Zimbabwe Government plans to build 200 000 affordable houses by 2023

The Zimbabwe Government has planned to build 200 000 affordable houses in partnership with the private sector which is started in Norton with the development of 2 200 stands on KockMallock estate, according to a news report by The Herald.

Roads are now being tarred and sewer pipes laid, while the foundations of the first batch of three-bedroomed houses are under construction.

Government plans to construct all the 200 000 planned houses and flats by 2023, with land for development being identified across Zimbabwe.

Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African bank, has put a facility of USD65 million to fund housing through building societies and the Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp).

Presently, Udcorp is working on getting the contractors back to the Norton suburb after delays arising from the lockdown.

In an interview yesterday, National Housing and Social Amenities minister, Daniel Garwe has said that the building of the houses was in line with Vison 2030 of attaining an upper-middle-income society, and efforts to revamp national infrastructure.

There was also a constitutional right that everyone should have a roof above their heads.

"We are aware of the housing backlog through the waiting lists with local authorities. The housing backlog is two million with the effective demand for housing being about 1.5 million," he said.

The gap between the backlog defined by waiting lists and that defined by the estimate actual demand arises from those putting down their names on more than one list, those who want to move to a better house, and those who are on a list but who will never be able to have their home for several reasons.