Bulawayo is witnessing a building boom with the city council approving plans worth $11.5 billion in September.
Plans approved in the first nine months of this year shot up to $61.7 billion. Last year plans approved by the council totalled $18.6 billion. It approved plans worth $12.4 billion in the first nine months.
And for the first time a private developer has surpassed the billion-dollar mark. The developer is building a new residence in Parklands worth $1.05 billion. The council is expanding Parklands, a low density suburb, under the central bank’s public sector facility and has already sold out the 119 stands on offer.
Most of the building boom is concentrated in three high-density suburbs, Emganwini, Pumula South and Cowdray Park.
The council approved 49 plans worth $1.3 billion in Emganwini, 44 worth $2.1 billion in Pumula South and 47 worth $1.6 billion in Cowdray Park.
Cowdray Park is a hive of activity as it hosts the government’s Operation Hlalani Kuhle housing schemes.
Some 3 000 residents were allocated stands in Cowdray Park under the government scheme at the weekend. Bulawayo has an estimated housing waiting list of 60 000.
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