Special Programmes | Housing Sector

The housing sector in Namibia could be segmented into three (3) broad categories, namely: Ultra

Low and Low income earners (blue-collar class); Middle income earners (white-collar class);

Upper class (Rich and the superrich). The latter is not experiencing problems in acquiring houses

because they are capable of providing collateral or have the means to purchase houses. The

middle income earners are in three subcategories namely, the low, lower middle and upper

middle. The latter has enough income to acquire a house through financial institutions.The low

and the lower middle income earners, earning between N$ 100.00 and less than N$ 4 600.00 per

annum, are the ones who are the hardest hit by housing shortages. These groups do not qualify

for housing loans from the financial institutions due to lack of collateral and low income base.

They are marginalised in terms of access to affordable and adequate housing. These groups are

the targets for low cost housing/ affordable and adequate housing which is being advocated for

by the government and NGOs/CBOs in the housing sector. The concept ‘low cost housing’ has

been misinterpreted as housing which does not have quality and would not last and thus has

drawn lot of criticism from a wide spectrum of civil society. ‘Low cost housing’ refers to a type

of housing scheme that enables low income earners to acquire houses from both the central

government through the BTP and other schemes operated by the RC’s/LAs. In order to reduce

the cost of the house but not the standards and quality, appropriate alternative/local building

materials are used to construct ‘low cost houses’. The intention is not only to provide shelter to

these groups but also to enable these groups to acquire assets that will enhance their living

conditions and boost national economic, social and financial growth and ensure peace and

stability.

The mandate of the housing sector is to provide adequate shelter for all, with basic infrastructure

for amenities such as water, sanitation, electricity and roads.

Strategic Initiatives in line with NDP4 Desired Outcome

Facilitate the Provision of Affordable and Adequate Housing in Rural Areas

This initiative is aimed at targeting people who are working in the rural areas such as the police,

teachers and nurses, agricultural extension officers and others to have access to shelter on

temporarily or permanent basis. Those staying in that particular area permanently will be

accorded the opportunity to acquire ownership of the property through rent-to –buy basis. With

this initiative the government intentions are to attract necessary skills and expertise to the rural

areas as well as to stem rural-urban migration.

Facilitate the Provision of Affordable and Adequate Housing for Low Income Groups The housing prices in Namibia are, amongst others, increasing due to the persistent economic

crisis which results in increase in inflation, unemployment, lack of serviced land/plots, fuel and

other commodity prices. According to the Knight Frank Global House Price Index (2013)

Namibia is ranked the fourth (4th

) highest in terms of increase house prices, thus making it

increasingly difficult for low and middle income groups to acquire housing. One of the methods

recommended to arrest this trend is by making use of alternative/local building materials.

Another method is to engage all the actors in the housing sector to make tailor-made packages

for low and middle income groups. The initiative is also exploring the development of

alternative/local building materials and for inclusion in the Namibia Standards Institute on

building materials and construction standard. Therefore this initiative is aimed at providing

housing to those with low income.

Ensure Availability of Serviced Land One of the reasons for the rising housing prices and supply having been outstripped by demand is

the lack of serviced land. With this initiative the Ministry is looking at strengthening in the

implementation of the TIPEEG program with regard to the planning, surveying and provision of

basic services to plots/land for residential and other land use purposes with emphasis on low cost

housing. The Ministry is emphasising the importance and also improving on pro-active planning

with regard to town and regional planning, review of policies and legislative framework which

impede delivery of affordable and adequate housing. Moreover, the sectoral plan is engaging the

other role-players to make funding available for development of land.

Promote Good Governance at Sub-national Level One of the hallmarks of sound housing delivery is the availability of land and prudent financial

management. This initiative is aimed at strengthening the financial and land management

capacities of the RCs/LAs. This will also ensure that those RCs/LAs in flood prone areas will

plan better and not build houses in low laying areas and thus protect private property such as

houses. Many of the smaller local authorities and in some instances bigger LAs run into debt

with service providers and thus utilise funds allocated for other purposes, e.g. BTP which

amount to maladministration and further exacerbates housing crisis. Strengthening the financial

management and administration capacities of the RCs/Las will boost implementation of

programs such as the BTP and other housing schemes at subnational level.

Ensure availability of land in Walvis Bay and other municipalities along corridor routes The availability of land will amongst others address the challenges of unavailability of land in

general and the unavailability of serviced land due to high cost. The pre-emptive planning in the

form of providing land will also ensure sustainable provision of land for logistics activities.

Provision of land through the spatial planning provides for fast-tracking of townships approval

and thus systemic coordinated development.

Development of Master Plan on Regional Urban Centres The provision of housing is best achieved on a sustainable basis in the context of a planning

framework, linked with infrastructure services provision. This means that housing should be a

component of quality living environments where land use is spatially planned and organised in

such a way as will most effectively tend to promote health, safety, order, amenity, convenience

and general welfare, as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development and the

improvement of communications. The implementation of housing schemes can also not stand

apart from good governance and land management and administration principles and capacity in

this regard must be built and improved, especially at sub-national government levels.

