The Sunday Mail
Tafadzwa Kadani and Lawson Madzivanyika
The recently introduced Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) has said that this year alone, they will roll out about 500 000 stands across the country in order to reduce the housing backlog that is currently standing at 1,2 million.
The developer is also registering people who want housing stands in the four proposed new towns to be established – Knockmallch (Norton), Chishawasha B (Harare), Hunyani/Manyame (Chitungwiza) and Umvucha (Bulawayo).
The towns will have schools, parks, recreational facilities and clinics, among other facilities.
According to Town planning officer at Udcorp, Mr Kawadza, Udcorp will reserve land for high-rise flats, clusters and garden flats; in what is referred to as densification.
Some land will be set aside for small to medium enterprises in the new towns.
Mr Kawadza said most of the new towns were at the town planning stage and soon, those on the waiting list would start getting housing stands.
“This year alone we will be issuing half of the stands to reduce the housing backlog in the country. Our prime target is to ensure that all citizens get decent accommodation and that everyone can afford, prices will vary with location.
“The stands will be averaging from 200-2 000 square metres at affordable prices. We will provide them to all income-earning groups in Zimbabwe,” said Mr Kawadza.
Government, through the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, engaged Udcorp as the official land developer in the country in order to rescue the people from some heartless land barons who had been duping unsuspecting people who are desperate to own houses.The bogus land barons have been operating without any supervision for the past decade.
Vendors, civil servants, and other business people have lost their hard-earned investments to the thieving barons.By March last year, more than 20 000 home-seekers, mostly civil servants, had lost $57 million to land barons in Caledonia Estate.
In most instances, the properties were either non-existent or stood on land that is reserved for schools, hospitals and even graveyards.
This has led to haphazard settlements and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
Consequently at one point, Government was forced to embark on a clean-up campaign dubbed Operation Murambatsvina.
Udcorp has partnered with the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe to help people save towards building their homes.
Sales and marketing manager at Udcorp, Ms Leah Mugwagwa, said the “Home Saver Account” initiative was going to help most people.
“Initially people are to pay $5 for registering then upon confirmation, they will deposit monthly installments of $50. The funds will be kept safely for them. People will choose where they would want to build their homes,” she explained.Previously, home-seekers would directly deposit their savings in the land barons’ account who in turn would exploit this loophole to dupe them.Currently, the organisation is servicing land for a state-of-the-art housing complex in the heart of the leafy suburb of Borrowdale in Harare.
“All our stands will be fully serviced before construction commences. They will have tarred roads, sewer and water reticulation and lighting,” said Ms Mugwagwa.
