Published: 7 hours ago

Thousands of prospective homebuilders in Harare have been dealt a major blow after the city unveiled a bold new urban policy that will halt all new housing stand allocations for the next 20 years. In a dramatic shift, Harare City Council says it will now prioritise mass rental accommodation, including walk-up flats, as it grapples with overwhelming housing demand and rapid population growth.

The move is outlined in the recently released Draft Master Plan 2025–2045, which sets out the council's development vision for the next two decades. According to city officials, the aim is to transition from stand-based housing development to rental-driven models, supported by public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Under the plan, the council will no longer allocate residential stands—not to individuals, cooperatives, or self-help housing schemes, which have historically dominated the capital's low-income housing delivery strategies. City planners said the focus going forward will be on partnerships and joint ventures to deliver large-scale rental accommodation.

"No allocations of housing stands will be made during the plan period. The City shall pursue mass production of rental accommodation through partnerships and joint ventures," reads part of the plan.

This policy shift comes as Harare's housing waiting list has swelled to 288,885 applicants. Currently, 43 percent of households in the capital are classified as lodgers, with many living in overcrowded or makeshift conditions.

Speaking during the launch of the public exhibition of the Master Plan, one senior official explained that the city could no longer sustain horizontal expansion and that densification was now the only viable solution to Harare's urbanisation challenges.

The Master Plan also introduces stringent measures targeting underutilised land. According to the document, all undeveloped housing land will be repossessed within a month after the plan is gazetted. Furthermore, existing housing leases will be cancelled immediately, a move that is likely to affect many individuals and cooperatives still struggling to mobilise resources for construction.

"Housing land that remains undeveloped within one month of the gazette shall be repossessed. No lease renewals will be granted," the plan states.

City authorities argue that much of the land allocated in previous years remains idle, fueling urban sprawl, worsening service delivery, and encouraging speculative land holding.

The Draft Master Plan is now open for public scrutiny, and residents and stakeholders have until 16 October 2025 to submit written objections or representations to the Town Clerk or the Director of Urban Planning. The plan includes aerial imagery, detailed statistical reports, zoning maps, and proposals for land use, environmental sustainability, traffic flow, bulk infrastructure, and social services.

According to city officials, this policy is aimed at creating a more compact, accessible, and serviceable Harare fit for future generations.

Public reaction to the plan has been mixed. One visibly upset resident, who said he had been on the housing waiting list since 2012, expressed frustration: "We've waited so long for stands. Now they want us to rent forever?"

Others, however, welcomed the plan, arguing that many cooperatives had failed to develop their land properly. "It's about time. This could bring back order to urban housing," said another resident who attended the public exhibition.

While the Draft Master Plan is still up for debate, the message from Harare City Council is clear: the era of housing stand allocations is over—rentals are the future.
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