About us

 

The aim of Yeast City Housing is to provide decent, affordable accommodation to low income and at-risk people in the inner city of Tshwane, as well as to people with special needs.

 

A few factors contributed to the creation of this social housing company:

 

· Due to road developments and other renewal projects a substantial number of low-cost housing units in the inner city were demolished. Over one December many people knocked on the doors of inner city churches, enquiring about accommodation.

· Single room facilities and rental apartment buildings in the inner city were at risk, due to abandonment by landlords, exploitative management practices, or the conversion of buildings for other uses.

· People moved through the communities of the Tshwane Leadership Foundation / Pretoria Community Ministries (www.tlf.org.za), found jobs, but the gap in the market between the streets or a shelter, and decent housing was often too wide; we needed to add another step to the housing ladder.

· We recognized that we had people in the faith communities of Pretoria Community Ministries who had housing skills and expertise to draw from, and started to discern that housing could be a vital area for the church to invest itself in, a way to contribute to inner city regeneration, healthy communities and stable families.

 

In 2002 Yeast City Housing received the award as Housing Developer of the Year from the Institute for Housing (Gauteng), for its pioneering role in the provision of transitional institutional and special needs housing, and social support for the inner city poor of Pretoria.

 

It changed the physical landscape where it developed projects and the human landscape for those who benefited from its housing. However, it has serious challenges: to maintain good quality living environments and to build a sense of community and neighbourliness that goes far beyond landlord-tenant relationships. As Yeast grows, it needs to draw deep from its journey to retrieve resources that will help it stay true to its original vision.

 

Please click here to view our latest Annual Report.

 

Governance

Yeast City Housing is governed by a Board of Directors, which employs a General Manager to run the company. Please click here to view the list of Directors.