RWANDA is hosting a Pan-African meeting on low-income housing.The three-day meeting comes amidst a deficit of decent housing for low and middle-income earners in the country.While the Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA) says that a study is underway to determine the supply and demand of the houses in Kigali, there has been a sharp increase in the cost of rent, which points to a shortfall in residential houses.Recent official figures show that Rwanda needs 25,000 new housing units every year. Kigali City alone requires between 8,500 and 10,000 units, while other urban centres need 15,000.As of 2008, the housing supply was estimated at 10,000 annually.Today, continued investments in strategic sectors and the rising Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has created more jobs, increasing the size of the middle class.On the other hand, expansion of the economy is certainly accelerating urbanisation and increasing demand for quality urban facilities including decent houses.To tackle such challenges, there is need to develop a strategy to deliver low-cost housing units and give Rwandans of different income levels a chance to own a home.Lately, there has been a boom in the mortgage industry. But this is not trickling down to middle and low-income earners. One of the solutions could be entering into public private partnerships with focus on building condominiums, and individuals encouraged to buy apartments.
