NHCC gets Shs24b to complete 162 Namungoona housing units

The Minister of Lands and Housing, Mr Daudi Migereko. He has said his ministry wants to make housing cost cheap. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

Cost. Each house to go for between Shs200million and Shs250 million.

Kampala.

National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC) has secured a $9 million (about Shs23.7 billion) loan to complete its housing project in Namungoona, a Kampala suburb.
In an interview yesterday, the company finance and investment manager, Mr Derrick Mutegyeki, confirmed the loan deal signed last week in Nairobi, Kenya with the Pan African urban housing financier institution, Shelter Afrique.
He said: “The agreement was signed last week and we will use the money to finish the 96 housing units that are already half way (shell level) and begin construction of another 66 housing units.”
He continued: “This deal means that we shall complete the 162 housing units with all the necessary infrastructure and utilities such as power, water, drainage and roads.”
It emerged that the houses will be semi-detached, meaning they will be standing alone without being attached in any way to another building.
According to a press statement issued by the financier of the project, the loan will be used by NHCC for construction of low-cost housing in the country.
The five-year project, which also happens to be the duration for the repayment of the loan, once completed will see each house unit sold between Shs200 million and Shs250 million.
“This will not be a one off payment. At a later stage we shall engage financial institutions who will work out a mortgage arrangement,” Mr Mutegyeki said.
There are also arrangements to have the financier bank-roll other NHCC projects that are in the pipeline.
The managing director Shelter Afrique, Mr Yekini Olayanju, said while signing the deal: “The project finance facility agreement between Shelter Afrique and NHCC Uganda is a step in the right direction and marks an important milestone for the two institutions.
He continued: “We are committed to supporting the government of Ugandan in rolling out housing projects through a public-private partnership that will pave way for possible increase in capital subscription to ensure effective intervention for Shelter Afrique in the Ugandan markets.”
Lands minister Daudi Migereko, said in response: “As a ministry, we have to look at ways to make the cost of housing materials cheaper, we have to find a way to become a part of the value -chain so we can control the cost, which has been the prohibitive factor in acquiring houses in Uganda.”

ABOUT NHCC
National Housing and Construction Company Limited (NHCC) is a Ugandan public enterprise that was established by the National Housing Corporation Act of 1964. The act was later repealed by the 1974 Decree to form National Housing and Construction Corporation.