Almost 1000 affordable homes set to be built at Salt River Market

More than a decade since the City of Cape Town first earmarked the Salt River Market for social housing, it has finally been handed over to the developer, Communicare.

Communicare will contribute R40 million of its own funds and expects to receive a once-off subsidy of about R127 million from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority to build 300 social housing units. These are to be rented out, in line with social housing regulations, to households earning less than R22 000 a month.

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An additional 670 units will be built without state subsidies and will be made available to households earning up to R34 400 a month.

Rentals at the development will range between R700 and R10 000 a month, said Human Settlements mayco member Carl Pophaim. There will be two-bedroom units for families, and one-bedroom units for young professionals.

Construction is planned to begin in October and be completed by August 2028.

Zubaida Adams is one of four current traders at Salt River Market who will be accommodated in the new development’s retail space. Image: Steve Kretzmann, GroundUp

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“We have the rigs coming on within the next few weeks to do the geotech assessments. That’s going to be quite big. The building plan process will follow this,” said Pophaim.

It has been more than a decade since Communicare entered discussions with the City to build social housing on the 1.7 hectare property, and four years since a land sale agreement was signed.

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The handover to Communicare was delayed because a few dozen people living in an informal settlement on the property had to be relocated.

On Monday, a Red Ants vehicle was monitoring the property.

Four traders who still operate from the market will be accommodated in the development’s retail space on the ground floor. There had previously been uncertainty over whether they would be able to stay on.

There will also be daycare and a sports field. The Salt River Hall, which is a heritage site, will be restored and preserved.

“It’s important that government land is used for the benefit of the working class, especially those living and working within this community,” said Communicare’s chairperson, Mark van Wyk.

© 2026 GroundUp. This article was first published here.

Listen to Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis speaking on The Property Pod in this 2024 interview regarding the development boom in the Mother City: 

You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.