Estate developers urged to invest in affordable housing

Estate developers have been called on to work with banks to secure necessary funding to put up affordable housing units and infrastructure, and partaking in development of secondary cities. Alex Kanyankore, the chief executive of the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD), made the remarks Wednesday during inauguration of newly-constructed estates in Musanze District. The housing units were constructed by Pearl Estates, in collaboration with BRD. Kanyankore urged other local investors to emulate such a model in the country’s infrastructure development, saying affordable housing is one of the bank’s areas of intervention and BRD was willing to offer loans to people with convincing projects. The inaugurated 14 housing units, constructed at the tune of more than Rwf400 million, are located in Ruhengeri Cell, Muhoza Sector. The investors said more units will be constructed in the near future at a site designated for more than 100 units in Gacaca Sector on the outskirts of Musanze town. Kanyankore hailed the company for designing a good business plan to secure the loan, adding that other investors should also venture into affordable houses and infrastructure in general. “This is a huge investment to boost affordable houses in secondary cities, the project was well received and we offered the loan as affordable housing is one of our main areas of intervention,” he said. He said, while the cost of housing is still high, it could go down with more investors joining real estate development. “We encourage investors to build more housing units so that the cost per unit can go down. We also encourage banks to offer mortgage to investors and negotiate possible ways of offering lower interest on long-term payment,” he said. The Pearl Estates head, Bishop John Rucyahana, said the decision to construct a model village with affordable housing units is aimed at helping fast-track development in secondary cities. “We have been experiencing [rural] urban migration, this is a business to generate income but also we want to respond to the government’s plan to develop secondary cities. This is designed to develop our province and Musanze District as one of the secondary cities,” he said. “It is time we invested more in infrastructure as some people used to spend a life-time without owning a house. Now that banks are willing to partner with us, we are committed to building more affordable housing units,” Rucyahana added. He said the housing units to be constructed in Gacaca Sector will be of two, three and four bedrooms to make them affordable for people in various categories. Deogratias Kabagambe, the Northern Province executive secretary, welcomed the development, saying it will not only help people own houses but also change the image of Musanze city. He said the houses are in line with the district master plan and urged more people to invest in infrastructure development as one of the pillars of the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Estate developers urged to invest in affordable housing