BHC completes Tsholofelo Housing project

Houses now on sale

Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) has put up 372 houses from the Tsholofelo Housing Development Project for sale.

CEO Reginald Motswaiso confirmed the completion of the project at a media briefing on Tuesday.

He said the project was first conceptualised in 2009 and came about as a housing development scheme that will bridge the gap between Batswana who are the beneficiaries from the government administered Self Help Housing Agency (SHAA) and those who afford the BHC housing initiatives.

Motswaiso said the 372 completed houses form part of a total of 750 houses that are scheduled to be completed from a tune of P400 million loan that is payable within 15 years period. He said the government through BHC had initially set to build 1 000 houses every year in a period of three years but budgetary constraints affected their plan.  

“It is very true that the BHC had sourced funds through loan at a tune of P400 million to implement the Tsholofelo Housing Development,” said Motswaiso.

He said each house will cost P 440,160-00 inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT).  

When quizzed about the huge price tag for the houses, he insisted that this is because the corporation has to recover the costs and be in a flexible position to repay the loan. He added that BHC will no longer stick to the then proposed Installment Purchase Scheme which was to be used on buying the houses. Houses will be sold cash to ensure that the loan is paid well on time and to avoid incurring more extra costs. He refused to reveal the interest rate that the loan will bear at the end of the whole loan repaying process. Installments are every six months.

He said plans are afoot to roll out the similar projects around the country such as in Palapye and Francistown. He said 250 houses from 750 will be reserved for the youth to purchase at a similar price.

Motswaiso said there is no way they would sell to the youth at reduced price and the income bracket of an individual will be a factor that determines one’s affordability to purchase a unit. “The buying price for the issue has been raised before time in and again and it is clear that the BHC Act does not allow the corporation to engage in any projects that come with loss”.    

According to Motswaiso, the Tsholofelo 372 Housing Development Project was built on land procured from Government and was divided into four construction contracts all awarded to citizen-owned companies. Some 156 houses and infrastructure works were awarded to a Grade E company called Engi-Con (Pty) Ltd at a contract sum of P64 million, 60 Units were awarded to a Grade D company, T&T Painters and Decorators at a contract sum of P18 million, 84 Units were awarded to Ossy & Sons, another Grade D company at a contract sum of P23 million and 72 units were awarded to yet another Grade D company by the name of Bharon Construction at a contract sum of P20 million.