The City of Bulawayo has availed more than 5 000 residential stands in various suburbs with another 5 000 outlined in its master plan.
Zimbabwe’s second-largest city currently has a housing backlog which stands at 125 000.
BCC director of housing and community services, Dictor Khumalo, said the local authority has availed a total of 5 263 residential stands in several suburbs across the city.
Khumalo said this on Thursday while giving an update on service delivery during a media briefing.
He said 1 681 stands have been availed to land developers through the expressions of interest (EOI) tenders and servicing of some of them is nearing completion.
Council has also outlined 5 390 residential stands in its layout plans in line with the respective master plan and local plans to produce stands to meet the demand for the various uses.
The master plan has been adopted by the council and has gone through a public exhibition with a consultant attending to comments received from the public.
The document will be submitted to Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo for approval. Said Khumalo:
All the stands that are being planned and targeted to be developed are part of council efforts to address Bulawayo’s housing backlog sitting at 125 000.
We have an annual target of availing at least 3 000 stands, which is the minimum standard to meet the national target.