Alhamdulillah, with the Grace of Allah (SWT), the AFED Housing Development Board has completed the survey exercise which started from November 2022 to February 2023. The survey has provided some valuable data that will give direction and basis to the Board in Planning, which shall include the Finance and Demographics, just to mention a few. Almost 600 community members completed the survey form, majority being from Dar es salaam.
At this juncture, we wish to thank the Housing Development Board members, Member Jamaats, AFED Councilors, AFED Secretariat and most importantly the members who spared their valuable time in completing the survey. The information obtained from the survey is of vital importance to us and will be useful for the planning.
The survey exercise was important to have an analytical information of the members for forward planning; it is obvious that the demand for housing in some Jamaats are more than others, hence will be required good planning and financial analysis to chart out a way forward which will be helpful to our members, the ultimate goal is to be home owners, the vision that we carry on from previous terms.
The survey was well advertised across AFED member Jamaats, via notice boards, various social media platforms and personal approaches. The charts below give details of the number of members who completed the survey within our member Jamaats.
The current data in hand is probably sufficient to start the basic planning work. However, we need to continue to raise awareness as the demand could be more than what is reflecting from the data obtained. We observed that over 86% of the applicants are residing in rented property of which 56% are in private rented property, as shown in the chart below:
Housing projects can uplift our members economically as private rented flats rents are high and is commensurate with the market demand; rents do rise with the inflation and increase in demand against supply.
The Housing Foundation Fund requires more funds and endowments to ensure the demand of housing is met and our members are uplifted.
ACTION PLAN
The main objective of Africa Federation Housing Board is to facilitate middle income earners to own their homes by building affordable housing. By doing so, the families will be empowered economically, also well-managed disposable income.
Housing Board will encourage Jamaats carry out projects to utilise their available plots which will benefit the Jamaats by getting income from the commercial areas and simultaneously facilitate members for their housing needs.
Similarly, having projects without any proper thought of scheme (s) will not serve the purpose of fulfilling the needs of the members. With Survey and Information, we can come up with various Schemes, lime Rent to Own with various structures to suit the family budget and eventually enable them to be home owners.
Once again, we sincerely appreciate all the constituent Jamaats for their efforts to raise awareness regarding the survey and also the members for completing the survey. This data will be the baseline for the upcoming projects and priority during the application will be given to members who have filled the survey form.
The Housing Board intends to meet up with the Jamaat and its Councillors and share the data obtained to discuss ideas and proposals for the way forward.
“The pathway to housing should be fair and equitable for everyone, and access to affordable housing is the infrastructure people in our communities need to elevate families into the working class and the middle class. It is the foundation that helps people support their families and contribute to their economies.”
– Raphael Warnock.
Akil Hirji
Chairman
Housing Development Board
Date: 14th April 2023