For years, Rwanda has been grappling with the issue of affordable housing, with an ever-increasing need for housing units mostly in urban settings, especially in the City of Kigali.

The number of homes built annually is far smaller than the growing need for new ones, making worse an already complicated situation.

To put things in perspective, according to the population census conducted in 2022, the population in the City of Kigali doubled within a space of 10 years and the demand for affordable dwellings currently stands at 18,000 housing units every year.

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While appearing before parliament on Tuesday, the Minister of Infrastructure admitted that little progress was made in terms of affordable housing under the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1) with just one third of the needed units developed.

Besides, what we normally call affordable housing units that are built through different projects that are normally heavily incentivized by government still fall out of the income bracket of many citizens.

For instance, an affordable housing unit with different incentives will come to at least Rwf40 million. This is beyond reach for many as statistics show that over 50 per cent of people who earn a regular income in Kigali get under Rwf200,000.

This therefore calls for a multifaceted approach, including prioritizing social rental schemes for low-income earners, which will enable many families access decent accommodation at affordable prices.

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Such schemes can also be considered while implementing social housing projects with an aim of relocating residents from high-risk dwellings because evacuated people are normally given houses free of charge, which they end up mismanaging because there is no sense of ownership.

While the demand for housing increases, the inevitable challenge we face is the pressure this exerts on the limited land resources which further drives up the cost of houses. Innovation is therefore necessary in undertaking social rental schemes, including approaches like in-situ development of informal settlements.

Social rental schemes should also be introduced as an option to development the large swathes of land that belong to religious institutions like the Catholic Church, which remains idle.

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Through this approach, the church can partner with private developers, and by tapping into the different government subsidies, develop social rental units that can be availed to citizens at affordable cost