Billions invested in affordable housing

NDAMA NAKASHOLE - In a bid to fill the affordability and availability gap of houses by the majority of the city dwellers, a local company will embark on a journey that will see the development of 4 500 units (houses and apartments) in the next five years.At the launch of the multibillion-dollar project in Windhoek on Tuesday, Ongos Valley Development Company vowed to provide affordable, modern homes for civil servants, young professionals and hardworking Namibians.The developers will spend N$4.3 billion to build 4 500 housing units during phase one (2019-2023) of the project on land just behind the Havana informal settlement in Windhoek.The 20-year project aims to construct 30 000 housing units in total over the next 15 to 20 years.Ongos Valley’s public relations officer, Abed Erastus, told Market Watch that they have not yet established the total investment involved in the next phases of the 20-year project.Americo de Almeida, director at Ongos Valley Development, said phase one of Ongos would start in November 2018 with the servicing of 4 500 erven. The first house sales will begin in May next year.Fact checkingAccording to De Almeida, he and his partners had to consider several facts in planning the project.One of these is the rate at which Windhoek is growing. Projections see no let-up in the demand for housing in the city by the year 2030.They found that there is currently no product in the market that provides decent housing in the price bracket between N$450 000 and N$900 000.This price bracket, which is not catered for, is what a significant number of the country’s civil servants and young professionals can afford.“Our civil servants, including our armed forces, police force, our nurses, teachers and young professionals are either living in deplorable conditions or paying rent that could equate to mortgages,” he said.FoundationIn 2010, De Almeida and his partners purchased Farm Ongos No 38, measuring 1 743 hectares, located north-west of Windhoek. It is north of the Havana township and west of the Nubuamis area, approximately 13 km from the Windhoek city centre. Farm Ongos was incorporated into the Windhoek town lands when the boundaries of the Windhoek municipal area were extended as per Notice No. 184 of the Government Gazette, dated 30 September 2011. “The journey in realising Ongos has had its challenges, but so has our journey in the development of low-middle-income housing across Namibia,” De Almeida said.Being registered quantity surveyors and infrastructure project managers, he and his partners have extensive experience in developing affordable housing in public-private partnerships with local authorities such as Otavi, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Grootfontein, Outjo, Karasburg and Ondangwa. Rent-to-buy modelDe Almeida said Ongos Valley Development would be the first housing development in Namibia to introduce a rent-to-buy model. “New entrants do not often have the required monthly income versus expenditure to qualify for a mortgage, therefore the rent-to-buy model would permit the tenant to lease the home for an agreed period of five to ten years, after which the tenants can purchase the home at the price of the house on the start date of the lease agreement,” he said.Asked to explain the concept, company spokesman Erastus described rent-to-buy as a financial model that provides affordable access to home ownership because tenants can rent a property with the option of buying it after a certain period.The selling price is fixed, based on its value at the beginning of the term. This provides certainty for tenants and a potential benefit for them if the house goes up in value during that time.The Ongos Valley project will fine-tune the model for the Namibian market.DetailsDe Almeida said the design of the houses allows for a significant percentage of the dwellings to be extended over time as affordability increases. Entry-level houses on 100-250 square metre plots with front and back garden space and floor areas starting at 50 square metres will be provided. Each home owner will be provided with a professional architectural building plan, he said.“A critical objective of the design is to enable the development of attractive streetscapes from the onset. The urban design is meant to provide an attractive look and feel and provide the residents with a sense of pride and belonging,” he said.Government appreciationIn the keynote address delivered by the deputy minister of industrialisation, trade and SME development, Lucia Iipumbu, on behalf of vice-president Nangolo Mbumba, called Ongos a vital capital project for Namibia where acute and uneven housing demand does not match the weak supply. Mbumba said this problem has perplexed policymakers and praised the young Namibians of Ongos, who have chosen to be part of the solution with this visionary project which will alleviate the current shortage of serviced land. Calling it a unique development with the potential to change the face of Windhoek, he said it is a feasible solution.PartnershipTuesday’s launch follows an announcement a year ago by Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking that it had signed a partnership agreement with Ongos Valley Development for the servicing and construction of low- and middle-income housing units.On Tuesday evening, Nedbank Namibia managing director Lionel Matthews said while the launch marked the end of what must have been just a dream at one point for the directors and owners of the project, it was the start of a dream that would yet come true for future homeowners.

Billions invested in affordable housing

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Republikein 2025-04-07

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Billions invested in affordable housing

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