Overview:
We have to think seriously what affordable housing is. Affordable housing is allowing somebody to pay for a house easily. How can we do that? We can do this by removing taxation, giving some land for free or giving it at an affordable price and maximizing the land by changing the way you construct, from horizontal to vertical
KAMPALA —Real estate experts have implored government to build up a strong condominium housing sector that will create affordable housing and bridge the deficit in the country.
Condominiums is when floors of a storied building can be separately owned by different people/families just like plots of land. Under the Condominium Property Act of 2012, a real estate development company can build apartments and sell them as is and give the buyer a title deed for his property the same way you would sell a house on a plot of land.
Speaking to this website, Abbas Rasheed, one of the leading realtors said in a country where over half the population of 44 million people is under the age of 15, investing in real-estate is one of the best decisions one can make today.
Abbas who is also the General Manager at Universal Multipurpose Enterprises said government should work with the private sector and create regulations and incentives for firms in the real estate sector.
“We have to think seriously what affordable housing is. Affordable housing is allowing somebody to pay for a house easily. How can we do that? We can do this by removing taxation, giving some land for free or giving it at an affordable price and maximizing the land by changing the way you construct, from horizontal to vertical,” Abbas said.
He emphasized that with the ever-increasing value of land, it is inevitable that “we consider the possible necessity and feasibility of building upwards.”
He also explained that the problem of Uganda’s housing deficit is solvable, as long as government works with private sector.
The government and the private sector work together on this. They both need to set up or encourage construction of large-scale dwelling units for the ordinary people. It is on those two foundations that a sustainable housing infrastructure can be realized in Kampala, “Abbas said.
Uganda’s Financial Sector Development Strategy (FSDS) estimates the country’s housing deficit to be above 2 million units, with an annual requirement surging to between 210,000 and 250,000 units.
Given rapid rates of population growth and increasing urbanization, a widening housing need may overwhelm cities in the near future.