NHE expands low-income housing in the North

The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) is optimistic that low-income earners will now be able to afford houses through government initiatives aimed at addressing the shortage of decent housing.

NHE chief executive Gisbertus Mukulu says low-income earners face significant challenges in affording housing due to various factors like limited income, high cost of building materials, and inadequate housing finance options.

However, he says the NHE’s formalisation of informal settlements through the National Informal Settlement Upgrading Project aims to address this crisis by constructing about 2 000 low-cost housing units countrywide by April 2026.

He said this on Friday during the signing of an agreement with Ondangwa, Ongwediva and Oshakati as part of its ongoing collaboration with local authorities to provide decent housing to northern residents.

“This is a game changer. We already have the contractors appointed and are ready to start with the construction of houses. We have also set aside an amount of about N$72 million for the construction of the houses while we wait for the government to make more funds available towards these housing projects,” he added.

Mukulu said these projects will not replace current housing development initiatives like the Shack Dwellers Federation. Instead, all these efforts aim to tackle the critical housing shortage through different approaches.

He further added that the repayment plan is set at a low amount because it is interest-free as the housing project will be subsidized by the government.

NHE chairperson Toska Sem says the agreement focuses on the formalisation of informal settlements through the National Informal Settlement Upgrading Project (Isup).

“The NHE was given a target to construct 2 000 housing units by April 2026. This target will be achieved through the implementation of the Isup. There have been positive responses from most local authorities that the NHE has engaged to foster partnerships for the implementation of the Isup,” she says.

She adds that so far, at least 2 500 plots at various stages in terms of availability of services, have been made available to the NHE.

“The programme is a game changer – targeting low-income earners with repayments as low as N$400 for a one-bedroom and N$1 200 for a three-bedroom house. Low-income earners are the most affected cluster insofar as housing scarcity is concerned. We want to see more and more low-income earners getting affordable shelter from our collaborative and sustainable interventions,” she says.

Ongwediva mayor Tarah Shalyefu told The Namibian that as part of the council’s determination and resolve to enhance and accelerate land delivery, the council has adopted a multi-faceted approach.

These include the allocation of 275 unserviced erven to the NHE, the allocation of undeveloped land with a capacity of 200 middle-sized erven to the Development Workshop Namibia, the allocation of 75 unserviced and partially serviced erven to various property developers, and the envisaged allocation of approximately 150 erven to the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia.

“These initiatives will be complemented by the following provisions in the annual estimates of income and expenditure for the financial year 2025/26: (a) Cadastral survey of the area behind extension 13. (b) Township establishment of the land south of Ongwediva MultiPurpose Sport Field at extension 17 (300 erven). To cater for the above-mentioned projects, a total amount of N$782 609 has been provided for in the budget. In addition to the latter, an amount of N$5 million has been budgeted for crop field compensations,” he says.

Oshakati mayor Leonard Hango says Oshakati has been recognised as one of the leading towns in Namibia in land and housing delivery, with a strong track record in implementing related projects.

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