Social Housing and Special Needs Housing for the City of Cape Town

Beneficiary Targeting For Special Needs Targeting as part of Special Needs (SPN): Orphans and vulnerable children Infected or affected by HIV/Aids People with physical disabilities and mobility problems People with psychological difficulties requiring community care Elderly requiring extra support Victims of domestic abuse and violence Homeless on the street

Social Housing link with Special Needs Housing Presently no properly developed special needs policy in the City Plan is to develop a policy and subsidy programme for SPN on the development and management of new stock within social housing programme Link the SPN programme of land allocation and subsidy provision through the Social Housing programme Subsidy to come through the Social Housing, Transitional housing and Institutional Subsidy routes

Social Housing Program - Aims / Purpose To provide access to good quality rental and co-op ownership housing in well located parts of the City at rentals affordable to people on low incomes (R1,500 – R7500 per month) Within this to provide for people with Special Needs. And To ensure that alternative forms of tenure are offered to people living in the existing City Stock so that it can be owned and managed in a pro-active way that maximises the best use of the asset. Through this to contribute to the economic, racial and social integration of the city. In doing this to use City owned assets, Partnerships and Government subsidies to leverage additional financial investments into its human settlement development objectives.

Social Housing – Institutional Elements Partnerships Setting up of 5 year Public Private partnerships between City of Cape Town and Social Housing Institutions 3 partnerships set up through tender process SOHCO CTCHCo Communicare City provides leasehold land/buildings and access to subsidies SHI’s facilitate the development and management the rental stock SHI’s sets up financial packaging with City support

Social Housing - Contractual Arrangements Interlinking contractual arrangements that provide for: Long term financial planning Shared risk between City and Partners Control over efficient use of government resources Freedom for SHI’s to act as independent businesses Programme Agreements 5 years Project Agreements Duration of project Land Lease Agreements 30 years Programme Agreement Project Agreement 1 Project Agreement 2 Land Lease Agreement Land Lease Agreement

Accessing Well Located Land (restructuring zones) Land and Building identified and agreed: 5000 units for 5 years Mainly City land and Buildings Identified and negotiating on Provincial land and Buildings Purchase of appropriate land and buildings Land selected on the basis of: Well located giving access to well developed Social Economic facilities Easy access to well developed Public Transport Routes Contributing to giving access to low income households in areas where housing access otherwise very difficult Integrated into City’s IDP

Social Housing Funding Capital Financing Each project financial packaging has the following elements SH Subsidy: approx R120,000 per unit City Land and or Building Equity Equity Loan Finance – capital repayment in rentals Operational Financing From rentals to cover: Capital repayment Management Costs Admin costs Planned Maintenance of Asset

Forms of Special Needs Housing Potential forms of housing: Permanent and transitional Model 1 - Independent living integrated in all SH projects (5 -10% allocation on all new SH projects) Model 2 - Specialist support housing within SH projects Model 3 - Specialist support housing as separate projects Partnerships Build on our existing partnerships for the development and management of stock – SHI’s Some specialist care within these partnerships e.g. Communicare home help provision to elderly Build new partnerships with agencies e.g. NGO’s, W.O.’s to provide the specialist care support Institutions require organisational sustainability as well as project sustainability

Model 1 – Independent Living Units Developed and managed by SH partners. 5 -10% for people with special needs able to live independently.

Social and Special Needs Housing Model 2 – Special Care Integrated into SH Project Units Developed and managed by SH partners. NGO responsible for Care needs of people in special need cluster.

Model 3 – Special Care on Own Site Units can be Developed and managed by SH partners. NGO responsible for Care needs of people in special need cluster + choice of developing and managing the facility.

Financing the Social Housing -Special Needs Program Capital Finance: Housing subsidies – Social housing, Institutional subsidy, (Follow KZN policy 1 subsidy per bed) Special needs disability subsidies (Dept of Social development) Grants Loan finance Operational Finance: Administration and management of the housing provision Administration and management of care services Donations/grants to care organisation Individual social welfare grants

Financing the SPN Housing Program Very low affordability levels for capital repayment and building management Higher subsidy per unit required Additional grant financing for part of Management cost None of this viable unless the financing is available for the specialist support service on viable basis Policy Alignment Broad alignment of City policy with Provincial policy Alignment of City and Provincial Policy with National policy Addressing special needs housing in Social Housing Act

Current Experiences with SPN in SH Projects SOHCO has reserved 10% of Units for Special Needs. Communicare has reserved 30% of Units for Special Needs. Visual impaired (Blind and semi): Floor covering should differ at various stages to indicate foreseen obstacles e.g. rubber strip in front of a door way to indicate a door opening onto the walk way. Bright colours painted on  the edge of each stair on a stairway to indicate the rise or decline of the staircase. The positioning of windows in the units as direct lightning will be extremely irritating to  a semi blind person All documentation, e.g. lease agreements should be made in audio format for the tenant to be able to independently keep record of.

Current Experiences with SP in SH Projects Hearing impaired: A light fitting that flickers when a door bell gets wrung or when an emergency alarms goes off has to be installed inside the unit. All projects should be made accessible and this can only be achieved if we treat people living with disabilities as independent individuals so the unit is not the only aspect of the project that caters for them but the project in its entirety.

Way Forward Finalisation of City Social Housing Special Needs Policy Enforcement of the component of Special Needs in all Project contracts with SH Partners Setting up of Special Needs Advisory Group

Conclusion Let us work together for a better city