By: Dwight Links
Five local authorities – City of Windhoek, Rundu Town Council, Oshakati Town Council, the municipalities of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay – and two governmental authorities presented their strategies and current programs to meet the rising housing demand.
The presentations were made to the National Assembly standing committee on Urban & Rural Development and Land Reform.
The ongoing housing initiatives and the supply of affordable housing have not kept up pace with the demand, particularly for low-income households, the committee’s report stated as it explained the basis for its engagement with stakeholders.
The engagement was a week-long exercise at the start of the year from 26 to 30 January 2026, where various sets of reports and studies were laid forward on the actual extent of the housing demand and the challenges posed by it.
“Several studies conducted in the country indicate that Namibia is facing a severe housing crisis that has reached emergency proportions,” the committee was told by the studies and presentations.
Still citing the housing backlog figure of 300,000, the committee’s report states that the issues in satisfying this backlog are far more serious than thought.
“This picture reflects deep-rooted structural, socio-economic, and spatial challenges.
This situation has been worsened by urbanisation, population growth, and persistent income inequalities that exclude a large segment of the population from the formal housing market,” the report states.
From the recent National Census of 2023, a third of the country’s population (29%) lives in informal structures.
According to the committee, this is a key indicator of the lack of affordable housing.
“Nearly 40% of this third of households are concentrated in urban areas. Informal settlements have thus become the most visible manifestation of the housing crisis,” read the report.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Rundu Town Council, out of the five local authorities, has the biggest issue with dealing with its rising rural-to-urban trends.
The town currently has 118,625 people, but has eight unplanned settlements.
These are Ngwangwa,Satotwa, Sikanduko, Ndama South, Tumweneni, Tuhingireni, Kehesosi, and Kaisosi South.
“The housing backlog for this town is 12,460 as of 2018, and the structure plan for the town was approved in September 2025 from 2022 to 2042,” the report outlined.
Progress made so far in delivering residential land for development has seen the town supply 2,214 erven for the period of 2012 to 2025 for 10 extensions of the town.
Additionally, 3,424 erven were also formalised for 11 extensions for 2017 to 2024.
However, another 2,261 potential residential pieces of land are still to be finalised as the town suffers financial shortages.
In Windhoek, 262,418 residents live in the city’s informal settlements, which is roughly 54% of the country’s largest urban center and capital.
Windhoek has a target of 50,000 houses to construct, as there are currently 55,957 informal structures in the city limits.
“The prime target of the city is to deliver 5,000 per annum from 2025 to 2030,” the report outlines what was shared with the committee.
Windhoek has a defined strategy and targets, and also has a breakdown of the costs involved. Yet they, just like Rundu, face obstacles in delivering on their goals.
“A lack of a funding formula from the national government to local authorities for capital projects such as land delivery and housing. There is also a lack of strategic focus – as multiple implementation plans emerge,” the city presented to the committee.
One clear threat to the city’s formal status highlighted to the committee was that the city was losing its fight against informality.
“The city is moving to becoming an informal city, there are too many informal settlements in the city. Limitations also hamper progress or projects, as there are limited available human, financial and equipment available for projects,” the report indicates on the reasons for the sluggish work made to stem the growth of informal settlements.
According to the presentation by the city, it is constantly underfunded to approach capital projects, and it suffers from ministerial delays or prolonged decision-making in order to deliver.
