Zimpapers Logo

Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
Harare City Council will parcel out 6 000 residential stands in Mabvuku after forging a partnership with a local firm that is set to service the stands and provide infrastructure .

Council expects the development to help reduce the city’s housing backlog, which stands at over 500 000.

Under the Zim-Asset, Harare Province is expected to deliver 105 935 houses by 2018.

The city’s Business Committee chairperson councillor Herbert Gomba, said the city would partner Pure Gold Housing Trust in Mabvuku and was in the process of considering other proposals.

“We hope to meet our Zim-Asset target because we have many other projects in the pipeline. We hope the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing will provide us with more farms so we can expedite the process.

“In the current project, we will provide land, while the investor will service the stands as well as provide water and other necessary infrastructure. We have low and medium income earners in mind for this project,” he said.

Clr Gomba said council had entered a partnership to avoid a situation like that of the Budiriro CABS Housing Scheme, which was failing to attract first time home owners because of high prices.

“We are not involved in the pricing of Budiriro homes because we sold the land to CABS, but in this case we will be involved because we are a partner. These stands should be affordable to low-income earners.

“Questions of pricing will be addressed after taking into account the cost of servicing the stands,” he said.

Last year, the Government launched the Harare chapter of the National Housing Delivery Programme under Zim-Asset that will see Harare Province delivering 105 935 houses by 2018, Midlands (56 760), Matabeleland North (28 772), Mashonaland West (23 819), Manicaland (21 830), Masvingo (20 269), Mashonaland Central (16 607), Bulawayo (15 100), Matabeleland South (12 500) and Mashonaland East (11 776).

Speaking at the launch of the programme in Harare, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo, said the programme was expected to yield 313 368 housing units across the country by 2018.