The SAARDA event, held at Glendower Golf Club in Edenvale on 24 November 2017, aimed to build up the social aspect between developers, banks and financial institutions.

“The dinner and awards ceremony aim to motivate developers to produce quality products for end users,” says Kiron MD and previous chairman of SAARDA, Harry Gey van Pittius.The day also addressed issues that the sector is currently experiencing. Gey van Pittius said that it is very difficult for emerging developers to start a project.

“It’s one of the reasons why we don’t see many of them,” he said. Over the past years the industry has grown despite having to go through a lot of red tape to secure land. “There’s a lot of red tape so if we have a good relationship with each other, we can address these issues with the government,” he said.Krism Developers won the emerging developer of the year award.

Chris Marshall received the award on behalf of the company and said that it is a tough industry to be involved in but he is looking forward to the coming years. The best financial institute of the year went to FNB Housing Finance. Received by Marinda Barnard, she expressed gratitude for the trust they have in FNB.

“Looking at the developments today, we can’t believe what’s been achieved,” she said.Dr Alf Levin from Township Realtors, walked away with a lifetime achievement award for his role in pushing housing boundaries in Soweto, through developing the Protea Glen area since 1994.

The local authority award went to the City of Johannesburg’s Elliot Sithole; the developer of the year award went to Caliber Properties for their property located in Evander, Mpumalanga called The Gayles and mega developer of the year was awarded to Cosmopolitan Projects.