Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says rising costs are a “symptom of success”, but many locals feel squeezed. In this Power Chat with @Ferial, he unpacks the housing crisis, global tensions, and his vision for the city:
Do you agree with the Mayor that rising property values are a positive sign of economic growth, or are we risking the soul of the city by pricing out locals?
What is the most urgent priority for Cape Town’s leadership?
Maybe i am biased here but other cites eg Barcelona have taken drastic steps to reduce out-of-control housing prices.
Several years ago i had a German houseguest and he told me landlords are forbidden from increasing rental price by law there, and i you had rented for 10 years, you would be paying the same rent.
100% agree with you! This is a serious issue. We moved to CT from GP in 2021. We already knew that homes were more expensive and were prepared for that, but within the 4 years that we lived here, the market has gone insane! Landlords ask any ridiculous price that they want AND don’t fix things (because they know you can’t leave) AND full still ask for full increase each year. Especially those managed by the big rental companies; the rental agents will go out of their way to not repair anything in order to make the landlord even more money. We took one of our agents to the tribunal and won the case, but we spoke to so many other people renting from the same agency who just couldn’t afford to move. Some of them opted for the same solution we took, which was to buy the first house we could, but even in that situation we were used twice to close another OTP and once the agent actually told us that we needed to increase our OTP (we offered the requested price) otherwise she wouldn’t even take it to the seller because so many people were interested.
The market is insane and it has a lot to do with a) greed, but that is fed by b) the foreigners coming in to CT and, despite everybody charging whatever silly price they can, still being able to live like lords because of the $. It should not be the case that foreigners live better in our country than our own people.
And I haven’t touched on the problems for those who are homeless!
It is never a sign of growth when only some benefit. Our locals aren’t benefited, and if you study the property bubble, it is unnatural. It is also problematic that rental income increases, but salaries (etc) don’t grow enough to support that and keep the working class safe. I think a privilege check in and a willingness to listen and understand those who are affected in ways he (and others) clearly are no, would be hugely beneficial at this time.
are we the same person???
….and become like any other over-priced, crowded, gridlocked city in the world? Being uniquely different is what draws people to Cape Town.
Yes, but the draw should benefit the actual labour force of the city, not the privileged top 5% who rake in the benefits and foreigners who drive up prices but don’t pay the price.