Recent studies suggest that while the demand for affordable housing is on the rise, affordability remains a barrier for millions of South Africans in this segment, resulting in renting increasingly being a more feasible option than buying.
Midknight Valencia is located at 245 Basden Avenue, Lyttelton in Centurion and comprises 224 rental units. These apartments feature one bedroom, one bathroom, as well as two bedrooms, one bathroom layouts with rentals ranging from R4 800 to R5 800 per month.According to a July 2015 note by the Centre for Affordable Housing South Africa on ‘Understanding the challenges in South Africa’s Gap Housing Market and opportunities for the RDP Resale Market’, developers report that for every 10 buyers they present to lenders to apply for mortgage financing, two are declined for adverse credit track records and five are declined due to affordability constraints.
As a result, only three of every 10 applications submitted are approved, making renting the alternate choice.
This is according to Erika Sutton, CEO of the Realgrowth Group, who says in recognition of this increased demand, the Affordable Housing division at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking has granted a R62.3 million loan facility to Rilamax (Pty) Ltd, part of the Realgrowth Group, for its Midknight Valencia affordable housing rental development.
Sutton says the single most important decision that a property developer makes in any endeavour is the choice of financial partner for each project.
“At Realgrowth, our brand promise seamlessly aligns with the Nedbank culture of ‘making things happen’. We believe in the integrity of the Nedbank brand, and decided to take hands with them for the development of Midknight Valencia,” she says.
“Our specialisation in affordable housing follows on from our intensive research into the specific housing requirements of the young professional, which indicated to us that this unique demographic prefers spacious living units that are safe, easily accessible from main amenities and routes, with the popular lock-up and go feature that consistently increases in demand.”
She says Realgrowth managed to position itself well in this unique market sector by offering Midknight Valencia.
“This is a stylish, yet affordable living space that caters for the young professional generation as they commence with their ascent up the corporate ladder, and also for those that want to scale down due to the current economic crunch,” says Sutton.
Midknight Valencia is located at 245 Basden Avenue, Lyttelton in Centurion and comprises 224 rental units. These apartments feature one bedroom, one bathroom, as well as two bedrooms, one bathroom units with rentals ranging between R4 800 to R5 800 per month.
Midknight Valencia comprises of four storey walk-up residential blocks, a design feature that is already gaining popularity within affordable rentals for its ability to assist in the densification of the land available, thus enabling an economical construction with minimised maintenance costs in the future.
Sutton says the location for the development has been identified due to its close proximity to schools, hospitals and government offices.
It is also located in a prime position where rentals in the area are in high demand as many individuals are employed in the vicinity as teachers, nurses, policemen and government workers.
Its close proximity to public transport nodes, including the Gautrain, allows for easy access to the N14 and N1 highways and areas such as Sandton, Midrand and the Johannesburg CBD, making it an increasingly popular location, she says.
Manie Annandale, head of affordable housing at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, says as a financier to affordable housing property developers, one of their mandates is to ensure that the needs of their clients and consumers are serviced and met by consistently providing agile solutions.
“This principle has been applied in the decision to provide financing for Midknight Valencia, a development that has been constructed and smartly designed to respond to the current market’s demands for affordable housing,” he says.
Realgrowth (Pty) Ltd, a new entity set up by several experienced individuals for undertaking affordable developments, approached Nedbank due to the bank’s strong position in funding these. Rilamax (Pty) Ltd is 100% owned by Realgrowth Developments (Pty) Ltd, and Midknight Valencia was the first development by the newly established entity.
Annandale says affordable housing is a critical driver of the economy, and as such, they are proud to be associated with this property development.
She says they also look forward to good returns for the development, not only in socially responsible terms, but also in the economic sense with local government earmarking Centurion to house African Gateway, one of SA’s largest public-private partnership developments, in the near future.
Construction of Midknight Valencia was undertaken over five phases and was completed on 1 September 2015.
For more information, contact Realgrowth on 012 347 5326.
Print
