Online Reporter
Debra Matabvu
Senior Reporter
THE Government will regularise about 30 informal settlements across the country under a user-pays funding model designed to ensure fairness, sustainability and accountability in the delivery of housing.
The settlements earmarked for regularisation include Harare South; Caledonia; Epworth; the Masvingo Garikai project; Masvingo’s Victoria Range; and Skei Farm, under the Chegutu Rural District Council.
These settlements have grown swiftly over the years owing to rapid urbanisation, land barons, unplanned occupations and the historical shortage of affordable housing.
Regularisation will formalise these communities, provide essential services and protect residents from eviction or displacement, while ensuring development occurs in line with proper planning regulations.
Under the user-pays model, beneficiaries will bear the full development cost of settling on the land, including paying for the land itself, servicing, infrastructure installation and other related expenses.
The model also compensates private or indigenous landowners whose property was occupied without proper procedures, creating a transparent and legally binding arrangement between residents and landowners.
However, the Government has emphasised that regularisation will only occur on land suitable for human habitation.
Settlements established on wetlands, servitudes and land reserved for public amenities such as schools, clinics, roads or parks will not be regularised.
Instead, residents in these areas will be relocated to safer sites under a structured compensation and relocation framework.
As part of broader housing reforms contained in the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), the Government is also recapitalising the Housing Guarantee Fund and the National Housing Fund to improve access to housing finance.
The Housing Guarantee Fund is a facility that allows the Government to act as a guarantor for individuals seeking mortgage loans from banks and building societies.
Its recapitalisation will help more low- and middle-income households to qualify for credit, making home ownership more accessible.
The National Housing Fund, on the other hand, will directly finance the construction of houses, especially for low-income groups, supporting efforts to close the national housing gap.
“Recognising the rapid urbanisation and proliferation of informal settlements, Government will implement regularisation and upgrading programmes,” reads the NDS2.
“This will include regularisation of 30 informal settlements, including Harare South, Caledonia, Epworth, Masvingo Garikai project, Masvingo Victoria Range, Skei Farm under Chegutu Rural District Council, among others.
“The regularisation will include the provision of critical infrastructure such as potable water, sanitation systems, electricity, roads, schools, health centres and recreational facilities across all settlements.
“Regularisation will be undertaken only on land suitable for human habitation.
“No regularisation will occur on wetlands, servitudes or land reserved for public and social amenities such as schools, hospitals and recreational facilities.
“To ensure sustainability and fairness, the user-pays principle will guide the funding of the regularisation process, which will be coordinated and led by Government.”
Cabinet recently approved the user-pays model to regularise housing projects under the Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle Programme, where developments were undertaken on privately owned indigenous land, State land and other properties without proper planning approval.
Under this arrangement, the Government will facilitate negotiations between landowners and occupants, enabling residents to purchase the land over an agreed period.
One of the largest projects under this policy is Whitecliff Farm in Harare, a 1 065-hectare property where more than 11 000 families settled.
The Government and the landowner, Eddies Pfugari Estate, have agreed on US$44 million as compensation for the land.
The authorities have also begun the development of the regularisation and sanitisation framework to provide clear procedures for identifying, upgrading or relocating settlements.
It will also define the roles of the Government, councils, private developers and communities, while outlining mechanisms to prevent further land invasions and ensure future settlements comply with planning laws.
A comprehensive compensation and relocation framework is also being established to assist households displaced by development projects or natural disasters.
This framework will ensure humane, orderly and rights-respecting relocation processes that provide affected residents with secure alternatives.
“Government will recapitalise the Housing Guarantee Fund and the National Housing Fund, both established under the Housing and Building Act, to strengthen and expand access to housing finance,” adds the NDS2 blueprint document.
“Through the Housing Guarantee Fund, Government will act as guarantor for individuals seeking mortgage facilities from banks and building societies, thereby enhancing affordability and credit access for home ownership.
“Furthermore, the National Housing Fund will finance the construction of houses, targeting low and middle-income households.”
Urban planning and local governance expert Dr Percy Toriro said the user-pays principle was a proven model that has delivered positive results in several African and South American countries.
He said the approach is grounded in the practical understanding that people value and safeguard services when they directly contribute to their cost.
“The user-pays principle is a practical development philosophy that comes from the understanding that users of any service must pay for it in order to treasure it,” he said.
“It is similar to the saying, ‘He who understands the effort of looking for water will not waste a drop’.”
The principle, Dr Toriro added, has long been applied in housing development and underpins many of the traditional council pay schemes that established townships in Harare and other centres.
It is also the foundation of the housing cooperative model in which members pool their resources to fund their own development, he added.
He said the model is particularly appropriate for the regularisation of informal settlements because it places responsibility for financing housing on the beneficiaries themselves rather than on the broader public.
However, he emphasised that the approach can only succeed if it is supported by strong, transparent administration capable of safeguarding resources.
“The user-pays principle has successfully supported the development of many housing schemes in Africa and South America,” he said.
“What is essential is a transparent administrative unit that ensures resources are efficiently deployed for their intended purpose. In the past, some leaders of such entities abused funds, so Government must step in to protect beneficiaries and ensure proper oversight.”
Tinaye Agere
Very interesting! If one looks at the situation in Harare South, one wonders how regularisation can be achieved in such confusion. What is required there is removal of people and redesigning the whole lay out before resettling of people. What is not escapable is that quite a number of people will have to be moved to other sites.