The Sunday Mail
Government’s target of providing at least 310 000 housing units to low-income earners countrywide by 2018 is on course with about 286 000 stands having already been serviced.
The Sunday Mail has established that at least 27 000 houses have so far been constructed in line with implementation of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) unveiled in October 2013 to run for five years.
The country’s housing waiting list is at about 1,5 million and availing of housing units is expected to lessen the national accommodation burden.
In an interview last week, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo said the housing programme was on track.
“This is in line with Zim-Asset, our economic blue-print. Actually, we are set to complete 313 000 serviced stands and houses by 2018 and work is already in progress,” said Dr Chombo.
According to statics made available by the Department of National Housing in Dr Chombo’s ministry, a total 27 501 low-income houses have been constructed since the launch of Zim-Asset.
This year, Government and private partners constructed 14 745 housing units country wide.
Information shows that in Harare alone 50 394 stands and low-income houses have been made available while 13 065 houses were built in Bulawayo.
“Accumulatively we have 285 867 serviced housing stands for low-income houses so we are well on course to hit the 313 000 mark,” said Dr Chombo.
He said the national housing programme was being funded under a five-year partnership between Government and local financial institutions.
Dr Chombo said Government, through his ministry, had created the National Housing Delivery Committee chaired by CBZ Bank in order to promote transparency in the disbursement of housing funds.
“As Government we were worried about some cooperatives which were collecting money but not providing the service. We have directed that all funds should go to banks and should be released to the specific service provider not to some chairperson,” Dr Chombo said.
Low incomes and high mortgages have made it difficult for many Zimbabwean urbanites to build houses.
