The Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA), the National Housing Finance Cooperation and the Housing Development Association, with City of Cape Town member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for Human Settlements Councillor Malusi Booi recently visited the Regent Villa Social Housing project, in Mitchell's Plain.

This formed part of a greater commitment to further enhance social housing development in the Western Cape.

The Regent Villa social housing development in Mitchells Plein comprises 104 units in Phase 1 and 60 in Phase 2. The 104 units are currently tenanted and 60 units are still under construction.

The SHRA, together with Booi and City of Cape Town executive mayor Jeordin Hill-Lewis met to strategically coordinate partnerships between all relevant stakeholders. They met with tenants to establish how their lives have been impacted since moving into social housing environment during the recent project visit, says SHRA acting CEO Mpolai Nkopane.

“Social housing is integrated into the community with easy access to transport nodes to enable tenants to commute to work and school. The safety of the community is paramount and there is 24-hour security surveillance, as well as adequate waste management services at the project,” says SHRA chairperson Busisiwe Nzo.

“It gives us a pleasure to solidify the stakeholder relationships and fulfil the mandate given to the SHRA to deliver social housing opportunities to the people of Cape Town,” she adds.

The National Department of Human Settlements, through the National Development Plan, has set a national target for the SHRA to deliver 18 000 units between 2019 and 2024. The current target for the Western Cape is 2 736 housing units.

“There are currently eight projects under implementation in the Western Cape consisting of 2 859 units. However, three of these projects have been impacted due to challenges in meeting conditions precedent and financial closure requirements of the consolidated capital grant.

“This calls for more participation and planning between the SHRA and the City of Cape Town in order to achieve our targets. It is with good intentions that we continue to work together with the support of the City of Cape Town to strategically be able to reach our goal,” explains Nzo.