Conradie Better Living Model a major milestone for affordable housing

The Conradie Better Living Model ground-breaking is a major milestone for affordable integrated housing. 

"I am pleased to break ground on the path-breaking Conradie Better Living Model Game Changer development.

This marks a significant milestone in the provincial government’s efforts to redress the legacy of apartheid spatial planning, and to deliver well-located, affordable integrated housing opportunities for citizens living in the province. As we break ground today, with our partners the City of Cape Town and Concor Construction, we celebrate the realisation of the enormous effort and hard work of a dedicated project team over the past three years.

It has not been an easy road to get to this point, but the results will be worth it -  the pioneering development of an affordable, mixed-use, residentially-led development close to the Cape Town CBD.

The estimated R3 billion development, will see 3 602 residential units built on the 22-hectare plot. Of these, 1 764 will be subsidised, affordable units. The remaining open market units will help to cross-subsidise the affordable units. The development will also include commercial space, parks and recreational spaces, as well as two new schools.

The project will also catalyse upgrades to road infrastructure and public transport in the surrounding area and create over 4 300 jobs during the operational phase and just over 9 300 jobs during construction.

We plan to take the learnings of the past three years and translate them into tangible reforms to address the housing requirements of our citizens. In total, there are more than 23 000 social rental housing units and 19 000 affordable ownership projects in the planning pipeline over the next 10 years, in Cape Town and 11 non-metro towns, with a total value exceeding R7 billion.

In the Belhar CBD a total of 4 188 units will be constructed over three phases, to be completed in 2022. This will create an urban context around key education institutions – CPUT, UWC and Northlink College.

The Somerset Precinct close to V&A Waterfront has received the green light for affordable housing. This will bring affordable housing to the heart of Cape Town, on one of South Africa’s most valuable state-owned properties. Over 300 units will be built on the Helen Bowden Nurses Home portion of the property as part of Phase 1, and the Western Cape Government is committed to maximising affordable units on the rest of the precinct in phases.

We have also gained approval for “Restructuring Zone” status in 11 towns around the province, which enables grant-funding for affordable housing to be used in these areas.

We believe the Conradie ‘Better Living Model’ serves as the unique blueprint for how partnerships between different spheres of government and the private sector can deliver well-located housing opportunities for citizens in the future.

This is a model that we believe the national government should apply in District Six, the prime land on the slopes of Table Mountain over-looking the CBD, which still lies vacant after all these years. In fact, if that property and its budget were transferred to us, we would get the job done for all those still waiting to return to District Six. There are five further mega-properties owned by the national government on some of Cape Town’s best located land. The Culemborg, Ysterplaat, Wingfield, Youngsfield and Denel properties could yield up to 100 000 units under the Better Living Model.

The future holds much potential, and today we celebrate the important milestone that the flagship Conradie project has reached.

The Western Cape Government looks forward to working closely with Concor Construction to deliver this development over the next few years."