DAG welcomes the Statement on the planned feasibility analysis for City’s proposed inclusionary housing policy, made on Sunday 10th of November 2019 by the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor MalusiBooi. The announcement is an important step towards the development of a much needed inclusionary housing policy and programme. According to DAG’s Programme Manager, Helen Rourke, this announcement is momentous as it signals an important shift in the way we think about land and how it should be used to redress spatial inequality through inclusionary housing” Inclusionary housing is a concept for providing affordable housing through private market-led housing developments. A percentage of units are deemed affordable and provide essential housing opportunities for the working class families in typically well located neighbourhoods or through fees in lieu. These could be in the form of rental or ownership units, but the norm is to guarantee affordability. From Woodstock and SaltRiver to the Phillipi Horticultural area, one of the dominating reasons for rising land values is when government grants development and zoning rights. The City controls the granting of these rights- and in DAG’s view, these zoning and development rights are a public asset. As a result, the City has a right to place conditions on developments deemed feasible. There are close to 80 cities across the world that use inclusionary housing as an instrument to provide housing. In nearly all instances, a feasibility analysis has been undertaken in framing the parameters of a new policy. However, the challenge now for Cape Town is what to in the interim and whether there should be interim implementation guidelines, to start building a culture of inclusionary housing and embedding the practice with developers and officials – this will be central to the long term realisation of a bold policy towards addressing spatial inequality. We welcome the political commitment and urgency behind this process.
