Mortgage industry out of reach to most citizens

Editor, This is in reaction to the article, “New housing law in offing”, (The New Times, February 10).

Sunday, February 10, 2013
Rwandau2019s mortgage industry is somewhat affected by the countryu2019s small middle class. The New Times / File.

Editor,This is in reaction to the article, "New housing law in offing”, (The New Times, February 10).As a person with interest in real estate, I can’t agree more with Charles Haba, the president of Rwanda Real Estate Association. Most people don’t go out intending to build expensive houses. Rather a multiplicity of factors, as noted, ensures that a simple moderate house ends up costing a lot. One other issue is to do with the size of the middle income group - the group with disposable income and more time constraints (which would make them want to buy houses) is relatively small. That is why a mortgage of Rwf25million francs with a monthly repayment of Rwf3,800,000 over a period of 20 years remains daunting for many prospective home owners.Kefa Angwenyi, Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Kigali