Obrein Simasiku
The City of Windhoek began with the construction of the houses, with eight of the 1200 planned units to be delivered in six months. CoW Mayor, Sade Gawanas earlier this week made the ground breaking ceremony casting the first brick where eight houses will be built in Khomasdal and to be sold only to first time home buyers, who are on the municipality’s housing waiting list.
The price includes both the house and land, with the cheapest a 312 square metres going for N$850 000.
“The houses are the first batch of the 1200 houses planned to be constructed under the City of Windhoek Affordable Housing Programme in the next four years. The houses will be built on a portion of land located on the corner of Florence Nightingale and Visarend Streets in Khomasdal. The prices of the eight houses, which include the land, range from N$850 000 to N$1,2 million for a 1022 square meter plot,”
“The houses will be allocated to the qualified first-time buyers on the Council’s waiting list. Council anticipates spending N$868 million building affordable houses for residents in the next four years and creating 15 000 employment opportunities over the same period,” said the mayor.
The City of Windhoek Council Housing Scheme has various components aimed at providing housing solutions to residents in various income categories, which includes the informal Settlement Upgrading Housing Programme with a focus on ultra-low-income residents living in informal areas and earning an income of less than N$3500 per month. This applies to those with a title deed, a lease agreement, or have been issued with a certificate of land occupation and are in areas that are already serviced but have no income to build a formal structure.
Another option, is the Council’s affordable housing programme, which targets low-to middle-income residents who earn an income of from N$3500 to N$25 000 per month in formal areas and different housing typologies ranging from N$300 000 to N$650 000 excluding land.
Employer–Employee Housing Programme, focus on employer groups that wish to provide housing solutions to their employees through their employee housing schemes.
“Rent and Rent to Own Housing Programme – with one component focusing on residents who may not want to buy a property but need housing accommodation for a period of time and a second leg focusing on residents whose economic status at the time may not permit them to purchase a property. And they enter into an agreement for rent to own for a period, where they will be renting with the option to buy once their economic status has improved,” Gawanas further revealed.
The Employer–Employee Housing Programme and the Rent and Rent to Own Housing Programme are yet to be launched.
