Cape Town’s long-awaited Salt River Market housing project has taken a major step forward after the City of Cape Town handed the site to Communicare, clearing the way for 970 planned affordable homes in one of the metro’s most closely watched inner-city housing developments.
The Salt River Market site has finally moved from promise to delivery phase after years of delays, planning, land transfer processes and occupation-related complications.
GroundUp reported that the City of Cape Town has handed the former City-owned site to Communicare, the social housing institution appointed to develop the land. The handover is significant because the Salt River Market project has been discussed for more than a decade and has often been used as a symbol of Cape Town’s slow progress on well-located affordable housing.
The project is expected to deliver 970 homes in total. This includes 300 social housing rental units and 670 affordable market units.
The difference between those two categories matters.
The 300 social housing units will be subsidised and regulated under social housing rules. GroundUp reported that Communicare expects to receive a once-off subsidy of about R127 million from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority for those units. Communicare will also contribute R40 million of its own funds.
The social housing units are intended for households earning below the regulated income threshold. GroundUp reported that these units will be rented to households earning less than R22,000 a month.
The additional 670 units will be built without state subsidies and will be made available to households earning up to about R34,400 a month.
This means the development is not a single-income-band housing project. It is a mixed-income rental development intended to serve different parts of the affordable housing market.
That distinction is important in Cape Town, where many working households earn too much to qualify for free state housing but too little to afford private rentals in well-located areas near the city centre.
Human Settlements Mayco member Carl Pophaim told NovaNews / People’s Post that the completed development is expected to offer rentals from about R700 to R10,000 a month across different unit types.
The project is also expected to include one-bedroom units for young professionals and two-bedroom units for families.
Construction is planned to begin after further site and building processes. GroundUp reported that construction is planned to start in October and that completion is expected by August 2028. Earlier reporting had pointed to August or September as a possible construction start window, but the latest GroundUp report now gives October as the planned construction start.
The handover follows years of negotiation between the City and Communicare. GroundUp reported that Communicare entered discussions with the City about the site more than a decade ago, while a land sale agreement was signed four years ago.
The Salt River Market site is about 1.7 hectares and is considered valuable because of its location. It is close to public transport, employment areas, schools, shops and the Cape Town CBD. These are exactly the types of areas where housing activists, planners and lower-income workers have argued affordable housing should be delivered.
Cape Town’s housing debate has often centred on the distance between where people live and where they work. Many lower-income households live far from economic opportunity and spend a large share of income and time on transport. Well-located affordable housing is seen as one way to reduce that burden.
This is why Salt River Market has carried political and social weight beyond the number of homes planned.
NovaNews / People’s Post reported that Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said construction is now set to begin at Salt River Market and three other central Cape Town sites this year. He linked the handover to the City’s accelerated land release programme and said the aim is to create thousands of affordable housing opportunities in the CBD and other well-located areas.
According to NovaNews / People’s Post, the Salt River Market development is part of a wider push involving more than 3,000 affordable units across four inner-city sites. These include Salt River Market, Newmarket Street on the Foreshore, Pickwick Street in Salt River, and the Fruit & Veg site in Zonnebloem.
The report also said the broader pipeline includes more than 1,500 social housing rental apartments.
The City has positioned the Salt River Market handover as part of a larger strategy to unlock underused public land for affordable housing. NovaNews / People’s Post reported that the City says more than 12,000 housing opportunities are planned across well-located areas of the metro.
The financial structure of the Salt River Market project is also important. NovaNews / People’s Post reported that the City contributed the land at a 90% discount, which it described as a subsidy of about R95 million. This type of land contribution is intended to make the development financially possible while keeping a portion of the rentals below normal market levels.
For the City, the model is a public-private partnership with a social housing institution. For the public, the test will be whether the final rentals are truly affordable to households that need access to well-located housing.
There are also unresolved community and social issues around the site.
GroundUp previously reported that families living in an informal settlement on the property had to be relocated before construction could begin. Its latest report said the handover had been delayed because a few dozen people living on the property had to be relocated.
NovaNews / People’s Post reported that the handover followed a multi-year social facilitation process to resolve unlawful occupation at the site. It said this included the relocation of informal households to upgraded accommodation in the Maitland area, as well as the previous resolution of commercial traders occupying the site.
The treatment of existing traders has been another important point. GroundUp reported that four traders still operating from the market will be accommodated in retail space on the ground floor of the new development.
NovaNews / People’s Post reported that Communicare chair Mark van Wyk said the development will include retail space, a public piazza, a daycare centre and a sports field at ground level. He also said the Salt River Hall will be restored and preserved for its heritage value, and that provision is being made for four long-standing fresh produce traders to continue operating at Salt River Market.
That heritage component matters because Salt River Market is not just vacant land. It has a long history as a public market and community space. Preserving parts of that identity could help reduce the sense that affordable housing development means wiping away existing community memory.
Still, the project will be watched closely.
Housing activists have often criticised Cape Town for the slow pace of social housing delivery on public land. The Salt River Market handover gives the City a visible project to point to, but the real test will be construction progress, fair tenant allocation, rental levels and whether the promised completion date is met.
For Cape Town households, the project also highlights the wider housing gap. Even 970 homes will not solve the metro’s housing crisis. But the location, scale and mixed-income model make Salt River Market one of the city’s most important housing projects now moving toward construction.
Cape Town News will monitor the next steps, including geotechnical assessments, building plan progress, construction start confirmation, relocation concerns, trader accommodation and final tenant application processes.
Q&A
What has happened at Salt River Market?
The City of Cape Town has handed the Salt River Market site to Communicare, clearing the way for a planned affordable housing development.
How many homes are planned?
The project is expected to deliver 970 homes.
How many will be social housing units?
The development includes 300 social housing rental units.
What about the other units?
The other 670 units are expected to be affordable market rental units for households earning up to about R34,400 a month.
When could construction begin?
GroundUp reported that construction is planned to begin in October, after site and building processes.
When is completion expected?
Completion is expected by August 2028.
Will existing traders be removed?
GroundUp reported that four traders still operating at the market will be accommodated in retail space in the new development.
Why is this project important?
It is a well-located affordable housing project close to the city centre, public transport and economic opportunities. It has also been delayed for more than a decade.
SAI Search Summary
The City of Cape Town has handed the Salt River Market site to Communicare for a planned 970-unit affordable housing development. The project includes 300 subsidised social housing rental units and 670 affordable market units. GroundUp reported that Communicare will contribute R40 million and expects a once-off subsidy of about R127 million from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority for the social housing portion. Construction is planned to begin after further site and building processes, with completion expected by August 2028. The project forms part of a wider City pipeline of inner-city affordable housing developments across well-located areas.
Final Source Credit:
Source: GroundUp, Matthew Hirsch. Additional reporting: NovaNews / People’s Post.
