Housing Finance Bank, NBS unpack housing policy at Housing Baraza
Housing Finance Bank and Next Media Services successfully closed the 4th Edition of the NBS Housing Baraza which tackled challenges bedevilling the housing sector.
The event held under the theme: "Building a Strong Housing Ecosystem: Partnering to house generations" was aimed at identifying innovation and business development opportunities, providing networking opportunities, and exploring related topics affecting Uganda’s housing market.
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One of the highlights of the baraza was a study on the state of housing that was unpacked by the National Planning Authority (NPA).
The paper revealed at a median income of Shs 220,000 per month for the urban folk, and Shs 168,000 per month for the rural folk, approximately 96% of Ugandans can not afford the cheapest typical house formally constructed by a private developer.
In addition to this, the paper stated that 76% of Ugandans can only afford housing units in the range of 12M-24M and that there is significant mismatch between the demand and supply for housing which has left the country with a huge cumulative housing deficit of 2.2M excluding 900,000 existing units that have been condemned as inhabitable for humans.
Peace K. Ayebazibwe, the executive director of Housing Finance Bank, said at the bank they have been working with different developers and partners to enable affordable housing from the supply side.
"We finance the developers and support them with off takers," she said.
She said the bank has been keen on providing affordable home financing and continues to work hand in hand with industry stakeholders to identify solutions that reduce the cost of construction while ensuring the structures built are decent and habitable.
Ayebazibwe said they developed a product called Incremental Housing Loan - Zimba Mpola Mpola.
This product is designed for everyone because the bank can lend between Shs 200,000 to about Shs. 50 million to enable middle and low-income Ugandans to build their homes incrementally.
This enables them build decent and habitable homes while breaking down the customer’s financial burden into small manageable chunks whose payment does not affect their current livelihood. The tenure for incremental housing solution is 3 years.
Among the solutions raised during the Housing Baraza is the need to empower the population with awareness and affordable housing options.
The bank, in line with its mission to enable home ownership and financial independence, facilitates customers to build their homes with up to 100% financing payable over 20 years, while improving customer service through innovation.
The latest additions to the Bank’s digital transformational journey include remote account opening, which is time saving using the HFB App, available on GoogleStore and AppStore.
There is no need to go to the bank to open an account with HFB, which further promotes financial inclusion especially within the youth and informal sector.
To encourage the customer to invest, the bank launched the HFB Securities Online Portal, which allows customers to invest in treasury bills and bonds for as low as Shs.100,000 with just one click.
This eliminates the tedious paperwork that was previously the norm with investing in high yielding assets like government securities.
