Tanzania to build 200,000 affordable homes each year

Tanzania, East Africa’s most populated country plans to build 200,000 affordable homes each year in bid to curb housing shortage in the country.

The country is currently having a number of major building projects with a total capital expenditure of US $40bn. The Tanzanian government has also introduced Mortgage for the public and each commercial Bank has been issuing mortgages for the past few years which aim is to deliver the 200,000 affordable homes each year.

Also Read: Rwanda unveils new housing project

Demand for housing in Tanzania

The demand for housing in Tanzania is estimated at 200,000 houses annually, which results in a current housing shortage of 3 million houses. Alternatively, building materials are being explored as a way to deliver these houses on a rapid scale; this is according to the Center for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF).

Tanzania imports many of its construction materials to satisfy the high demand for construction locally, with the number of mortgage lenders in the market increasing from 3 in 2009 to 21 in 2015. The average mortgage interest rate in Tanzania fell from 22% to 16% during the same period.

According to Numbeo, an online source of statistics on quality life topics by cities and countries, Tanzania Housing Prices per square meter averages US $1,200 in Dar Es Salaam versus US $1,235 in Nairobi. Outside Dar es Salaam city center, the average cost per square meter is US $608.17.

Tanzania Public Servants Housing Scheme

The Tanzania Public Servants Housing Scheme (PSHS) aims at constructing 50,000 housing units for government workers in 5 phases. At the end of 2015, Watumishi Housing Company (WHC), a state run property developer and real estate investment trust (REIT) manager in Tanzania, launched Phase I of the project.

According to WHC, this is one of the major projects undertook by Tanzania’s government to ease the public servants’ housing shortage with only 10,000 out of 650,000 workers provided with residential accommodation through mortgages or any other house purchase scheme.

WHC has also signed cooperation agreements with CRDB Bank, Azania Bank, NMB, Bank of Africa, and Exim Bank. They will provide the government workers with mortgages which can be repaid in periods up to 25 years and at low rates between 11% and 13% per annum, compared to current mortgage rates of 16–19%

Suppliers of building & construction materials

With so much potential, Tanzania is fast becoming the targeted market in Africa for suppliers of building & construction materials. Dar Construction provides you with the natural platform to find new leads, build business relationships & to grow your business. The event takes place at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center,Dare salaam from 27 – 29 September 2018.