NHC: Another Real Estate Mega-Project for the National Housing Corporation of Tanzania

The National Housing Corporation (NHC) of Tanzania has embarked on another ambitious mega-project focusing on the country’s capital, Dodoma. As part of the move complementing the shift of the country’s capital from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, the aim is to transform the city by creating residential housing that would suit the thousands of government workers who will soon be calling the city their new home.

The mega-project known as Iyumbu Satellite Centre will be the first of its kind in Dodoma that will see the construction of 300 houses over 234 acres of land located at Iyumbu ward in Dodoma Municipality. This is line with the Corporation strategy plan of constructing over 30,000 houses in the next ten years from 2015/16 – 2024/25. Out of the above-targeted houses, 12,000 units target low to middle-income earners and people with sustainable income.

This initiative came following the announcement by His Excellency, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. John P. Magufuli on 23rd July 2016, to relocate government administrative functions to Dodoma. It was observed that one of the challenges of relocating to Dodoma would be to accommodate the influx of thousands of civil servants and others whose activities are either directly or indirectly related to government operations.

A few months later, the capital city experienced a massive flurry of activity by various investors, stakeholders and developers to ensure that Dodoma was well equipped with facilities and infrastructure to accommodate the influx of people.

NHC was among the stakeholders who responded towards providing quality housing and other buildings for use by the general public. The Corporation started construction of the mega-project of residential units on its land located at Iyumbu area, in Dodoma Municipality.

The project sits at the northern side of the University of Dodoma (UDOM), closer to other important areas like the airport, the Parliament, transport terminals and the city centre. With more than 20,000 students at UDOM, the city is poised to becoming a bustling metropolis when final construction of the project is completed in 2025. The aim of the project is to redesign the aesthetic appeal of the city and meet the demand for growth. Iyumbu Satellite Center will be constructed in three phases.

The construction of phase one has already started and is progressing well, with the construction of 300 housing units over 40 acres of land. Currently, more than 150 units are in the finishing stage, with the project completion under this phase expected to be in June 2017. The project has three different types of housing units and other associated facilities. There will be 45 units measuring 79 square meters, 210 units measuring 85 square meters and 45 units measuring 115 square meters.

The project has also been designed to suit urban living and ensure more Tanzanians are able to own houses by targeting low, middle and upper-income groups, with essential services like clean and safe water, electricity, parking spaces, schools and well-designed access roads.

In ensuring more people are able to purchase houses, the NHC has given buyers the opportunity to acquire units either by equal monthly installments known as ‘progressive payment plan’ or the option of buying the houses through mortgage finance which is provided by NHC financial partners. Already, NHC has partnered with 16 banks that provide mortgage finance to facilitate the buying process.

The successful completion of Iyumbu project is expected to ease issues of decent accommodation to civil servants, public and private institutions who have already started moving to Dodoma. On the other hand, the project will also provide opportunities to stakeholders and investors to invest in these houses under the project, through sustaining people’s needs with different income levels.

The project has managed to create over 1,000 jobs involving various businesses such as timber, building materials, construction equipment and small business around Dodoma Municipality. According to the 2012 national census, the population of Dodoma was 2,083,588. Dodoma’s major industry is agriculture and wine processing.

Commenting on the project, NHC Director General, Nehemia Mchechu called upon all stakeholders to participate and be a part of the project: “Iyumbu Satellite Center offers unmatched opportunities to investors and other stakeholders hence I urge all to participate from this early stages of development”, said Mr. Mchechu.

Playing in on President Magufuli’s quest to shift the capital to Dodoma stands as a developer’s dream given the number of residential units necessary. Today NHC is among the first to take this bold step forward in engaging the government to move ahead with its plan and to service the needs of the incoming government workers.