‘We are low-density, we want to stay low-density’

Cluster property projects are booming in Harare, as developers and building suppliers cash in on strong demand. But a group of Harare residents wants it to stop, worried by the pressure on the city’s decaying infrastructure.

The City of Harare meets residents on Tuesday to discuss policy on cluster projects. Ahead of the meeting, residents of Harare’s Wards 17 and 19, which cover areas such as Mount Pleasant, Groombridge, Arundel, Northwood, Vainona and Pomona, have petitioned council to stop new projects until infrastructure is upgraded.

“Our suburbs are low-density suburbs. As ratepayers and residents, we want them to remain low-density. We don’t want to live in a high or medium-density suburb and our views must be respected,” the residents say in a petition. “Harare City Council (HCC) and the Government are aware that Harare is already overloaded, in all respects, but the solution is not to pile in more people onto existing antiquated and dilapidated infrastructure without upgrading it first.”

Existing sewer systems, the petition says, “are not designed to cope with numbers beyond what they were designed to carry when built many years ago”. Council cannot supply water to residents, and the number of boreholes is now a threat to underground water.

“If water is not extracted through a well in a sustainable manner, the water table may drop permanently. This is starting to be the case around the world,” say the residents.

Roads aren’t keeping up with cluster development, they say: “Adding on further population will congest them even more, particularly when 10 cluster homes are built on a small acreage with five people living in each cluster home. This will add on an estimated 30 vehicles on that particular road, daily.”

They want council to push developers to Mt Hampden instead:

“Perhaps the answer is to create a medium/high density, cluster home type residential area out of the current city towards the area of the ‘New City’”.

Separately, property developers say they pay an “endowment fee” to council before they build new structures. This fee is meant for council to fund supporting infrastructure, such as roads, water and sewer. However, council has over the years not done so, diverting the fee to other uses.

A report by Knight Frank says in the last half of 2023, 59 three-bedroom units were completed in Marlborough, Sunridge, and Greencroft, while another 30 were under construction. Over 100 two-bedroom and three-bedroom units were built in Meyrick Park, Greendale, and Newlands. Financial institutions and other corporations added over 400 units, from two-bed and three-bed homes across Zimbabwe.

In 2020, the National Housing Ministry released its national human settlements policy, which encouraged cluster projects where infrastructure allows.

“In some low density areas, houses are sitting on vast tracts of land which is being underutilized and is dead capital. Where there is a possibility to reticulate sewer, the owners of such land will be encouraged and permitted to subdivide to build cluster houses or garden flats to create gated communities that maintain the aesthetic and ambiance of the area,” the Ministry said. – newZWire