City of Johannesburg identified abandoned factories and released them to private sector therefore to build and turn them into a low-cost affordable housing.
This takes place after 84 buildings have been given to developers in the Inner City and it will generate an amount of R21 billion in the investment.
City of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba said there are 11 000 construction jobs and over 6 000 affordable housing units expected to be created from this investment.
“70 buildings will be awarded by September 2019 and are set to yield another expected R15 billion investment. 10 000 jobs and 5 000 housing opportunities. The properties form part of 500 buildings identified for suitable in the inner city. Multi-party government has identified 37 abandoned factories across the Inner City, and located in desperate areas in need of housing opportunities. From their big stand sizes, the properties will offer nearly 3 000 housing opportunities in multi-story building”, he said.
Mashaba added that abandoned factories have been identified in areas such as Kew, Devland, Rabie Ridge, Doornfontein, Booysens and Nancefield. He said of particular interest, are 16 factories identified in close to Alexandra, which offers more much needed opportunity to reduce density of settlement in the under-developed townships.
“The City will make preparations to hand a proposal to Council in August 2019, which will give the City legal permission to proceed with expropriating these properties as abandoned buildings. The abandoned factories will be expropriated within the already existing framework of the Constitution. We will make sure that they are abandoned so that owners should not trace money owing them exceed their value. Then the City will put the properties out of the private sector and award them on the criteria that achieve the largest number of residential units. The lowest rentals, the highest job creation and investment”, said Mashaba.
City of Johannesburg tried to tackle the housing backlog with RDP housing each year, but it could never reduce the challenge. So the multi-party government adopted an approach which results in sizeable in site and service projects, informal settlement upgrades, social housing and partnering with private sector.
“City considered plans in the 2019/20 financial year to rollout over 2 000 RDP houses, 4 000 serviced stands and 10 informal settlement upgrades. The extension of property release program in into areas with huge massive housing shortage, will help efforts of multi-party government to change housing backlogs into Johannesburg”, he added.
