Success of affordable housing lies in low cost of construction

Housing tax and lottery are the latest introductions into the affordable housing debate as government unravel the bits and pieces of the affordable housing plan. Many, like myself, are still skeptical about this plan not because it cannot achieve the requisite houses but whether it will benefit the intended people. Affordable housing programme that has been undertaken in certain African countries has been rarely affordable to the common person. The trajectory our plan has taken is an indication that we haven’t learnt or attempted to from the challenges of our predecessor countries.

Ethiopia’s flagship social housing programme is considered the largest social housing project in Africa and one of the most ambitious in the developing world. Since 2006, the Ethiopian government through Integrated Housing Development Programme has been building affordable homes financed by public money and boosted by the fact that all land in Ethiopia is State-owned. About 250,00 houses have been realised in the last decade. Those who can afford make down payment and then proceed to the schemes mortgage repayment terms provided by State-owned bank. The poorest are however encouraged to register for the lottery system which allocates units as they became available.