Experts have stressed the need to promote appreciate financing and efficient house construction technologies in closing the housing deficit in Uganda.
Abdul Kyanika, the Manager Housing and Salary Business at Centenary Bank, said there’s need for sustainable interventions such as increasing access to micro housing credit products and new construction models that can increase the availability of decent housing units in Uganda.
Kyanika saya the Bank has developed products that address customers’ needs especially on the manageable repayment and flexible periods.
Kyanika adds that Centenary Bank customers have access to land procurement, construction financing, and home improvement financing through different loan portfolios and Mortgage Loan ranging from 20 million to 300 million shillings.
“For this sector to grow, we call upon the Government to continue to create a conducive atmosphere for the growth of the Real Estate sector, by improving social infrastructures like roads, health centres and utilities like electricity, water supply among others,” Kyanika concluded.
Moses Ssimwogerere, a Financial Inclusion Specialist working with Habitat for Humanity Uganda revealed that through Strategic Poverty Housing Interventions and approaches, Habitat for Humanity has been able to construct decent model homes that cost as low as 20 to 30 million shillings for the vulnerable families within communities especially in Eastern Uganda.
According to statistics from Habitat for Humanity Uganda, the housing deficit stands at 2.4 million housing units, and the bulk of this deficit is in urban and peri-urban areas.
An estimated 900,000 of existing housing units are substandard and in need of replacement or upgrading.
In addition, the report cites the Uganda population projected growth at 48 million by 2022 which is anticipated to require more than 3 million more housing units.
Ssimwogerere says that because accessing micro housing credit continues to be a challenge for low-income families in Uganda, Habitat for Humanity has found that partnering with financial institutions like Centenary Bank is instrumental and helpful in deepening access to financing for the low income earners who cannot afford mortgage products.
He explains that Habitat for Humanity provides Institutional Technical Assistance (ITA) to financial institutions to develop market driven micro-housing products and services for the low income segments of society to unlock the financing bottlenecks that hinder the mass population to access funds to build or even improve decent homes.
“Similarly, the use of innovative construction techniques like the Interlocking Stabilized Brick Technology initiated by Technology for Tomorrow (T4T), is believed to be cost-effective and continues to attract individuals and institutions to start adopting it” says Ssimwogerere.
