Scoping Study Governance of urban land markets in Zimbabwe Prepared for Urban LandMark by Nelson Marongwe, Shame Mukoto and Kudzai Chatiza August 2011 Contents Scoping study: Governance of urban land markets in Zimbabwe Contents Tables ..............................................................................................................................4 Boxes ...............................................................................................................................5 Maps................................................................................................................................5 Images .............................................................................................................................5 Abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................................................6 1. Background and context for understanding urban land markets in Zimbabwe ........7 1.1. Introduction................................................................................................................. 7 1.2. Rationale and objectives.............................................................................................. 7 1.3 Urban land markets in the Zimbabwean context .......................................................... 8 1.4 Historical context of urban land markets in Zimbabwe................................................. 9 1.5 Urban land markets in Zimbabwe: overview of issues ................................................ 11 1.5.1 The legal framework for urban land markets ...................................................14 1.5.2 The housing sector and urban land markets ....................................................15 1.5.3 National politics and urban land markets.........................................................17 1.6 Research methods ....................................................................................................... 18 1.6.1 Methodology workshop....................................................................................18 1.6.2 Primary data collection.....................................................................................19 1.6.3 Secondary methods of data collection .............................................................20 1.6.4 Analysis by experts ...........................................................................................20 1.7 Study area.................................................................................................................... 20 1.8 Study limitations.......................................................................................................... 20 1.9 Chapter outline............................................................................................................ 21 2. Zimbabwe’s economic performance and its effect on urban land and housing markets..........................................................................................................................23 2.1 Real sector performance ............................................................................................. 23 2.2 Monetary sector performance .................................................................................... 24 2.3 Income levels, national savings and investments........................................................ 25 2.4 Availability of finance for land acquisition, land development, housing development and purchasing of houses..................................................................................................... 27 2.4.1 Liquidity and funding crisis ...............................................................................27 2.4.2 Recent signs of recovery in residential property sales .....................................28 2.5 A synopsis of financing opportunities in Zimbabwe’s urban land markets ............... 28 2.5.1 Central government funding.............................................................................28 2.5.2 Local authority initiatives..................................................................................29 2.5.3 Self‐financing of land purchases and property development...........................29 2.5.4. Availability of mortgage loans to individuals ....................................................30 2.5.5 Employer‐assisted housing ..............................................................................30 2.5.6 Infrastructure Development Bank ....................................................................31 2.5.7 The place of building societies..........................................................................31 2.6 Concluding remarks ..................................................................................................... 32 3. Institutional actors, mandates and operational challenges ......................................33 3.1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 33 3.2 State actors in the urban land market......................................................................... 33 3.2.1 Local government actors ..................................................................................35 3.2.2 Deeds Registry Offices ......................................................................................35 Scoping study: Governance of urban land markets in Zimbabwe Page | 2 3.3 Private sector actors.................................................................................................... 36 3.3.1 Institutional investors and developers .............................................................36 3.3.2 Financial institutions.........................................................................................37 3.4 Property professionals................................................................................................. 37 3.5 Civil society organisations............................................................................................ 38 3.5.1 Dialogue on Shelter ..........................................................................................39 3.5.3 Housing People of Zimbabwe ...........................................................................39 3.5.4 Other housing cooperatives .............................................................................39 3.5.5 Civic Forum on Housing ....................................................................................39 3.6 Analysis of institutional gaps ....................................................................................... 40 3.6.1 Unavailability of public information on land transactions................................40 3.6.2 Collation of land delivery information and management of information ........40 3.6.3 Centralisation of land administration in Harare and Bulawayo........................40 3.6.4 Loss of institutional memory ............................................................................41 3.6.5 Research and documentation on urban land markets .....................................41 3.6 Concluding remarks ..................................................................................................... 41 4. Interrogating the Planning Framework and its impact on urban land markets........42 4.1 Preparation and implementation of Master Plans ...................................................... 42 4.2 Town planning schemes .............................................................................................. 43 4.3 Development control and planning standards ............................................................ 44 4.4 Subdivision and consolidation of land ......................................................................... 47 4.5 Importance of reviewing planning legislation ............................................................. 48 4.6 Concluding remarks ..................................................................................................... 50 5. Performance, challenges and shortcomings of urban land markets in Zimbabwe ...51 5.1 Land and housing delivery in Zimbabwe’s urban land markets................................... 51 5.2 Housing delivery approaches....................................................................................... 60 5.2.1 Public sector housing construction and land delivery ......................................61 5.2.2 National Housing Delivery Programme (Garikai /Hlalani Kuhle)....................62 5.2.3 The Homelink Housing Development initiative ...............................................62 5.2.3 Civil society interventions.................................................................................63 5.3 Real estate, valuation and property sales in Zimbabwe’s urban land markets ......... 67 5.3.1 Sources of finance.............................................................................................69 5.3.2 Operational challenges faced by the sales and real estate sector....................71 5.4 Disputes in the urban land market sector ................................................................... 73 5.4.1 Tenant and rental‐related disputes ..................................................................74 5.4.2 Fraudulent property transactions.....................................................................76 5.4.3 Failed repayment of mortgage loans................................................................77 5.4.4 Inefficiency in land administration systems......................................................77