NATIONAL Building Society (NBS) is offering a housing product consisting of 10 000 medium-to-high-density units through a mortgage facility, as it lures potential homeowners.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
The mortgage facility has an interest rate of between 9,5% to 11,5% per annum.
The housing product came as a result of the increasing housing backlog. It is estimated that the backlog in the country stands at 1,25 million.
Speaking at the launch of NBS housing development roadshow in Harare last week, the building society’s managing director, Ken Chitando said they saw an opportunity in low-cost housing.
“For 2017, we are looking at delivering in excess of 10 000 units. In 2018, we are looking in upwards of 15 000 if not more and in 2019, we are looking at around 20 000. The journey that we are walking is a journey towards 100 000 units in the next five years. To give you a perspective of the kind of target market that we serve is low income earners, some of whom are informally employed or SMEs entrepreneurs’ first time home owners,” he said.
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Chitando said NBS would also be targeting pension earners as well.
“For us, affordability is key and it is a mix of the interest rate, you know the cost of money and the tenure,” he said.
Chitando said this year they were targeting having more than 20 agents across the country and would only open four branches in Chinhoyi, Gweru, Masvingo and Mutare, which are less costly.
At present, NBS only has branches in Harare and Bulawayo.
The deposits for the properties will be 15% of the selling price, which will range from between $10 000 and $25 000 for a 300-square-metre residential stand.
Home owners will be looking at paying the interest rates per month for a maximum tenure of up to 25 years.
Funds to provide such capital stem from NBS’s two main shareholders that is, the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Workmates Compensation Insurance Fund (WCIF), who have a 60% and 40% shareholding respectively.
NBS has a capital base of over $25 million, which is higher than the central bank regulated $20 million for financial institutions.
NPS and WCIF are both managed by the National Social Security Authority.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Prisca Mupfumira said there was a huge demand for housing and that the government had committed itself to providing 60 000 housing units this year.
“The provision of low-cost housing is a concerted effort by different players in the housing value chain. All the participants here have a role to play in this objective. This includes government and relevant municipalities, who are visibly present at this stakeholder interface,” she said.
Mupfumira appealed to all stakeholders in the housing sector to engage in a robust and focused dialogue with the objective of unlocking low cost quality housing.