Watumishi Housing has all unit titles for Dar, Dodoma projects

WHC’s CEO, Dr Fred Msemwa said in Dar es Salaam this week that the state developer which has hundreds of completed housing, apartments and commercial building properties countrywide has no challenge of the documents.

“We have already got unit titles for Bunju, Magomeni and Dodoma and we are processing others for Gezaulole,” Dr Msemwa said while acknowledging that banks and other property financiers are struggling to get the documents.

He pointed out that both unit titles and title deeds take time to process but explained that for WHC, it has been relatively smooth to get the documents which help buyers access mortgage loans from financial institutions.

Banks and buyers of single unit houses and apartments have been complaining against delays in processing of title deeds and unit titles by Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development officials which has denied them access to loans.

The WHC chief executive conceded that the complaints have been around for some time now but acknowledged that progress has been made. “This is not true because both title deeds and unit titles take same time to process and a lot of progress has been made in speeding up the exercise,” he noted.

Established in 2013 as a public entity, WHC is a property developer and a licensed fund manager for management of civil servants Real Estate Investment Trust (WHC-REIT). WHC-REIT was licensed by Capital Market and Security Authority in 2015 and became the first fully-fledged REIT to be established in Tanzania and East Africa.

As a property developer, WHC-REIT is the main implementer of the Tanzania Public Servant Housing Scheme tasked with building of 50,000 housing units in five phases commencing 2014/15 fiscal year. Houses shall be sold under mortgage arrangements, hire purchase/rent to own, progressive payments and upfront cash to public servants, private sector employees and other members of pension funds (PSSSF, NSSF and NHIF) across Tanzania and Diaspora.

However, under this scenario, Public servants shall continue to buy houses and shall be given preferential treatment whenever there is a competition for few houses. Investment through REITs is a new concept in Tanzania and yet it provides an immense opportunity for the general public to participate and create personal wealth as well as contribute towards overall economic development, the WHC said on its website.