As Namibia heads into its 2024 Presidential and National Assembly alections, the housing crisis looms as one of the most pressing issues, with over
300 000 units needed to address the backlog. 

Political parties have placed significant emphasis on this issue in their manifestos, outlining various strategies to tackle the issue. 

But how realistic are these promises, and how do they build on or deviate from existing housing initiatives? 

This article compares the housing policies proposed by Swapo, the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) to tackle the housing crisis, and assesses whether their commitments align with Namibia’s current housing needs and capacity.

The country has struggled with a growing urban population, which is worsened by the rapid urbanisation that is driving millions into informal settlements, where 67% of the urban population resides.

The housing crisis is driven by rapid urban migration, high land prices and insufficient serviced land, particularly in areas like Windhoek, which faces a housing backlog of
84 000 units.

Several initiatives are already in place to tackle this crisis, including projects by the Namibia Housing Action Group and the Shack Dwellers’ Federation of Namibia (SDFN), which aims to provide affordable housing and formalise land ownership for low-income communities.

Over 7 000 houses for low-income and poor families have been completed by the SDFN.  While the government has put up interventions to build houses for the nation, the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) has only built 21 545 houses since its inception 31 years ago in 1993, and is currently dealing with a backlog of 300 000 houses.

NHE’s CEO Gisbertus Mukulu recently revealed that over 120 000 applicants have been on the company’s waiting list since 2005. 

He said close to 45% of Namibians cannot afford houses due to high costs whilst speaking at a Government Information Centre session.

The waiting list in the Khomas region stands at 33 000, while 35 000 Erongo residents are waiting for homes.

In the northern regions, there are 22 000 applicants on the waiting list, while 15 000 people from the southern and northeastern regions are desperate for a place to call home.

Despite these efforts, challenges like high land costs, bureaucratic delays, and limited financial resources continue to hinder progress.

Swapo

Swapo builds on its existing infrastructural development, and promises to continue its decent living programme, focusing on expanding serviced plots, and providing affordable housing and sanitation. 

In its 2024 manifesto, Swapo pledges to prioritise housing development, stating: “We will continue to implement housing programmes and sanitation infrastructure, ensuring that every Namibian has access to affordable land and decent housing”. 

The party emphasises that it has serviced over 22 659 plots, and constructed more than 15 198 houses since 2017.

Swapo’s manifesto emphasises expanding current initiatives to provide affordable housing, focusing on land servicing and the provision of essential services like sanitation through its decent living programme.

The party highlights its track record, including the improvement of infrastructure and urban land servicing projects, which have contributed to alleviating some of the housing problems.

The party promised to strengthen the NHE’s existing affordable housing programmes to cater for a broader range of income groups, including streamlining application processes which ensure eligibility criteria by focusing on middle-income earners. 

The manifesto pledged to service at least 10 000 plots annually for the construction of low and medium-cost houses by strengthening the Build Together Programme, and supporting the SDFN.

PDM

The PDM manifesto takes a more aggressive stance on addressing the housing dilemma.

The party’s policy promises to reduce the urban housing backlog by 30% by 2029. 

As part of this initiative, the PDM aims to increase serviced land availability, and proposes partnerships with the private sector to expedite housing delivery.

 “We commit to reducing the urban housing backlog through our one Namibian-one plot policy, which will ensure that 30% of the backlog is addressed by 2029,” reads the manifesto.

It also indicated that on that premise, the PDM believes that every informal settlement dweller over the age of 21, who falls into a lower-income category (receiving less than N$4 500 per month), must qualify for a small plot.

The PDM advocates for increased investment in housing development, emphasising the role of private sector collaboration to meet its ambitious targets.

IPC

The IPC takes a different approach, focusing on affordable financing and administrative reforms to unlock housing opportunities. 

In its manifesto, party promises to implement a national housing project, aiming to provide affordable homes through innovative financing solutions such as microfinance and community savings’ programmes. 

“Declare housing a state of emergency to accelerate construction of housing for the population with a minimum of 100 000 units within four years. Introduce affordable financing schemes through the national housing project to ensure that low-income families can secure housing,” reads the manifesto.

The party also promised to secure zero-cost arrangements with commercial banking institutions to administer a government small-loan scheme for subsidised, serviced land purchases.

 It likewise promised to partner with financial institutions to administer low-cost housing loans with flexible repayment profiles.

Realistic? 

Ndumbah Kamwanyah, a well-known political commentator, said many of these pledges had to be taken with a grain of salt.

He said Swapo’s state-led model has always had potential. 

“While Swapo’s approach has some merits, especially with government involvement, the real challenge is the bureaucracy and inefficiency. For this model to succeed, they will need to streamline these processes significantly, which has been an ongoing issue. Without addressing the bureaucratic bottlenecks, it will be difficult to scale up housing development as promised,” he stated.

He said if Swapo cannot fix that bottleneck, housing will not scale up as promised.

On the PDM’s manifesto, he said the bold commitment to reduce the housing backlog by 30% in five years stood out.

“This is a very ambitious target, and while it shows intent, the major obstacle remains land servicing. Many municipalities are struggling to provide serviced land, which is crucial for housing development. If the PDM can tackle the land issue effectively, there’s a possibility they could make progress, but achieving a 30% reduction in such a short timeframe is a tall order,” he reasoned.

On the IPC’s plans, he said the ideas to involve the private sector and use innovative financing are promising, but the real question is whether these solutions can be implemented quickly. 

“Partnerships and financing models take time to negotiate and roll out. If they manage to secure these partnerships early on, they could have an impact, but it’s unclear if it will happen fast enough to meet Namibia’s urgent housing needs,” he added. 

(Manifestos housing)