Transforming Durban: Three neglected properties to become 600 social housing units

Three Durban properties, two of them in a deplorable condition, are expected to be transformed into residential housing projects for an estimated 600 units. 

The eThekwini Municipality presented a brief outline of its Inner City Regeneration plans on Thursday during a Town Talk meeting. The municipality stated that it had created workstreams to ensure implementation plans for rejuvenation are carried through. 

The municipality said that the three properties in the inner city have been awarded to private developers for social housing.

All three projects are at the detailed planning stage. The municipality expects construction to commence in 2026 for project 1, and 2027 for projects 2 and 3.

Since 2016, the municipality has been planning these housing developments. The three sites are:

• The Star Seaside Children's Home on Playfair Road will have an estimated 220 social housing units. The building was demolished after complaints of it being an eyesore and becoming a haven for vagrants; since then, the property has remained vacant.

• The Table Tennis Building on Epsom Road is expected to have 250 units. Previous reports on the building have recognised it as being an eyesore for decades when entering the city through Umgeni Road. Vagrants had moved in, but recently, the municipality had begun monitoring the building under its problem building division. 

• Lancers Road will have 197 units and is proposed to be mixed-use with commercial on the ground floor. The building once served as a university for non-whites before being left abandoned, and soon it became a breeding ground for criminals and drug addicts. It was reported previously in December 2021 that the Durban metro police cleared the building of illegal occupants. Those living on the premises reached out to the Durban High Court, which granted them an interim court order stopping the eviction of more than 100 families from the building. In July 2023, the municipality demolished an illegal tavern that was built on the premises. The illegal occupation of the building is considered a major contributor to crime in the Warwick Avenue area.

Puvendra Akkiah, senior manager of Integrated Development Plans and town planner, explained the importance of the implementation structures.

He said the ICR Core Working Team is responsible for strategic oversight of plan implementation.

“Each workstream is led by an assigned leader who collaborates with a dedicated team, including representatives from relevant municipal sectors. They provide and manage supplementary services in areas that fall outside the zones within the inner city. They support the programme management and programme co-ordination of the Inner City Regeneration Programme,” he said.

 Akkiah said that the municipality, in its role as a facilitator of the Social Housing programme, has made available old dilapidated buildings and land parcels to private developers. 

The following incentives are available to developers:

• Fees for  Building Plan approval have been waived.
• The Private companies will enter into a 50-year lease agreement with the land lease premiums discounted at 90%. 
• There are no rates levied during construction. 

• Bulk Infrastructure shall be provided by the municipality where needed. 
• The municipality has done precinct plans, which enable land use intensity, rezonings, and parking reductions.
• The developers of social housing are eligible to receive grants from the government of up to 80% of the development costs.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za