{"id":37082,"date":"2022-09-14T19:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T19:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis"},"modified":"2022-09-14T19:18:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T19:18:08","slug":"housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis","title":{"rendered":"Housing shortage needs a much better diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>The National Social Security Fund\u2019s help-to-buy scheme is being touted as an antidote to a dysfunctional housing market in Uganda.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday, President Museveni launched the Fund\u2019s Shs1.4 trillion housing project in Lubowa.<\/p>\n

READ: How govt can address current housing shortage<\/b><\/p>\n

The project\u2019s 2,741 units are expected to go some distance in dealing with the property haves and have-nots in Uganda thanks in no small part to a rent-to-own model.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Fund envisages providing up to 50 percent of Ugandans living in urban areas with decent and affordable housing by 2050.<\/p>\n

It is immediately clear that the Fund\u2019s top managers have done their homework. For this, they should be commended. The rent-to-own model should come in handy for households with strained finances. Final prices for the cheapest properties set to be erected at the off-taker (Kyanja) and mixed use (Temangalo) projects are, however, still prohibitively high for a country whose GDP per capita is Shs3.3m.<\/p>\n

What is also apparent is the fact that this is a classic example of a misdiagnosis. Conventional wisdom suggests that if the underlying problem in Uganda\u2019s dysfunctional housing market is a dearth of homes, then one solution may be to build more. The problem, though, is that Uganda\u2019s housing stock is being turned into an out-and-out asset class. This is all thanks to the financialisation of the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

As a result, the knock-on effect of the Fund\u2019s foray into the property market will be such that it will not only widen existing inequalities but create new ones. It is a public secret that property owners in Uganda\u2014much like those elsewhere\u2014are incentivised by soaring prices and a burning desire for more space. The revelation that the Fund\u2019s properties (40 units) with an asking rate of Shs400m and above in Mbuya and Lubowa have already been sold out tells its own story.<\/p>\n

If it needs to be spelt out, what this essentially means is that the Fund\u2019s project\u2014its well-intentioned goal notwithstanding\u2014could end up widening the gap in status and resources between the have-properties and the have-nots. Since the former (have-properties) set out to buy as many properties as they can possibly do, building more homes could in fact end up being counterproductive.<\/p>\n

We believe the Fund should instead pull in a direction that nudges prospective first-time buyers to get on to the first rung of the housing ladder. This breed of buyer should get priority in new housing developments. Making such buyers beneficiaries of some kind of affirmative action will shield them from continuing in a precipitous slide that has aggravated the quality of the existing housing stock in Uganda.<\/p>\n

The Uganda National Housing Policy approved by Cabinet in 2016 spotlighted a housing deficit of 1.6 million housing units, with 210,000 of them needed in urban areas. The policy set several steep targets, including \u201cincreas[ing] the production of adequate housing for all income groups from 60,000 to 200,000 housing units per annum to meet the housing needs by 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like its immediate predecessor, the National Shelter Strategy (NSS) of 1992, the policy has proved to be a paper tiger. This is why interventions such as the one of the Fund should be welcomed. We nevertheless believe a strong attempt has to be made to smooth out the rough edges (such as exploring public\u2013private partnerships to bring down the final cost). Short of that, the Fund\u2019s help-to-buy scheme will make things worse, not better.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. The National Social Security Fund\u2019s help-to-buy scheme is being touted as an antidote to a dysfunctional housing market in Uganda. Last Thursday, President Museveni launched the Fund\u2019s Shs1.4 trillion housing project in Lubowa. READ: How govt can address current housing shortage The project\u2019s 2,741 units are expected to go some distance in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":37081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8],"tags":[233,240,1096,234],"class_list":["post-37082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-national-shelter-strategy","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nHousing shortage needs a much better diagnosis - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The National Social Security Fund\u2019s help-to-buy scheme is being touted as an antidote to a dysfunctional housing market ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Housing shortage needs a much better diagnosis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The National Social Security Fund\u2019s help-to-buy scheme is being touted as an antidote to a dysfunctional housing market ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-14T19:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-14T19:18:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/09\/postQueueImg_4-632228d7b974f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Housing shortage needs a much better diagnosis\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-14T19:00:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-14T19:18:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis\"},\"wordCount\":596,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/09\/postQueueImg_4-632228d7b974f.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"National Shelter Strategy\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/housing-shortage-needs-a-much-better-diagnosis\",\"name\":\"Housing shortage needs a much better diagnosis - 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