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October/November 2016
R
ob McGaffin, Senior Lecturer
Department of Construction
Economics and Management
at theUniversity of Cape Town reveals
that beneficiaries of fully subsidised
houses have indeed started on the
property ladder.
Unfortunately, government re-
quire beneficiaries of fully subsidised
houses to hold onto their properties
for a period of eight years. Statistics
show that almost 90% of beneficia-
ries in George sold their properties
thereby profiting illegally.
And, almost 60% of RDP houses in
Dunoon have either been sold, or let,
despite threats by MECs to confiscate
the houses and reallocated to the
needy.
Other trends that emerged during
McGaffin’s presentation at the recent
8th annual International Housing
Solutions conference in Johannes-
burg was the increasing demand for
apartments. In a decade the demand
for apartments by black households
has doubled, escalated in Indian
and Asian households and slightly
dropped in white and coloured
households.
■
RDP owners step up on the property ladder
E
Thekwini Municipality recently
acquired the development
rights for five town centre sites
that have been identified for social
housing opportunities.
The social housing plans are an
essential component of this vision,
building on the 48 000 m
2
Bridge City
shopping centre and the regional
magistrate’s court, which are already
operational, and the 500-bed regional
state hospital is scheduled to open in
2019. Construction will begin shortly
on a 150-bed private hospital and
nursing homewill commence shortly,
while enquiries for further residential,
office and destination retail facilities
are being processed.
Founded on the existing rail ser-
vice under the Bridge City shopping
centre and the Bus Rapid Transport
(BRT) routes under construction will
link the development to Durban,
Umhlanga and Cornubia. The city
and Tongaat Hulett aim to establish
Bridge City as a fully functional, mixed
use town centre able to meet the
region’s current and growing needs.
“The whole picture of what we
envisioned for Bridge City is nowcom-
ing together with the development
of key sites within the town centre,”
says Brian Ive, the joint venture’s
Development Executive responsible
for Bridge City. “Our plans for a func-
tional mixed-use development that
combines public sector sites and
services and excellent public trans-
port with private sector investment
is now almost complete.”
With a third of the town centre
site around 91 000m² still available
Ive anticipates that once the BRT
infrastructure is completed in March
2017, more developers will be on
board. “There are still opportunities
for residential, retail and commercial
developers. Commuters, consumers
and residents are attracted to a town
centre that offers a secure and clean
urban environment.”
Ive adds that Bridge City repre-
sents one of the most affordable
fully serviced property development
products on themarket. “We have in-
vested in this development together
with the city because it is well located
andwe’re actively seekingdevelopers
who share this vision. The goal is to
develop a truly integrated mixed use
development that represents the
vision of a new urban future for
South Africa.”
■
Bridge City’s mixed use vision
The Bridge City development northof Durban is gainingmomentumas
a newurban centrewith plans for densification, new transport nodes.
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