PPPs key to reducing housing backlog

UPSCALING public-private sector partnerships is critical for unlocking funding for massive housing development in Matabeleland region, which has a higher scope for project implementation.

This emerged yesterday in Bulawayo where officials from the National Building Society Limited (NBS) and property development and management firm, Radar Holdings Limited, conducted a tour of the upcoming self-contained residential area known as the “King City” housing project along Gwanda Road.

The project sits on 2 100 hectares and targets 9 000 stands of which 475 have already been developed. The project will accommodate schools, churches, and industrial zones.
Officials from both firms said the housing project feeds into the Government National Development Strategy 1 under the housing cluster and will go a long way in reducing Bulawayo housing backlog.

National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1)

NBS managing director, Mr Tapiwa Mushoriwa, said housing delivery fits into the bank’s core mandate hence they were seeking to partner with private players to achieve that strategic goal in line with the Government’s drive to ensure the provision of affordable and modern housing for all by 2030.

“Under the National Development Strategy 1, there are various national pillars and priorities and for us, the critical ones are housing delivery and financial inclusion. We want to give people the capacity to build houses and take out loans,” he said.

“There is a huge backlog of houses and Radar Holdings is talking about having close to 2 000 hectares of land but they have not been able to unlock it into providing houses for people.

Bulawayo City Council (BCC)

“We are passionate about the Matabeleland region and we believe that there is huge scope in housing delivery, which fits into our mandate of housing delivery.”

For instance, Mr Mushoriwa said they will engage with the Bulawayo City Council on funding models.
“They need funding support and that is why we are here to engage and in order for us to make strategic decisions to benefit the city.
“We know that Bulawayo has issues to do with infrastructural development and we want to secure the right kind of agreements with the city council,” he said.
“We are meeting them tomorrow (today) to get an understanding of their needs and provide solutions.”

Mr Mushoriwa said the Matabeleland region has recorded a huge uptake of the bank’s housing projects mainly in Plumtree and Bulawayo.
For instance, in Plumtree the bank has proposed Getjenge-Bophelong partnership while in Bulawayo the building society has projects in Rangemore (Presidential Housing Scheme), Mahatshula East under Ecock Construction and Mahatshula North Flats undertaken by the Bulawayo City Council.
Radar Holdings’ finance director, Mr Walter Zimunya, said King City sits on 2 100 hectares, and when fully developed it is envisaged to be a self-contained residential area.

“When fully developed, King City will have about 9 000 residential stands, 14 schools, clinics, churches, and about 400 hectares of industrial land as we try to create light industrial zones to support the residential side,” he said.
“To date, we have developed about 475 stands and we have sold 400. We have seen an impressive uptake of the product and the makeup is both local and diaspora community.”

Mr Zimunya said this year the next phase will deliver 1 000 stands and taking a cue from the Government’s thrust of promoting high-rise residential areas, several stands would be set aside to accommodate townhouses and flats.

“We are playing our part as a corporate player in reducing the national housing backlog and achieving Government targets in terms of NDS-1 and Vision 2030,” he said.
Access to affordable and decent accommodation is a critical component of the Government’s vision to create an upper middle-income economy by 2030.

The launch of the Zimbabwe National Human Settlement Policy by President Mnangagwa set the tone for the Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities to operationalise the policy in partnership with the private sector.

President Mnangagwa

Zimbabwe has a national housing backlog of around 1,5 million units and targets to deliver 1,2 million units by 2030 and part of the vision is to change the face of Zimbabwe by building modern houses that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The Government has set a target to deliver 220 000 housing units by 2025 leveraging on partnerships with the private sector and new technologies in the human settlement sector.-chronicle.c.zw