Launched amid much fanfare in 2007, the housing project to build middle-income houses in Joe Slovo in Langa has failed to deliver.
Only 43 of the promised hundreds of houses have been completed, and even these stand empty months after their completion, with the criteria for acquiring a house having changed dramatically.
The project, called the Joe Slovo Vision Village, saw a partnership between the government and First National Bank to build hundreds of homes as part of the government's N2 Gateway housing project.
FNB invested more than R900-million in the N2 Gateway for the building of the bonded houses, some of which were to be built in Delft.
The Cape Argus has been unable to establish how much of the R900m has been spent as the national Department of Human Settlements has failed to respond to telephone calls and e-mailed questions.
Unveiling the project in June 2007, then Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the project would build 3 000 bonded houses as part of phase two of the N2 Gateway project, to benefit households with a joint income of between R3 500 and R7 500.
Unit prices would range from R150 000 to R250 000.
FNB's Jan van der Walt explained that the bank had agreed in 2007 to develop and build approximately 550 housing units in the affordable range in support of the government's "Breaking New Ground" policy.
But by today, only 30 prospective buyers have been approved by the bank. And the criteria that applicants have to meet to be considered as prospective buyers require a household income of no less than R6 500 (depending on the type of the unit), permanent employment, and an acceptable credit record.
The prices of the housing units have also gone up, starting at R' 000, increasing in value and size up to R594 000.
Van der Walt said the initiative was to be integrated into and form part of the larger development known as Joe Slovo, the latter being one of the land development areas comprising the N2 Gateway project.
But the community of Joe Slovo protested against the idea of such integration and staged mass action, which saw the vandalisation of construction and equipment in the first phase, at a cost of R2,2m.
This was followed by a high court action, in which Sisulu was granted an interdict restraining the community from further destruction, or interfering with the development.
Van der Walt said notwithstanding the court ruling, a decision was made to limit the development, and FNB would only proceed with the first phase, comprising 43 units.
"This necessitated a redesign of the development and, together with further delays that were experienced, led to a further indirect cost implication.
"In total, an amount of approximately R22m has been expended on this development to date.
"One of the reasons for continuing the downscaled project was to allow FNB the opportunity to recover at least some of its wasted costs and expenditure, by developing units at prices which were inevitably more than the original affordability levels," he said.
The 43 housing units had been completed with two types of tenure offered - sectional title and full ownership.
Van der Walt said prospective buyers had been identified and provisionally approved to purchase and take transfer of the units, but transfer could not take place at this stage.
This could happen only after all the relevant statutory approvals had been obtained.
The land on which the development was built was also still owned by the City of Cape Town, and needed to be transferred to FNB or to the bank's nominees.
This process was also under way. - Cape Argus
Only 43 of the promised hundreds of houses have been completed, and even these stand empty months after their completion, with the criteria for acquiring a house having changed dramatically.
The project, called the Joe Slovo Vision Village, saw a partnership between the government and First National Bank to build hundreds of homes as part of the government's N2 Gateway housing project.
FNB invested more than R900-million in the N2 Gateway for the building of the bonded houses, some of which were to be built in Delft.
The Cape Argus has been unable to establish how much of the R900m has been spent as the national Department of Human Settlements has failed to respond to telephone calls and e-mailed questions.
Unveiling the project in June 2007, then Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said the project would build 3 000 bonded houses as part of phase two of the N2 Gateway project, to benefit households with a joint income of between R3 500 and R7 500.
Unit prices would range from R150 000 to R250 000.
FNB's Jan van der Walt explained that the bank had agreed in 2007 to develop and build approximately 550 housing units in the affordable range in support of the government's "Breaking New Ground" policy.
But by today, only 30 prospective buyers have been approved by the bank. And the criteria that applicants have to meet to be considered as prospective buyers require a household income of no less than R6 500 (depending on the type of the unit), permanent employment, and an acceptable credit record.
The prices of the housing units have also gone up, starting at R' 000, increasing in value and size up to R594 000.
Van der Walt said the initiative was to be integrated into and form part of the larger development known as Joe Slovo, the latter being one of the land development areas comprising the N2 Gateway project.
But the community of Joe Slovo protested against the idea of such integration and staged mass action, which saw the vandalisation of construction and equipment in the first phase, at a cost of R2,2m.
This was followed by a high court action, in which Sisulu was granted an interdict restraining the community from further destruction, or interfering with the development.
Van der Walt said notwithstanding the court ruling, a decision was made to limit the development, and FNB would only proceed with the first phase, comprising 43 units.
"This necessitated a redesign of the development and, together with further delays that were experienced, led to a further indirect cost implication.
"In total, an amount of approximately R22m has been expended on this development to date.
"One of the reasons for continuing the downscaled project was to allow FNB the opportunity to recover at least some of its wasted costs and expenditure, by developing units at prices which were inevitably more than the original affordability levels," he said.
The 43 housing units had been completed with two types of tenure offered - sectional title and full ownership.
Van der Walt said prospective buyers had been identified and provisionally approved to purchase and take transfer of the units, but transfer could not take place at this stage.
This could happen only after all the relevant statutory approvals had been obtained.
The land on which the development was built was also still owned by the City of Cape Town, and needed to be transferred to FNB or to the bank's nominees.
This process was also under way. - Cape Argus
No comments:
Post a Comment