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Fighting for affordable housing and housing justice in Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard. https://www.yimbyseaboard.org/

23/04/2026

There are ‘risks’ and ‘unintended consequences’ to any endeavour – but when it comes to making housing affordable, there are far greater risks to doing absolutely nothing.

In a YIMBY Seaboard opinion piece in , we show that there are low-risk, ready-to-go policy tools that could make a difference on the Atlantic Seaboard, where development is exploding.

14/04/2026

The mayor talks about “risks” and “unintended consequences” of Inclusionary Housing. But he’s ignoring the risks of doing nothing – runaway development with no planning for affordability. ‘Inclusionary Housing’ is a policy tool that requires developers to build a proportion of affordable units in new builds. Cities around the world use it – even Stellenbosch is doing it! But Cape Town? We get crickets… or rather, we get 35 square metre microapartments sold for millions as investment vehicles for short-term rentals, instead of actual homes.

Inclusionary Housing alone won’t solve Cape Town’s housing crisis – we need much more, subsidised social housing. But it’s a minimum-effort measure COCT could take right now, taking advantage of all the new developments on the Atlantic Seaboard.

08/12/2025

A recent opinion piece in by a YIMBY Seaboard member elicited a response by Anthony Hazell – but there’s no indication of who he is. A concerned citizen? A Geordin Hill-Lewis superfan? Spoiler alert – he’s Policy Adviser to the Mayor. Hazell can defend the Mayor and the City’s policy on affordable housing all he likes – the truth is, the City has built ZERO units of affordable housing anywhere on the Atlantic Seaboard.

Hazell says there were “comments incorrectly attributed” to the Mayor in Telford Vice’s article – but here’s the quote from Kevin Bloom’s interview with the Mayor: “When you say things like ‘spatial apartheid’,” noted Geordin Hill-Lewis, “I think that’s just kind of propaganda language that is no longer rooted in reality.”

Whatever the Mayor and his advisors say, spatial apartheid is very real and very much alive.

02/12/2025

YIMBY Seaboard member Telford Vice has written a powerful piece lamenting the lack of commitment to affordable housing on the part of the City when it comes to the Atlantic Seaboard. He also imagines an alternative, transformed, more just and liveable Sea Point. And he shows up the hypocrisy of the political party running our city. It’s worth a read!

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2025-11-25-cape-towns-housing-crisis-reveals-who-is-really-winning-the-development-game/

21/10/2025

Are buyers with access to foreign currency driving up property prices in Cape Town? Are we seeing more commodification of housing in our city – where houses and apartments are treated as investment vehicles, not potential homes?

The mayor doesn’t see a problem with international buyers – but are you feeling the effects? Let us know.

Read Kevin Bloom’s interview with the mayor in here:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-13-no-place-for-old-locals-mayor-geordin-hill-lewis-defends-vision-for-cape-town/

20/10/2025

Rent in the Western Cape rose by 68.5% between 2014 and 2024, according to PayProp Rental Indexes. There is no regulation on rentals, and poor – and even middle-class – people are being shut out of the local rental market. Can Cape Town learn from other cities where rent control has been implemented, along with other measures like building social housing? The Mayor doesn’t seem open to considering measures to deal with Cape Town’s undeniable housing crisis.

Read Kevin Bloom’s interview with him in here:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-13-no-place-for-old-locals-mayor-geordin-hill-lewis-defends-vision-for-cape-town/

And tell us if you think CT should have rent control.

19/10/2025

An interview with the Cape Town Mayor revealed just what he thinks about housing justice in the city. If he thinks spatial apartheid isn’t real, it makes us wonder what city he’s living in… or what planet.

Read Kevin Bloom’s interview with him in here:
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-10-13-no-place-for-old-locals-mayor-geordin-hill-lewis-defends-vision-for-cape-town/

And tell us whether you think spatial apartheid is real.

05/10/2025

Some quotes from Kevin Bloom’s deeply felt reflection on the changes happening in Sea Point. His Daily Maverick piece questions the City’s commitment to affordable housing, laments the effect gentrification has had on working-class residents and recounts the difficulties faced even by middle-class citizens here. Meanwhile, developers are given free reign, and prices are driven up by ‘investment’ properties purpose-made for short-term rentals or monied, foreign buyers.

It’s a worthwhile read: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-09-29-sea-points-broken-promises-no-place-for-old-locals/

We look forward to Part II, in which City officials respond.

23/09/2025

Last day! Use our letter builder to let the City know they must use public spaces to serve the public – that means libraries and affordable housing for Camps Bay. Go to https://forms.gle/v3dvPVpu6bCdkyo19 to use our letter builder and follow the instructions.

There’s no reason Camps Bay should be exempt from transformation. It’s not just for the wealthy and visitors. The library could be the heart of a thriving, stable and diverse community.

22/09/2025

Yes, Camps Bay needs its library. But it also needs transformation… badly. The library should be part of a diverse, stable community that includes affordable housing in one of the least transformed suburbs in the country.

Go to https://forms.gle/v3dvPVpu6bCdkyo19 to use our letter builder to easily put a comment together, which you can email to the City.

21/09/2025

Tell the City – publicly owned land, like Camps Bay library, should not be sold to commercial owners when it serves the public! Go to https://forms.gle/v3dvPVpu6bCdkyo19 to use our letter builder to easily put a comment together, which you can email to the City. We need stronger community in Camps Bay, with libraries and affordable housing.

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