Source: Gweru council moves to reduce housing backlog – herald
Patrick Chitumba, patrick.chitumba@chronicle.co.zw
GWERU City Council (GCC) is stepping up efforts to unlock more land for residential and commercial development to ease the city’s ballooning housing backlog, which now stands at nearly 35 000 applicants.
According to the council, Gweru currently has a housing stock of 33 777 units, with an additional 7 213 units under construction.
These are spread across suburbs such as Mkoba Villages 1 to 21, Senga, the
Lower Gweru Road corridor and various medium- and low-density residential areas.
In addition to residential properties, the city boasts 1 352 commercial stands, 418 institutional stands and 861 industrial stands, providing a solid foundation for economic activity and service delivery.
However, the demand for residential stands far outstrips supply, a challenge council is now racing to address.
In an interview, GCC spokesperson, Ms Vimbai Chingwaramusee said the local authority is prioritising the identification and servicing of new land to close the widening gap between housing demand and supply.
She said the local authority is working closely with private developers and financial institutions to fast-track housing projects.
“We are working on unlocking land for residential and commercial development.
Once our master plan is approved, we will identify suitable areas for new housing projects, which will help increase our housing stock and provide more opportunities for those on the waiting list,” said Ms Chingwaramusee.
“We will provide updates on our progress and timelines as we work towards addressing this critical issue.”
Ms Chingwaramusee said part of the solution lies in accelerating the servicing of areas such as Mkoba 21, where some construction is already underway.
Gweru’s ambitious land development strategy is anchored on its newly submitted 20-year master plan, which outlines the city’s growth trajectory in line with the smart city concept, an urban development model that promotes sustainable infrastructure, digitalisation, green energy and inclusive service delivery.
The move comes as the Government has directed all 92 local authorities across the country to develop and implement master plans as part of a wider strategy to ensure orderly urban expansion. A 2022
Government review revealed that the majority of local authorities were operating without such blueprints, resulting in haphazard development and inefficient resource allocation.
For Gweru, the master plan is also expected to guide the city’s proposed boundary expansion, a move that would allow more land to be incorporated into the municipality and thus open up space for additional housing and commercial developments.
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