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The Ugandan government is set to construct low-cost housing estates for low-income earners to address the country’s housing deficit of 2.4 million units. State Minister for Housing, Percis Namuganza, announced that the houses will be offered through a rent-to-own scheme, with payments spread over 10 to 15 years.

Addressing journalists at the Media Center in Kampala, the state minister in charge of housing, Percis Namuganza, said houses will be paid for between 10 and 15 years.

“To improve the housing standards in Kampala City, we have resumed the plan of constructing low-cost houses for Ugandans so that they can live in organised settlements. When you visit slums, you find that there is no privacy for adults because of the congestion,” Namuganza, said.

Uganda’s housing deficit stands at 2.4 million units, the National Housing Policy drafted in May 2016, indicates that urban areas in Uganda need at least 65,000 units.

According to the Africa Housing Finance Report 2023, Uganda’s housing deficit stands at 2.4 million housing units, out of which 210,000 units are in urban areas and 1.395 million units in rural areas. An estimated 900,000 units are substandard and need to be replaced or upgraded.

“In Kampala alone, 72.2% of households rent their houses and only 22.2% own their home. Renters in urban areas are more likely to live in one-bedroom units than in larger units.

The report further states that 39 Sixty percent of Uganda’s urban population is estimated to be living in slums.

The report reveals that the most common housing types are ‘mizigos’, which are always – substandard and overcrowded are rented out and often lack access to basic facilities such as running water, electricity, and ventilation.

“We know that it is hard to build a house these days because people do not have the money, even getting land is difficult because most pieces of land have wrangles. That is where alternative means of property acquisition come in, and one such option is ‘rent-to-own a home,” Namuganza said.

Rent-to-own property acquisition is a real estate arrangement where a tenant rents a property for a set period of time, typically a few years, with the option to buy the property at a predetermined price at the end of the lease term.

To elaborate further on this kind of investment, the minister said that Uganda is behind schedule but they are going to build three to four-bedroom houses.

“South Africa is far, our neighbours in Kenya are doing well with the rent-to-own project. We have already the land within a few months we will be starting, we are just delayed by finances,” Namuganza said.

Last year, the Minister of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, Judith Nabakooba, noted that government needed sh350 billion to start the construction of low-cost houses.

During the briefing, Margaret Mengo, the regional director for Habitat for Humanity, noted that with the housing deficit of 2.4 million units, the need for low-cost housing within the urban centres is acute and urgent.

“There is no way we are going to engage youth without thinking about housing. There is no way youths are going to create a better urban future when they cannot afford a place where to sleep, stay and thrive,” Mengo, said.

Mengo highlighted that the youth need to be housed not in mansions and skyscrapers but in houses they can afford.

“Our better urban future is in the hands of the young people and we can achieve it when they are not sleeping on shop verandahs, sewers and open streets. Government needs to ensure that there is land secured where we can collaborate with the private sector to promote affordable housing,” Mengo, said.

According to a law enacted in 1964, only the National Housing and Construction Company Ltd (NHCC) is mandated to provide houses to Ugandans at affordable prices.