New amendments to a city by-law gives several reprieves to small rental unit owners in townships.
This is according to the Development Action Group (DAG) which hosted an information session on the changes in the municipal planning by-law at the Lentegeur Police Station boardroom on Saturday September 6.
The session was facilitated by the Mitchell’s Plain United Residents’ Association (Mura).
Despite strong opposition to the most recent amendments, DAG, a non-profit that supports micro-developers, said the changes are a help to backyarder landlords.
DAG’s Zama Mgwotyu said there had been a lot of push back by opposition parties who challenged the amendments, saying it was reminiscent of Apartheid spatial planning.
“But these developments are already happening on the ground and we have been advocating for these changes for some time,” Mgwotyu said.
He said that without the proper support, dense backyard property developments put a strain on infrastructure.
DAG’s project coordinator Kamogelo Shika led the workshop.
“Government alone cannot meet the demand for housing,” Shika said, adding that the private sector is providing housing faster than the government.
She said the demand for housing has caused communities to subdivide their properties to create rental incomes but this was mostly done without the proper consultations, permissions or planning.
She told the group of residents, backyarders, councillors and estate agents at the meeting that the amendments helped micro-developers in three ways. The first was more zoning flexibility. Single residential properties in the City’s overlay zones, which comprises nearly 200 township areas, will no longer need to be rezoned to accommodate rental units.
Property owners in the overlay zones will also no longer need to pay a town planner during development, which is a significant cost saving.
Lastly, property owners within the zones can access a subsidy, which can cover up to 90% of development charges, depending on the applicant’s economic situation and whether they meet the pre-requisite criteria.
“Pensioners qualify for a 100% subsidy,” Shika said.
Micro-developer support
Shika said the workshop was the first of its kind since the amendments around “affordable rental flats” in the by-law took effect on September 1 and DAG would be facilitating several more across the City.
DAG, which is based in Observatory and is the City’s support partner, helped micro-developers by providing training and guiding them on how to access resources, she said.
“So there may be someone, a pensioner, who has put money aside, and thinks, ‘now that I’ve stopped working, I need to supplement my income but I don’t know anything about the building industry.’ So that pensioner would come to DAG’s office and say, ‘I have space at the back of my property.’
“This is the service that we would provide. We would look at the property and say, ‘This is what you can do’. We help you to do things right because this is a legacy for your children,” Shika said.
For more information about DAG email tdcf@dag.org.za, call 021 448 7886, visit www.dag.org.za or visit their offices at 101 Lower Main Road, Observatory.
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