Major programmes and projects

Description of the Programmes/Projects, Expected Outcomes of Each Programme and its

Contribution to the Achievement of the NDP4 Desired Outcome for Housing sector:

The two (2) programs, Support to Planning, Infrastructure and Housing and Co-ordination of

Local Authorities, Regional Council and Traditional Authority Affairs, is aimed at contributing

to the achievements of NDP4 Desired Outcomes 5.4 and 6 by delivering on the following critical

areas:

Planned, Surveyed and Serviced land/plots;

Strengthening the implementation of BTP and other housing schemes;

Identification and acquisition of land for township expansion;

Review and harmonisation of existing policy and legislative framework;

Capacity building at subnational level;

Improved urban and regional planning processes;

Development of alternative/local building material;

Approval of urban and regional structure plans for all the LAs/RCs;

Development of a National Spatial Development Framework for the whole of Namibia;

Capitalisation of National Housing Enterprise;

Financial support to CBOs in the housing sector;

Introduction of Housing Financial Management and Financial and Land Information

Systems;

Availability of land in Walvis Bay and other local authorities along corridor routes.

1. Support to Planning, Infrastructure and Housing programme This program is designed to provide support to Regional Councils and Local Authorities

to ensure effective and efficient provision of urban and regional planning, municipal

services and shelter in order to improve social and economic living conditions of all

citizens in general and of the low-income groups in particular within the context of

human settlements development. Under the sectoral plan the effective and efficient

delivery of housing is essential to the success of the plan and to meet the goals set out in

NDP4 and Vision 2030. The program will also harmonise existing policy and legislative

frameworks to eliminate bottlenecks and to improve access to serviced land and the use

of alternative building materials. Moreover, the program will further develop a policy

and legislative framework to ensure affordable and adequate housing

delivery. Implementation of the existing policy and legislative framework will also be

speedup to ensure that the conducive environment for housing delivery is strengthened

and expanded. The plan is also aimed at making land available in Walvis Bay and other

local authorities along corridor routes to support logistic operations.The projects that will

be implemented to ensure that of NDP4 Desired Outcomes 5.4 and 6 are met under this

programme are: o Urban/ Rural Housing Loans

o Single Quarters Transformation

o Social Housing

o Rural Housing Scheme

o Nedbank Housing Financing Schemes

o Bank Windhoek Housing Financing Schemes

o Standard Bank Housing Financing Schemes

o Increase in Financial Support to Community Based Organizations (CBOs)

o Recapitalization NHE

o Review of Legal and Regulatory Framework

o Promoting the Use of Local Building Materials

o Provision of Infrastructure in the Regions

o Town Planning, Land Surveying and Design of Services Infrastructure

o Informal Settlement Upgrading

o Government to subside ultra-low income earners

2. Co-ordination of Local Authorities, Regional Council and Traditional Authority

Affairs Programme This program is intended to facilitate the establishment and development of effective

regional and local Government and Traditional Authorities that bring government closer

to the people and capable of delivering service to the satisfaction of all communities.

Under this program in the sectoral plan, the financial and administrative capital of the

subnational government will be enhanced through the provision of appropriate tools such

as Housing Financial Management and Financial and Land Information Systems. This

will ensure that the land is managed and regulated properly and thus ensure that

speculators and property developers do not inflate land/plots prices which has a

detrimental effect on low cost housing delivery. Moreover, the capacity of the

subnational government in dealing with acquisition and compensation of acquired land

will be enhanced.One of the factors restricting the many LAs in their pursuit of economic

growth and financial sustainability is the lack of land for expansion. The implementation

of the Financial and Land Information Systems will ensure that lack of land for township

expansion will not be hampered by unreasonable pricing and that LAs finance is

managed properly.The program is also aimed at capacitating LAs in disaster preparedness

in order to prevent damage to properties which results in massive financial losses.The

projects that will be implemented to ensure that NDP4 Desired Outcomes 5.4 and 6 are

met under this programme are: o Enhance performance and administration of local authorities

o Land Acquisition and Compensation

o Local Economic Development

Challenges In Namibia the Housing Sector is faced with multiple challenges. Amongst others the prices of

houses continue to skyrocket due to increase in input costs and the mismatch between the rapidly

rising demands for houses versus low housing outputs delivered by housing developers in the

housing market annually.

The lack of satisfactory budgetary provision by the government for the housing programmes in

particular to the Build Together Programme and the National Housing Enterprise further

exacerbating housing shortages.

According to 2011 Housing Study carried out by the Bank of Namibia, more than 73% of

Namibians do not have access to credit facilities offered by the financial service sector and

consequently cannot afford to buy urban land and housing.

The provision of affordable housing is also hampered by poor access and affordability of land,

especially in the urban areas.

The current legislative, policy and regulatory frameworks are another matter that needs to be

reviewed to enable housing sector to smoothly and speedily deliver housing without much

impediment including acquiring and owning land in the settlement and undeclared areas. In

particular the inflexibility in the current land tenure system exacerbates the lack of right to land

ownership and development of it by holders.

Overall, it is a known fact that there are no products that cater for the housing need of those

without any form of income. Therefore, with high unemployment rate in Namibia there is a

sizeable group that does not earn an income, hence do not qualify for a Build Together or a

National Housing Enterprise loan.

A lack of institutional capacity at central institutions to provide housing to citizens is an

escalating constrain, thus it is of utmost importance that such capacity is developed.

The various procedures applicable in the process of acquiring a property in Namibia are also

argued to have a bearing on escalating property prices. The auctioning of land and the other

bureaucratic processes needs to be streamlined to act as buffer against escalating property prices.

There is also a perception that stakeholders, such as property valuators, developers and real

estate agents, unnecessarily inflate house prices to rake in maximum profits based on the

knowledge that there exists excess demand in the market and they are guaranteed to secure a

purchaser for every property with an on-sale tag.