Harambee Valley promises 60 000 homesPrivate-public partnership for N$165b development Two private property developers have joined hands with the National Housing Enterprise to develop a massive housing project in Windhoek’s Katutura area. ETUNA SHIKALEPOThe National Housing Enterprise (NHE), together with two private companies, will soon make available 3 500 hectares for the construction of over 60 000 housing units for low- and middle-income earners.
The two companies to team up with NHE for a new Windhoek development known as Harambee Valley at the estimated cost of N$165 billion are Nambel Investment and Ongos Valley Development.
NHE chief executive officer Gisbertus Mukulu told Nampa that the NHE owns portion three of Farm Ongos while portions eight and nine are owned by Ongos Valley Development.
The development will be situated in the Katutura area along Monte Cristo Road.
Mukulu explained that Farm Monte Cristo forms the northern border of Farm Ongos and is owned by Leading Lodges of Africa.
“In order to make this development feasible, NHE has teamed up with these two private entities and the combined area is now known as Harambee Valley,” he said.
Mukulu said more than 50 000 plots would be jointly developed, which would allow at least 60 000 freestanding housing units to be built.
He stressed that each partner would be responsible for the sale of these houses.
Mukulu said the houses and other top structures would cost about N$130 billion and the whole project would take up to 20 years to complete, creating more than 50 000 jobs.
He said institutions like the City of Windhoek, NamWater and NamPower would be involved in the provision of bulk services at a cost of N$5 billion.
Mukulu said the NHE would use its waiting list and standard criteria as per the NHE credit policy to allocate the houses.
The criteria include that houses are reserved for people on the waiting list, that they must be affordable with a repayment-to-income ratio of no more than 25% and that they are allocated to first-time home owners only.
The housing project was one of those introduced during the Invest in Namibia international conference early this month. –Nampa