Housing waiting list shoots up (18-06-07)

same time the local authority does not have adequate serviced stands available to cater for the ballooning number.

Of these at least 4 234 require residential stands in low and medium density suburbs while the remainder are for the high density suburbs.

Mutare city council’s housing and community services department head, Stenard Mapurisa responsible for addressing the housing backlog says the council is doing all it can to ensure people on the waiting list are given first preference when the council has the stands.

“There are areas where the council is servicing and others where there are private developers, such as the Zimta which are going well,” Mapurisa said.
He said the council has the land but resources were few to fully service all the prospective residential areas.

The housing backlog for the city early last year stood at 30 000 and has not declined as the council is failing to service residential stands in the city.

The stagnation of residential development has led to few home owners hiking rentals for accommodation and the market is shrieking and burdening home seeker yet to acquire homes of their own.

A single room in the city for lodgings now costs over $200 000 a month up from $100 000, an amount some residents say t hey cannot afford. A full house is now pegged at Z$5m, a month.

Elias Hungwe a private estate agent in the city says they have many people on their waiting list in need of city accommodation.

“Properties such as residential houses are not increasing and this is forcing prices for accommodation to go up. We have families that have been on our waiting lists for more than five months,” said Hungwe.

He said instead most house owners with multiple properties in the city were converting their homes to offices than to leasing them as residences for offices pay more- CAJ News.