Multi-storey complexes have been put forward as the best solution to house the homeless in Alex, where available land for housing is in short supply. 

An artist's impression of the multi-storey RDP houses to built in Alexandra
(Photo: courtesy of ARP)

IN a bid to reduce the housing backlog in Alexandra, in the north of Johannesburg, the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) is exploring multi-storey Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) complexes for the township's homeless. 

In phase one of the project, a complex of 48 units will be built in Marlboro in January 2007, says Neels Letter, the ARP's section co-ordinator of infrastructure and housing.

"A major challenge facing the ARP is the shortage of land. There is no space to build houses in the township and this project, we hope, will provide a solution and at the same time afford decent accommodation for Alex residents."

The land near the Marlboro Transit Facility, originally earmarked for flats for people in transit, has been rezoned to accommodate the project. In the past years the ARP has successfully increased density through urban design that reduces plot size from the traditional 250m² to 80m², but this has not been enough to meet the needs of the housing backlog in Alexandra.

Consequently, the ARP looked to trends in the commercial housing sector and in an innovative adaptation has created a solution that is uniquely suited to Alexandra's needs - multi-storey RDP complexes.

The phase one complex will be built in a high-density configuration around a central open courtyard. It will be three storeys on one aspect with a lower, two storey northern orientation to allow for maximum natural light into open spaces.

The site will be landscaped to ensure "a secure living environment for residents, parking, general lighting and laundry facilities", Letter says.

Each unit, of 34m², will consist of an open-plan living space with a bathroom and a kitchen, and pay-as-you-go electrical connections. Solar energy and other cost-saving devices will be deployed wherever possible to assist owners in ongoing maintenance of their homes.

But not all the flats in the complex will be subsidised RDP units. "A percentage of the units in the complex will be institutional finance units … Beneficiaries will own their units as in any other RDP development but within a sectional title framework," Letter says.

"Sectional title will put the management of, and responsibility for, the complex in the hands of the individual owners, represented on a body corporate."

The cost of each RPD unit in the multi-storey complex, however, will be about 45 percent higher than the ordinary RDP standalone house, he adds. A simple RDP house costs about R90 000.

A total of 600 units will be completed over four phases. Phase two will begin as soon as phase one is complete and will extend on to adjacent council-owned land. It will have 120 units, Letter explains.