Housing finance has often been cited as a major challenge in the Rwandan market as a majority of financial players’ offers have high interest rates, short tenures and are inflexible to client preferences. This continues to lock out a majority of potential home owners. With home ownership being a priority for a majority of Rwandans, Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) Plc recently adjusted its credit conditions to make it easy for potential homeowners. Among the adjustments include extending the tenure to 25 years for mortgage repayment to ease the debt burden on clients seeking to own a home. This also means reduced monthly repayment amounts as it is spread over time. The bank said that the adjustment was made following identification of repayment period as a significant challenge for prospective homeowners. Short tenures which characterize a large section of the local market have previously been termed as a challenge to quality home loans. Potential home owners who spoke to The New Times said that among the key challenges faced in the process of home ownership is short tenures of credit averaging 15 years which means that a significant portion of their income would be spent on repayment of credit. The bank has provisions to finance up to 100 per cent of the lower of market value and sales price which incentives affordable housing subsector and up to 80 per cent for others. This is meant to address a common market challenge whereby some home owners are not able to complete their home construction satisfactorily when adequate capital is not availed. The bank promises affordable interest rates as the financier in 2019 revised the base rate from 16.5 per cent to 14.5 per cent currently to become among the most competitive on the local market. The facility is also made in consideration with the fact that a majority of Rwandan’s salaries ranging between Rwf300,000 to Rwf800,000 hence extension of tenures. The financier is also flexible to avail funds to either construct a house or purchase an already built house. The flexibility is meant to accommodate home owners’ preferences. Potential home owners can visit the nearest BPR branch countrywide for more details as well as commence the application process.
