Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that 237 social housing units are to be built in the inner city as part of the City’s affordable housing drive, following Council’s approval of the final release of City-owned land known as the ‘Fruit & Veg’ site.

The 3,300m2 property, currently being used by Food Lover’s Market, is located between Kent and Bloemhof Streets, right on the edge of District Six and the CBD.

The site is within walking distance of the city centre, MyCiTi bus stations, schools, universities, and a range of economic opportunities.

Social housing unit yield has increased from the originally proposed 180, to 237 units as part of the proposal by developer, YG Group.

Overall, the mixed-use development will include 375 residential units in total and 435m2 of retail space.

Hill-Lewis says this location could be life-changing for many.

“This is the kind of address that can change people’s lives and open up entire new avenues of opportunity for them. Social housing is being maximised on this site thanks to a range of new measures passed by the City, including guidelines for discounting land, property rates and utility charges for this development.”

But the GOOD Party has criticised the City, saying this land has been earmarked for social housing since 2017, and is now once again being “released”, but with no guarantees of affordability.

The GOOD party says after 20 years of DA rule, not a single affordable home has been built in Cape Town’s CBD. The party accuses the DA of entrenching Spatial Apartheid by selling land to private developers without an inclusionary housing policy.

ALSO READ: R2 billion inner-city housing development launched