Construction of at least 2,000 affordable housing units will be launched on Friday in Nyamirambo Sector, Nyarugenge District, developers have announced.

The project is under Rugarama Park Estate, a joint venture between Shelter Afrique, a pan-African housing finance institution and the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD).

The planned units were developed by Rugarama Park Estate and Remote Group – an engineering firm and are in accordance with the City of Kigali masterplan and the affordable housing program under the National Housing Policy.

Rugarama Park Estate will have public parks, community buildings, shops and a market place.

According to the developers, the construction costs are minimized as much as possible in order to keep selling prices down and ensure that the homes provide the first step in housing ladder to Rwandans who will reside in the modern and ecofriendly estate.

"The housing units will be affordable for an average Rwandan’s income. In order to achieve this, Remote Group has developed an efficient construction method referred to as Aerated Autoclaved Concrete masonry, which will be produced locally by the Remote Group,” reads a statement from the developers.

The high-density estate has been designed to be comfortable, convenient &and dignified, the statement adds.

In November last year, the Minister of Infrastructure, Claver Gatete held a meeting with the new Managing Director of the Pan African Mortgage Financier, Shelter Afrique, Andrew Chimphondah to discuss financing opportunities for Rugarama Park Estate.

The project plans to build about 2,800 affordable houses on a-42-hectares piece of land located in Nyamirambo Sector.

The entire housing project is estimated to cost $131 million and accommodate 14,000 people as well as create hundreds of temporary and permanent jobs.

According to a study  dubbed "Housing Market Demand, Housing Finance and Housing Preferences for the City of Kigali”, conducted by Planet Consortium in 2012, the annual demand for new dwellings were 31,279 housing units per year against the supply of about 1000 units.

There is a gap because there is an annual deficit of about 30,279 dwelling units.

Rwanda targets to have 35 per cent of urbanisation by 2024 from 18.4 per cent in 2017, the move that will need more dwelling units.

City officials say that due to different challenges, the city has not even managed to satisfy 10 per cent of affordable housing needs.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com