WALVIS BAY – The National Housing Enterprise has reiterated that only qualifying Namibians who will use their NHE houses for their own residential needs need apply to benefit from the N$45 billion mass housing project currently underway throughout the country. The program is designed to build at least 185 000 houses by 2030 to mitigate the current nationwide backlog of 100 000 housing units.
“Therefore NHE products (houses) will not be provided to applicants who will use them for investment and speculative purposes,” states the NHE’s Credit Policy under which the allocation of houses will guided.
The allocation of houses under the mass housing programme to beneficiaries will be done under the NHE Credit Policy and guidelines, meaning that with credit linked houses the NHE waiting list will serve as a guideline as to who will benefit. The same policy also states that NHE products will only be provided to first time buyers, with the one-person one-house rule applicable.
The clarifications as to who can benefit under the mass housing project come in the wake of President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s first visit to the NHE project when he toured a construction site at Walvis Bay in the Erongo Region on Thursday.
According to the NHE’s Manager: Corporate Communication & Marketing, Eric Libongani, the President was evidently impressed with notable progress he witnessed at the site where 130 houses of the total 1 595 to be constructed in the town are already at roof level just six weeks after the project site was handed over to the contractor.
“As a result the President commended NHE for doing a good job and encouraged the institution to continue the implementation of this noble and historic mass housing project”, said Libongani.
NHE acting Regional Manager, Michael Ileka, and Alvin Naidoo of the Sir’s Group led the President’s delegation through the site visit.
“The Walvis Bay project has since created over 400 jobs and it is a well-known fact that every income earner normally feeds at least four people, hence impacting on 1 600 lives,” noted Libongani.
The Walvis Bay project is just one of 27 that are being managed by NHE concurrently throughout the country as part of phase one of the mass housing development initiative.
Added Libongani: “The overall development impact of these projects on job creation and overall economic growth is undoubtedly huge, taking into account that projects in other towns and regions have similar positive impact.”
NHE’s Credit Policy also states that married couples, whether in community or outside community of property, and who own a house, regardless of whether the house is in both or in one of the spouse’s names, will not qualify for NHE houses.
Also, applicants must earn a maximum income limit of N$20 000 per month (gross salary including housing allowances and subsidies).
If an applicant has a monthly gross salary of more than N$20 000, then he or she will not be allowed to purchase an NHE property. For a joint monthly income, a total of N$30 000 will be the threshold as a maximum limit for applicants.
“Please note that only those who are on NHE and local authorities’ waiting lists will be considered for housing allocation, which is done on a first come, first serve basis. This means that applicants will be allocated according to the date of application (first in, first out),” noted Libongani. He added that the waiting lists at local authorities will be merged and consolidated with that of the NHE.
“Finally, it is important to note that NHE houses including those that will be constructed under the mass housing programme are not free houses,” emphasized Libongani.
“The construction of houses has under the mass housing programme just began. Hence be informed that NHE is in the process of implementing a comprehensive communication programme geared towards informing the nation through media and other relevant platforms on the mass housing activities,” said Libongani.
By Edgar Brandt