Tanzania: building 10,000 housing units for defence forces launched

Tanzania has embarked on a housing construction programme that will see 10,000 housing units built specifically for the Defence Forces of Tanzania (TPDF).

Tanzanian Defence and Security Minister, Hussein Mwinyi said: “The government is ready and determined to change the living conditions for the TPDF soldiers by constructing 10,000 housing units for them.”

The project will be constructed in phases and the first phase will include building 6,064 houses in different camps in the country, in the second phase, the government intends to construct 3,034 houses for soldiers and officers of different positions.

The security minister further pointed out that the government will continue to budget for renovations of the current houses. Over 6,000 houses have been built all over the country for the soldiers.

Tanzania continue to faces an acute housing shortage. The current housing deficit in the country stands at over 3 million units, with an annual increase in housing demand of about 200,000 units, according to Tanzania Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development.

By June 2015 the National Housing Corporation (NHC) had constructed 15,000 units of which, 5,000 units will be affordable houses for the low-income group. The Civil Servants Housing Scheme is also expected to construct about 50,000 affordable houses in the next 5 years.