A leading global equity investor believes that there is potential for large scale investment in affordable property in South Africa. International Housing Solutions (IHS) believes that it is now time for the private sector to get involved in the construction of affordable homes in South Africa.
Private sector to get involved building affordable property in South Africa
Soula Proxenos, managing partner at IHS, spoke after the third annual affordable housing development and finance conference in the country. She said it was clear that urban densification had to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Ms Proxenos said: ââ¬ÅLocal and international private equity funding is increasingly being attracted by the development of low-and-middle income housing, and densification helps to facilitate such investment. It has now become critically important for the private sector to be active in this space.ââ¬Â
The expert also pointed to recent research by Francois Viruly, a professor at the University of Cape Town whish showed that densification around urban centres was rapidly escalating. This, in turn, is creating many more institutional investment opportunities.
IAfrica reports that ââ¬Ëthis concentration around public transport nodes will change the nature of "how our cities expand", and Viruly argued that we cannot think of cities in terms of circular nodes, but that we needed to do so in a linear manner, as cities would densify along the public transport routes.ââ¬â¢
Ms Proxenos pointed to the models in many other countries around the world where significant local and foreign investment is made in the affordable housing market. By replicating this for property in South Africa, this solution could address housing backlogs and the challenges of densification.
Private investment in affordable housing could also help address other socio-economic issues such as the transformation of apartheid-style town planning, economic growth and job creation.
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