affordable
housing, especially in flat (apartment) and
townhouse developments.
Gary White, Director of New Urban architects, predicts that
the housing market in South Africa will in time mirror that of
most of the rest of the world, where people live in integrated
housing buildings with commercial, office and residential use
all mixed together in single buildings and across precincts.
“In the rest of the world, social status is not determined by
your house: you can have social housing, affordable and the
higher end all mixed together. It breaks down barriers and
uplifts everybody in the process.”
He admits that in developed economies, the social
housing element within a development would be limited to
15% so as not to overwhelm the remainder, while in South
Africa regulations are aiming for this percentage to be a
considerably higher 30%. This is presenting difficulties in
areas such as Cape Town where property is more expensive
than elsewhere in the country and developers consequently
rely for profitability on the higher end of the market, making
that 30% unachievable.
White says there are two primary means of
achieving the mix of income categories within a
single building: by having different size units
suited to income, and by enforcing a level
of cross-subsidisation in the common
amenities. “Externally, everything is
equal, but internally the unit size and
luxury of finishes might vary.”
The challenge in South Africa
in achieving integrated housing, is
that ‘affordable’ housing is already
unaffordable for the average person,
with the result that few developers are
drawn to this market as they cannot make
a profit. “We (as architects) are in that space,
but developers aren’t. When one looks at the
plans approved, there are few plans for pure social
NEW URBAN
Gary White, Director of
New Urban architects.
housing developments – primarily because the government has
not increased the grant amount and developers cannot build
units for that amount and still make a profit. So, they’re not
doing it,” he says. His firm, he claims, was the first to introduce
multi-story RDP units, at a time when most government subsidy
housing was of the standalone house variety.
"Developments currently may be horizontal but
they are still integrated and will evolve over
time to the vertical integration model. It will be
driven by market need... as available land fills up
and there is a need for greater densification."
Nonetheless, the integrated market is the one which is taking
off – with its mix of social housing, affordable and upmarket
units, as well as a commercial and office component.
“People are seeing the benefit and that’s where the market
is going.” It is slow, however, and he believes it may take a
considerable time for this market to mature for various
reasons. It firstly requires government to increase
the quantum of grants; but more importantly
government needs to release the huge
amounts of land it currently holds in
highly attractive urban locations – at a
subsidised rate to make social housing
developments affordable.
“That is the way to grow the
affordable housing market in South
Africa as much of this land is near
urban areas and transport hubs. There
are some initiatives under way, such
as the Neighbourhood Development
Programme Grant run by National Treasury,
which funds zoning and policy issues around
transport nodes. It also encourages higher
density and lower parking ratios,” says White.
36 MAY - JUNE 2020 SAAffordHousing saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www.saaffordablehousing.co.za