IDBZ develops flexible housing scheme

01 Feb, 2015 - 00:02 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

THE Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) has developed flexible payment plans through its new Home Saver Account catering for low-income earners.

The country’s housing backlog stands at 1,25 million units.

IDBZ executive director infrastructure projects Mr Desmond Matete told The Sunday Mail Business at the Home Saver Account launch in Harare on Thursday that potential homeowners should not be put off by the initial deposit of US$500.

Mr Matete said people could pay any amount they had until it reached the minimum deposit.

“If you have US$100, come with it and put it into a savings account and join the bridging account later. Those people wanting to put together their deposits bit by bit can do so; we do not have a time limit.

“So a person can start with any figure but obviously it costs a lot of money to just do the servicing. That is why you see there is a demand and supply gap on housing; it is simply because of the prohibitive costs of servicing.

“But we are saying we want to come in and do the servicing; you don’t have to finance the servicing because we can finance it through own resources or the bonds. As long as you come in with your commitment of instalments,” said Mr Matete.

Through the scheme, IDBZ plans to sell both stands and superstructures.

A pilot project with 700 units is set to begin in New Marimba, Harare in the next two months.

Project planning and design has started and most of the equipment is expected on-site soon.

Once complete, IDBZ will start selling the houses to “those people who can afford to take them up and are able to service the mortgages”.

High density houses will be available from US$22 000, while medium density units will be pegged at between US$38 000 and US$45 000.

Two stand sizes of 300 and 500 square metres are on offer at US$13 510 and US$22 950, respectively.

A deposit of US$2 500 is required for the 300 square metre stands and US$4 400 for the larger ones. The balance is payable in 10 years at 10 percent per annum.

The IDBZ strategy seeks to roll out housing schemes in Harare, Kwekwe, Gweru, Kadoma, Bindura, Bulawayo, Mutare and Chinhoyi among other urban centres.

Up to 30 000 units, including houses, flats and serviced stands, will be availed by 2018 on an annual roll-out of 5 000 units.

Under Zim-Asset, Government plans to guarantee decent housing for 300 000 families by 2018.

Some analysts have, however, said the prices pegged by the IDBZ for both the stands and completed houses are beyond the reach of many who earn an average of US$300 per month.

But Mr Matete contends that the charges are low given that some urban centres sell land at between US$50 and US$55 per square metre.

“We are calculating at US$45 per square metre but what is important is that if you pay upfront, obviously you limit the cost because a person coming in to pay the whole amount (at once) will benefit more in terms of the cost of the stand than a person who is going to pay the whole amount with interest.

“If you come through with a cash buy, you accelerate your ability to get the allocation (of stands) and we can then assess you for assistance that you may need for the superstructure unlike a person who is still paying instalments and struggling to just acquire the stand.

“So there will be trade-offs and like I am saying, the people that we want to benefit from this are those who make good sacrifices,” said Mr Matete.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa has given IDBZ the greenlight to issue US$100 million worth of housing bonds.

Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo is working towards availing appropriate residential land on which to undertake such projects.

IDBZ is a statutory body established through the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe Act (Chapter 24:14), and came into being in September 2005 following amendments to the Zimbabwe Development Bank Act.

It is mandated with promoting economic development and growth and to improve the living standards of people through development of infrastructure including housing, amenities and utilities.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds