FOLLOWING a R2.5 million sale advert for a four-bedroomed house in Woodstock’s Gympie Street – once an infamous haven for drug dens and gang activity – it has emerged that several homeowners in the street have been made numerous offers by developers to sell.
Now long-time residents in the street say they are being pressured to sell their properties to developers and estate agents looking to make multi-million rand profits due to the area's gentrification boom.
The zoning of the property on sale means it can be used as, among others, a business premises, boarding house, flats, places of worship and, with consent, as an adult shop, adult entertainment business, and funeral parlour.
It may reach a height of 25 metres.
On the opposite side of the street, houses had been razed and in their stead student accommodation was built.
Resident Fouzia Adams, 43, has lived in her Gympie Street house all her life, and said she just finished paying a bond of R600 000 for her house, which has a similar layout to that of her neighbour's which is on sale.
Adams said she bought the house 15 years ago, and in the last year has had countless offers from property developers to buy hers, although she refuses.
She said last week Rizaan Slamdien, who is the realtor of the house on sale, asked if she was interested in selling.
She was informed that owners of four houses on her block were also approached for sale, and there was a plan to turn their houses into flats.
Slamdien confirmed the visit to Adams, and said he told her she should contact him should she decide to sell.
“He (Slamdien) came here and at the end of last year another man came here and made me an offer of R2 million. I will not sell because this is the house I grew up in, and it is central,” Adams said.
Commenting on the sale of the R2.5m house, Slamdien said people were free to make their own prices.
“Woodstock offers prime property, and we can't tell a person how much they want to sell their house for,” he said.
Hopolang Selebalo, head of research at Ndifuna Ukwazi – a law centre that promotes constitutional rights and social justice – said according to their research, the average income of households in Cape Town was R13 000, which meant a bond of R300 000.
Selebalo said the average price for a house in Cape Town was about R1m, which meant many people were renting because they could not afford to buy property.
“Gympie Street wasn’t perfect (in the past) but many people and developers are now buying into it because of its location. This means people who have lived there for decades are being pushed out.
“The state should put regulations in place that protects residents from this effect of gentrification,” Selebalo said.
Department of Human Settlements spokesperson Xolani Xundu said the department does not have any laws or regulations that seek to prevent South Africans from buying and selling their properties.
“As a department, we would just hope that people would make wise and financially sound decisions on the profits they earn from such sales to secure their future and that of their children,” Xundu said.
Mayco member for Transport and Urban Development Authority Brett Herron said that while there is no formal government support or protection for homeowners, owners are protected by a robust property transfer regime.
Herron said the City would soon champion a social housing agenda for the Woodstock and Salt River area.
“There are a number of social housing projects in the pipeline that should come to fruition in the coming months and years…
“Woodstock is going through a period of redevelopment after a long period of stagnation when parts of the area appeared to be neglected,” Herron said.