On May 4, 2016, cabinet approved the Uganda National Housing Policy that seeks to promote the progressive realization of adequate housing for all.

It is premised on the principle of partnerships, involving the ministry of lands, housing and urban development on behalf of government, the private sector, landowners, financial institutions and cooperatives, among others.

In the new policy, the role of government will largely be to provide a conducive policy, legislative and regulatory framework to enable the stakeholders and other actors within the housing sector to act. Under a public-private partnership framework, government will provide key inputs such as the installation of utilities like electricity, water and sewerage on identified real estate development plots of land as well as leverage access to affordable financing for housing development.

Currently, the overall housing situation in the country is characterized by inadequate housing in terms of quality and quantity both in rural and urban areas with a housing deficit of about 1.6 million housing units, out of which 210,000 units are needed in the urban areas.

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The policy has five objectives, which include: to increase the production of adequate housing for all income groups from 60,000 to 200,000 housing units per annum, so as to meet the housing needs by 2022; to increase access to affordable housing; to improve security of tenure for property owners; and to improve the mechanisms for development and management of the real estate industry.

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In line with the policy's vision, goals and objectives, cabinet directed the mandatory training of all sub-county chiefs in matters of physical planning. This was on realization that urban centres are developing very fast without any articulated physical plans, which highly reduces land available for agricultural production. One of the required skills of a sub-county chief shall, therefore, be physical planning.

Relatedly, in order to address the problem of substandard houses and buildings that are life-threatening from being constructed, cabinet directed that a civil engineer be posted to every county. The engineer will assist communities to develop buildings that comply with acceptable standards and ensure their maintenance in a habitable condition.

In order to kick-start the implementation of the policy and in the interim, priority will be given to the establishment of a revolving fund for construction of low-cost houses especially at district headquarters using monies realized from the sale of former Pool houses and currently residing with the Housing Finance bank.

Government shall also develop a mortgage framework intended to address the reduction of the payable mortgage interest to a level that can attract more up-takers.