Rwanda targets affordable housing for citizens

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Affordable Housing Project

In a bid to enable Rwandans access to decent and affordable housing, especially for the growing urban population, Rwanda targets to provide low cost housing to city dwellers. Affordable Housing Project
According to Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) low cost housing to citizens is a priority in 2015 and the coming years to respond to a long standing shortage of cost friendly accommodation to people.
In the Capital Kigali, the most expensive house costs 1 million U.S. dollars (about Rwf710million) while the lowest decent ones go for 36,496 U.S. dollars (Rwf25 million), according to information from property developers.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Esther Mutamba, director general of RHA said that the country was considering putting in place decent and affordable housing units to citizens.
“The majority of the population in town let houses for accommodation which puts financial strain on their standards of living and that is why we are targeting to construct affordable houses for people to buy,” she noted.
According to Mutamba, the Office of the Prime Minister established an inter-ministerial steering committee, to come up with strategies and guidelines for planned and affordable housing. During the National Leadership retreat in March last year, Rwandan leaders emphasised the need to provide low cost housing units a priority for the government and RHA was tasked to oversee the development.
Mutamba, stated that RHA has acquired prime land in Kicukiro District, in the Kigali City Suburbs, which is suitable for the establishment of more than 2,000 affordable dwelling units.She noted that the site will be designed to accommodate between 70 to 100 high-density low rise apartment blocks per hectare.
Each of the house will cost buyers between 21,897 U.S. dollars (Rwf15 million) to 43,795 U.S. dollars (Rwf30million), according to RHA official.
According to the City of Kigali authorities, the total demand for new housing units in the country’s Capital Kigali is likely to hit 344,068 units by 2022.
On Friday, the Rwandan government signed an agreement with Ethiopian government in Addis Ababa on sharing experiences and policies in urban housing development.
Deal was that was signed between Rwanda’s Minister foreign Affairs minister Louise Mushikiwabo and Mekuria Haile, Ethiopian Minister of Construction and Urban Development seeks to share Ethiopia’s low cost urban housing development experience to Rwanda. Enditem

Source: Xinhua

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