Editorial: Housing needs a new model

Urban development minister James Sankwasa's admission that government lacks the money to solve Namibia's housing crisis should force a rethink.

Mass Housing, NHE, Build Together and other interventions have not eliminated a backlog estimated at 300 000 homes.

Government cannot simply keep building houses using the same models and expect a different outcome.

Singapore created one powerful housing authority, serviced land and built at enormous scale. Today, about 80% of resident households live in public HDB flats. Vienna owns about 220 000 flats while another 200 000 are provided through co-operatives, keeping a huge stock permanently available outside the conventional private market.

Mauritius subsidises housing according to household income, provides long-term leases, and supports families who already have land to build incrementally.

Namibia should combine these approaches with its own Shack-Dweller experience. The government provides land and infrastructure; communities and co-operatives build; and public guarantees unlock affordable private finance.

Lamenting the lack of funding is old thinking because government cannot finance its way out of the problem alone. What is required now is a model that mobilises land, communities and private capital at a scale Namibia has not attempted before.