Residential stands should be availed

It has been reported that more than 144 000 new home-seekers had applied for residential stands to Harare city council. The increased percentage rate of applicants is a clear indication that there is shortage of housing units in the country that can accommodate the general populace.

The rise in the number of people on the housing waiting list is also said to have been triggered by the Cabs Budiriro housing scheme.  The city council and other local authority bodies must be encouraged to avail residential stands to those on waiting list to avoid commotion and lawlessness.   

Recently, it has been reported that Harare city council was in a move to remove all illegal settlers who have invaded Granville Cemetery and occupied land set aside for future burial ground. Certainly, this depicts how desperate people are for housing land.

The city council should make extra efforts in delivering the required services. It is a shame that many people have been duped of their hard earned cash by land barons.  It really boggles the mind how one acquires an illegal stand by means of a cooperative through invading a bona fide stand allocated to an individual who would have purchased it.

On the other hand, most cooperatives are identifying unlawful land such as wetlands or under electricity pylons. This has caused so much chaos in the city that almost every open space is characterized with unplanned illegal settlements.

As it stands, owning a house or housing stand in most urban centers is still a fantasy which I think city fathers should address by taking their lost control from land barons. Selling residential stands as another way on which local authority can maximize their proceeds. Majority of home seekers are low income earners. Hence, the introduction of cooperatives by the government was a positive development to the majority of people who are unable to purchase land from private developers who are a bit expensive. However, the idea of cooperatives has been abused by land barons who had been operating under the guise of the ruling party, ZANU-PF.

It is also unfortunate that in Harare, city council has sold most of its residential stands to individuals and private developers who are now making money over it.

Availing housing stands to the people is a noble idea which is in tandem with the economic blue print, Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation which seeks to easy the problem of accommodation by creating about 180 000 units by 2018.

It is heartening that in Bulawayo, the Government has pledged to avail serviced stands, construct new flats and renovate old flats and housing units to meet modern standards under the "Own Your Own Home" housing scheme. This was revealed by Director for Housing in the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Mr Lexton Kuwanda. Mr Kuwanda was recently quoted saying this in a local weekly newspaper, The Sunday News.

It is of paramount importance for the Harare city council  and other towns should embark on a similar scheme so that land that is lying idle is fully utilized. This is also a big opportunity for cities to deal with their housing backlog.

The housing sector satisfies an essential need. Housing is also an important component of investment. And in many countries housing makes up the largest component of wealth. Hence, issuing of housing stands to the people is part of development.

In short, a well-functioning housing sector is critical to the overall health of an economy. And as economies develop, it is expected that corresponding expands through growth of the housing market.