Elderly and Special Needs Beneficiaries Prioritised for the Forest Village

The R1.1 billion Forest Village Housing Project, to begin in March this year, will prioritize the elderly and those with special needs, according to Western Cape Human Settlements Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela. This prioritization represents the Department’s focus on ensuring the most vulnerable citizens gain access to housing opportunities. A targeted percentage of the project value will be awarded to local contractors, ensuring job and value creation among the local communities.

This information was communicated to Subcouncils 21 and 22 at the Kuilsriver Municipality by Minister Madikizela on Tuesday 1 March 2016. He will also be communicating this information directly to the communities of wards 16, 17 and 108 in a series of upcoming public meetings, with the dates still to be announced.

This project will be situated in the Eerste Rivier area of Ward 16, Cape Town, and will deliver 4820 units across a 72 hectare site. The housing opportunities will be a mix of 3197 Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses, 1501 serviced sites and122 Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Program (FLISP) houses. BNG opportunities are targeted at households earning under R3500, service sites are targeted at those who earn above R3501 per month yet cannot qualify for housing finance to buy a house, and FLISP homes are targeted at households who earn between R3500 and R7500 per month, and can afford to contribute to their housing cost through qualifying for housing finance.

Forest Village Housing Project will accommodate 2321 beneficiaries from Wards 16; 17 and 108, as well as 2499 beneficiaries from the N2 Phase 1 Housing Projects who could not be accommodated in the N2 Phase 1.

•  Ward 16 covers – Dreamworld - Driftsands (South of Old Faure Road and Mfuleni build-up, south-west of Eersterivier Way/Spine Road, Faure and Dreamworld build-up, north-east of N2 Freeway) - Eersteriver south - Eersterivier (South-east of Forest Drive, south west Francoline-, Egret-, Bernadine-, Arlene-, Norman-, Beverley and Van Riebeeck Street, north-west of Stratford Avenue) - Electric City - Faure - Forest Village - Mfulen
• Ward 17 covers - Eersteriver - Forest Heights - Greenfields - Hillcrest Heights - Kleinvlei Town - Malibu Village - Rosedale - The Conifers - Tuscany Glen - Welmoed Cemetery
• Ward 108 covers- Fairdale - Fountain Village - Mfuleni

Applicants will be selected from the City Of Cape Town’s Housing Demand Database. The length of time they have been on the housing list, along with their age and vulnerability status will all be used to determine their eligibility for a housing opportunity.

Minister Madikizela urges members of the public to register their names on the Housing Demand Database to benefit from the various housing opportunities and for those who are already on the database to ensure that their details are always up to date.

Construction of bulk services will begin this month, and construction top structures will begin in September 2016.