Partnerships with the private sector are central to a new draft policy framework in the Western Cape aimed at providing more affordable and ‘inclusionary’ housing opportunities in well-located areas in municipalities across the province.
Among other things, the framework envisages incentives for developers, through ‘density bonuses’, to increase the bulk or height of any given project to incorporate ‘below-market units or unprofitable amenities’.
According to the draft policy, the goal ‘is to better enable inclusionary housing as a mechanism to contribute towards spatial transformation in the Western Cape with a focus on its towns and Cape Town’ through ‘generating more opportunities for people to live in better locations’.
The policy framework has been published for public comment.
The policy document says the Western Cape government ‘must be brave and bold whilst recognising that designing the perfect policy from the outset is not possible’.
The objective is to enable an evolving framework ‘through learning by doing in the form of frequent review and feedback received as municipalities prepare, launch and apply their own policies or provisions guided by this one’.
‘This policy is about getting started. It will look to municipalities, developers, landowners, civil society and organisations to contribute towards its improvement as we build a body of evidence from practising inclusionary housing and institutionalising monitoring and evaluation.’
IOL quoted Western Cape MEC Anton Bredell as saying: ‘Every independent report shows that the level and quality of basic services provided to people in the Western Cape are a world apart from every other area in the country but it is not good enough to provide good free basic services to our people. We also want to drive real change in their lives.’
[Image: Jeanine Smal from Pixabay]