Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has of late approved building plans valued at over US$3 million, signifying a slight decrease from the plans that were approved in the past month.
This is revealed in the council’s latest building control section monthly statistical report by housing and community services director Dictor Khumalo.
The report states that the department handled 1 422 building plans in the month of May 2025.
“Of these, 229 completed the process with 142 building plans valued at US$3 086 990 being approved, while 87 were referred back for corrections. A decrease of 19,32% happened on approved plans compared to the total approved in April 2025,” the report read.
“A total of 212 building plans with a value of US$4 863 683 had been submitted in May 2025, which was a decrease of 36,53% compared to last month’s figure.”
The council noted that a possible total of US$48 636,83 was, therefore, raised from plan submissions as plan submission fees.
“A total of 1 497 inspections were carried out in May 2025, constituting a decrease of 9,76% from the previous month total. From these inspections, 42 buildings were captured as complete, 16 dilapidated buildings were captured and two public buildings were assessed,” the report further read.
“A possible total of US$10 500 was raised from building inspections and other building control activities captured in this report.
“The section, however, was still handicapped in terms of vehicles for use in operations as the complementing council vehicles had been down for more than two months.”
The City of Bulawayo has seen an increase in number of diasporans who acquire stands and are able to fund the planning and construction of their houses.
At the same time, many locals struggle to do the same to a point where at times some lose their land after being repossessed by the council due to lack of development.
The city has also seen the rise and proliferation of private land developers who get contracted to develop housing schemes for the prospective homeseekers amid concerns over high costs involved.
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