Irate customers lambaste housing developers

uld not get any refunds should they decide to pull out of the scheme. 
“This is contrary to promises made during a promotional visit to the UK last year. We were never told that if we withdrew from the scheme we would have to sell the stands, which we paid for in Pounds, in Zimbabwe dollars. Then we still have to pay the outstanding balance in pounds and incur whatever costs. We believe this is a deliberate omission to trap people,” said an irate customer.
In response to questions from The Zimbabwean this week, Homelink Chief Executive John Heath, said speculation and rumours had surrounded the development for some time, but most were incorrect.
“Homelink has financed a total of 13 customers within this scheme, of whom only six have made partial payment to Homelink. Our prime focus at this stage is to retrieve funds belonging to our clients from the developers. Charlottes Brooke is not a Homelink project and we discontinued financing homes in the development late last year,” said Heath.
Charlottes Brooke is owned by the Msipa brothers, Charles and Masimba, through their companies Angwa Associates and Patriot Properties respectively. Masimba Msipa told The Zimbabwean that confusion had arisen because the two companies had conceived and pioneered the Homelink Housing Development Programme (HHDS) in conjunction with Homelink (Pvt) Ltd, a company wholly owned by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
“Patriot Properties is an HHDS agent, and is partnered internationally by Angwa Associates. In their respective capacities as agent and international partner, Patriot Properties and Angwa Associates originate and manage Homelink funded foreign currency denominated mortgage facilitates for non-resident Zimbabweans.
However, Angwa Associates also happen to be the principal sales and collection agent for the Charlottes Brooke Property Development in both the UK and USA. The Charlottes Brooke development is privately owned and is not directly funded by Homelink as in the case of HHDS programmes,” he confirmed.
Msipa insisted that all clients involved in the 2005 shell house construction packages would be refunded by the end of 2006.
However, he said his company had received numerous requests for refunds involving its land only packages, which were not funded by Homelink, when the purchasers ran into financial problems.
“We have always tried to match those people wishing to withdraw with those on the waiting list to ensure that distressed clients are not further prejudiced. However this is not always possible. It is important for all parties to keep in mind that this is a service we offer gratis rather than a contractual obligation on our part,” he said. -Staff reporter