Uganda’s mounting housing crisis needs all hands on deck and convergence of policy architects say

September 23, 2024 in Business, Infrastructure, Policy, Trade & Industry by Editor

Provision of decent housing to Uganda’s young and rapidly expanding population, is going to require adoption of a forward-looking posture by players in the housing and construction sector, with a convergence of purposes around resolving bottlenecks  around land policy, finance, infrastructure, sustainable growth, and social investment, says Eng. Kenneth Kaijuka, the chief executive of officer of real estate and construction parastatal National Housing Corporation.

With a population of 45.6 million, Uganda has only 2 million permanent housing units against an estimated demand for 9.2 million units. The 2016 National Housing Population survey revealed that the country had 7.3 million houses that were more than 50 years old. There were also another 5 million semi-permanent houses and 3 million temporary structures. The population is growing at 3.4pc annually portending an acute housing crisis.

Delivering a keynote address at the Uganda Society of Architects Construction Symposium on September 20, Kaijuka, gave snapshot of opportunities and challenges in Uganda’s housing market.

On the upside, the bulging population 77.8pc of which is below age 35 represents the bulk of the addressable market. With modest incomes and lacking the capacity to construct their own housing, they are tenants looking for affordable housing in the rental market.

On the downside, the absence of policy convergence around the need to support developers deliver housing has made housing development very expensive, resulting in uneven and often chaotic spatial development in urban spaces.  A lack of entry level social housing has led to prime urban land getting occupied by slams, further complicating urban development and transformation and negative fallout for the environment.

As the construction subsector responds to demand for housing, there is a lot of demolition going on resulting in construction waste which is not being safely managed with significant environmental risk.

Kaijuka explained that waste generated from the construction, renovation, repair, and demolition of residential houses, large buildings, roads, bridges, piers, and dams can significantly harm public health if not properly managed.

“Construction waste is a growing problem, and we’ve seen cases like Kiteezi where waste has overwhelmed us. The bigger problem isn’t domestic waste—it’s construction waste, which no one is paying attention to,” he said adding: “In the next 10 years, parts of Kampala will be demolished, and with that, the question is—where will all the debris, including tiles and nails, end up? Our wetlands are being destroyed, and much of this waste ends up in the lake.”

Architect Catherine Muyinda, the Honorary Secretary of the Uganda Society of Architects, proposed recycling as a possible mitigation strategy. “The construction industry must look into recycling waste materials like wood, steel, concrete, and asphalt, just as it’s done in developed countries. We don’t have recycling plants for construction waste yet, but we must start thinking big,” she said citing the example of the Netherlands, where old tires are recycled into pavers”.

The symposium that ran under the theme “The Business of Construction in Uganda,” also explored other topics including project financing, compliance, sustainability, and the use of innovative construction technologies as drivers of success in the sector.