Uganda seeks to construct 5,000 additional housing units by 2020 the country housing agency- National Housing and Construction Company Limited (NHCC) has announced.
“As we continue to register significant growth, it is our dream not just to construct houses, but to deliver decent and affordable homes to Ugandans,” Parity Twinomujuni, the Chief Executive Officer, National Housing and Construction Company Limited said last week.
The Chief Executive Officer was speaking during the launch of the Impala Housing Project in Namungoona, on the outskirts of Kampala in which 133 housing units were given out to the company by the contractor.
Building of another 192 units under the same project is going on and work is expected to be complete before the end of the year making the number of housing units in Impala Housing Project total to 469 Units.
Twinomujuni added that it was their initial intentions to build 2000 units in the area, but after people grabbed part of the land, NHCC was unable to proceed forward.
He noted that the same problem has since affected the company’s progress in many areas in the country. “Encroachment of public land in which we are supposed to build has constrained our activities in many areas forcing us to suspend some of our projects in certain areas. We ask government to intervene and look closely into the problem to find a lasting solution to it,” Twinomujuni said.
The problem of financing also came out as a key hurdle facing the housing sector where industry players borrow at high rates which then raise the cost of houses making the units very expensive for low income earners in the country who often the targeted beneficiaries.
The country currently has housing shortage of about 1.6 million housing units and this is expected to increase overtime due to the growing population.
Uganda’s Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Matia Kasaijja, appealed to NHCC to conduct a research on how other countries within and out are able to construct and provide affordable housing to their citizens and learn from them.
He noted that it should be in the best interests of NHCC to construct and sell the houses. “Let us not try to horde these houses because it will drive and bring in other associated costs. Our priority should be to build and sell,” Kasaijja said.
The minister said he was delighted by the work done by NHCC because when government took a decision some time back to give its assets (public land) to the company to invest and make money from it, NHCC has demonstrated that they are utilizing these assets as intended.
The country’s Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda said that as NHCC tries to step up the housing stock by 2020, it should also focus on offering low cost houses for the citizens who may not be in a position to afford the current houses meant for the high end market.
He added that low and middle income people should be given the priority because this is where the need is most. Noting that though the 5000 units by NHCC is encouraging; it is below what is expected of a National Housing entity.
