A recent report by the National Housing Profile shows that housing needs have increased significantly in Lesotho. The report showed that the increasing need for cheap and affordable housing had reached around 98,000, and these houses must be constructed by 2025 latest.
The reason for this sudden increase is the ineffective use of land for planning and management framework that has now led to a significant increase in the competition between housing and agriculture.
This increase has led to a drastic demand for housing, but with limited resources, there are unplanned settlements, which has become a huge problem for the housing sector. With unplanned settlements, there are no basic services and infrastructure for water supply, drainage, sanitation, roads, and even electricity.
With the country being the way it is now, unplanned settlements are causing a big problem in the short and long run. Moreover, they will be disastrous for the already wreaked housing system. According to the report, most low-income homeowners seek to build their houses at cheap and affordable rates since most of the population lives below the poverty line.
With the predominant unplanned home construction, high poverty rates, and low-income levels, a huge disparity has arisen since the formal and privileged sectors currently run the housing sector. This has made constructing a house unaffordable for the majority of the population.
Around 70 percent of households earn less than 2,000 M per month. Therefore, they can only afford a house costing below 48,000 M, and with limited access to home financing, since the mortgage lending sector only provides services to high-earning groups, the state of housing is disastrous. This is also causing the deterioration of the stocks, and the low quality and inadequate infrastructure, including electricity supply, water supply, drainage, sanitation, and roads, are deteriorating the rural sector.
The housing sector in Lesotho, which is already a country of low-income groups, is very small and remains unregulated. Moreover, the sector only caters to middle and high-income groups, leaving the less-privileged group behind.
According to the report, the housing sector in Lesotho remains desperate for help.
Multiple challenges exist in the housing sector of Lesotho, and according to the report, a new global standard for Sustainable Urban Development has been set to help in the managing and planning cities and areas by drawing aids and cooperation with relevant stockholders and committed partners at all governmental levels and the private sector.
The report also highlighted that this would be achieved through the new plan. All of the policies proposed in the schedule are in line with Sustainable Development Goal 11, which commits to ensuring that every person has access to adequate, affordable, and safe housing, including the basic services of sanitation, drainage, water supply, and electricity. This policy will also aid in the upgradation of the slum areas, improving the management of settlements.
