By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –

NATIONAL Housing Authority (NHA) has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank and Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS) for mortgage financing to provide citizens in the country with affordable housing units.

NHA sales and marketing manager Bwalya Makasa said the authority would continue to partner with the local authorities and the private sector locally and internationally with a view to  providing affordable housing units for people in the country.

Speaking at the 88th Agriculture and Commercial Show in Lusaka, Ms Makasa said that NHA was committed to providing affordable and quality houses.

It stands ready to facilitate ownership needs of all income categories of citizens in the country.

“So we will continue to forge partnerships with local authorities and the private sector both locally and internationally,” she said.

 She said NHA had been collaborating with foreign institutions like MKP Holdings of Malaysia to implement housing projects as well as other companies such as China Jiangxi Corporation.

In terms of financing housing projects for purchase, NHA had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Stanchart and ZNBS to allow more citizens who may not have been able to buy houses out-rightly access mortgage finance at affordable rates.

Ms Makasa said NHA had also been working with councils throughout the country to identifyf land for housing projects and

technical assistance the authority would render to the local authorities.

Ms Makasa said job opportunities were being created for both skilled and semi-skilled labour force, because of increased activities thereby contributing significantly to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

She said one major challenge the authority was facing in the implementation of housing projects, was the high cost of facilities.

“High cost of infrastructure is the major challenge we are faced with considering that we are not just building housing units but we ensure that all relevant services such as roads water and sewerage system, drainages and electricity are incorporated in  the construction of our houses and for us, these  form a significant cost.

“It is a challenge in providing cheaper houses as NHA must find money to provide services,” she said.

To date, NHA has constructed 7,000 housing units.