Zimbabwe’s Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities, Daniel Garwe, is confident that the government is going to surpass its target of delivering 220 000 housing units by 2025 by partnering with the private sector.
Speaking during a tour of Arlington Estate on Thursday where 1 500 housing units are being constructed at Arlington Estate, Garwe said private players can help clear the national housing backlog. The Sunday Mail quotes him as saying:
We are quite happy that the developer is working with the Government.
It’s a private-public-partnership, and the Government’s key role is to create an environment suitable for making housing delivery make sense.
We have about 1 500 units here, and when I say we are going to surpass the target of 220 000 housing units by 2025, it’s not just a talk-show.
Cardinal Corporation executive chairman, Mr Jeremy Brooke, said they had been working on housing development at Arlington Estate for the past 16 years.
In its 2018 election manifesto, the ruling ZANU PF pledged to construct 1.5 million housing units by 2023, translating to 300 000 houses per year, or 25 000 a month, 6 250 a week or 822 houses a day.
If the plan had succeeded, over 1.2 million houses would have been constructed as of August 2022.