The Social Housing Initiative IMIZI

The Social Housing Initiative IMIZI in Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa was initially a project for integration of subsidy housing in the city’s central areas, its primary objective was later elaborated to assist in the provision of high density housing. IMIZI has come far in preparing the first construction projects and has established itself on the social housing market of South Africa. Two main projects were implemented, namely Motherwell and Baakens Valley in Central Port Elizabeth, and the possibilities were to be part of several funding initiatives seemed positive. IMIZI further confirmed its interest in the rental initiatives.

The objectives of IMIZI were to:

• Develop and manage housing stock that is well-located, affordable and acceptable and that provides customers with additional support in terms of education, personal financial advice, employer involvement and special needs.
• Explore new and innovative housing solutions (densification and integration, special housing needs, new housing finance products, different tenure options, job creation, etc) for own stock development and replication by others.
• Develop relationships with other stakeholders and encourage the establishment of metro-wide programmes in support of social housing.