The City of Windhoek (CoW) has revealed that 93.9 per cent of the 17 487 home seekers on the City’s housing waiting list earn below N.dollars 8 000.

A document containing council’s minutes for a meeting held on 10 August, indicated that 16 425 people on the waiting list earn below N.dollars 8 000, while 791 earn between N.dollars 8 000 and N.dollars 15 000, 193 earn between N.dollars 15 000 and N.dollars 25 000, and only 78 earn N.dollars above 25 000.

It said 88 per cent of the prospective purchasers have been on the waiting list for more than 15 years, and that the number of people seeking housing opportunities by way of registration on the waiting list for land decreased between 2015 and 2022.

The document further revealed that between 2000 and 2004, 4 514 people were on the waiting list, while between 2005 and 2009, 4 828 people registered for housing. Between 2010 and 2015, a total of 5 996 also sought housing, with only 2 149 registered from 2015 and 2022.

“In an effort to meet the ever-growing need for land and housing, CoW has availed N.dollars 4.7 million to build eight three-bedroom houses under the recently approved pilot Council Affordable Programme, aimed at providing affordable houses to first-time buyers on the waiting list for land and the waiting list for those who registered to lease municipal houses,” it read.

The City of Windhoek said the construction of eight houses in Khomasdal expands affordable housing in the capital, and the completion of the houses in August 2022 will “mark a milestone in Council’s endeavours to deliver affordable housing to residents and will go a long way in assuring residents of the Council’s commitments in following through on its promises.”

Source: The Namibian Press Agency