Thread: Housing in Windhoek

My sentiment exactly. I think it is time to introduce price ceilings per suburb , an exercise that should be done by GRN in conjunction with municipality in terms of rates and taxes. That should go for rentals. Also a really critical look into the NHE project to not only build for low income, but for middle income groups as well as an entire review of bank requirements that keep a myriad Namibian homeless and having to enrich the already rich with exhorbitant rentals.....you are right sister, a robust action plan needs to happen right now before the homeless massess take it onthemselves and revolt.

Price controls won't work on big-ticket items like houses. On food, maybe, to support the poor and vulnerable, but houses? It will discourage inward investment and it will artificially increase demand to the point that new shortages are created. And how are you going to determine the price ceiling of a house on the market? Sure, the "free" market is sometimes not as free as we think, but then price fixing is detrimental here as well because as a private property owner you won't get the maximum price for your house, right?

China has gone down this route, and it is not considered successful:

Through its official mouthpieces, China has in recent days conspicuously stepped up its rhetoric–and in some cases its actions–on its largely unsuccessful campaign to rein in the country’s stubbornly high property prices

Read here: ChinaRealtimeReport


Instead, why does the National Housing Enterprise not offer more affordable housing and financing schemes? What have they been doing all these years? Nice Christmas parties? And for Government? SO long after Independence and the housing problem is getting bigger? COme on! what have you been doning all this time?

Wikipedia: Price Controls