Real estate prices in Gaborone are the highest in the region, a Sunday Standard comparative analysis has revealed.
A comparative analysis of house property prices in the SADC region indicates that it is cheaper to buy a house in the suburbs of South Africa than to acquire one in Gaborone and its periphery.
For instance, a house in the leafy suburb of Sandton with three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, lounge, fitted fire place, balcony, dining room kitchen and double garage fetches R1 million (a little under P1 million)
while a similar house in Tlokweng goes for P900,000 (Nine hundred thousand pula).
In Lusaka, Zambia, a double storey house located in the up market Chudleigh with four bedrooms, all en suite, costs about USD 400,000 (about P2 million). A similar one at Gaborone’s Phakalane Golf Estate fetches P7.5 million.
A double storey town house with three bedrooms located in Morningside Manor, South Africa goes for R2 million (Sources: Knight Frank, IOLproperty.co.za, Pam Holdings, Royal Properties).
The ever escalating property prices in Gaborone and the surrounding areas are ascribed to the high cost of servicing land in Botswana.
“The cost of land servicing is high in Botswana than South Africa because we
import all materials for building. Housing prices can be reduced if more houses are released into the market and land for development becomes more available. The demand and supply chain greatly influences pricing,” says the Minister of Lands and Housing, Nonofo Molefhi.
To mitigate the acute shortage of accommodation in the city and increase
affordability to purchase houses by first time home buyers, the housing
minister says the government is piloting other building technologies with a
view to finding cheaper housing units.
The revised Gaborone City Development Plan of 1997 -202, prepared by Mosienyane and Partners International and Plantec Africa, calls for the densification of some areas in Gaborone to slow down the growth of the outlying zones and encroachment of the city on surrounding tribal land. It is envisaged that by so doing, that would provide for at least 30 percent of the housing requirements up to 2021.
The property developers suggest that over two thirds of land area in Sebele,
Glen Valley, Gaborone North, Phakalane freehold, Kgale View, the Roman Catholic Church and the Remainder of Forest Hill 9-KO freehold land south of Gaborone will need to be developed to meet forecast residential demands.
According to the experts, much of the land in Sebele is underutilized and is
strategically located for infill developments and can contribute to the spatial
restructuring of the city by eliminating the disjointed incremental development pattern that presently exists to the north of the city.
The experts argue that this has given rise to the issue of leap forging of developments and the associated costs of provision of infrastructure.
The densification, according to the revised plan, is expected to restructure
the built environment of some city areas in such a way that it becomes more
efficient and convenient for its residents while at the same time promoting
high quality and visually pleasing urban environment.
“The Plan in this regard, places great importance on the promotion of a wider range of housing types in the densification process in order to make these areas attractive to a wide range of income groups as well as socially diverse multi-generational residents.
Varied housing options and higher densities do not mean lower quality housing environments,” say the property development
experts.
They offer that on the contrary, good quality design in line with the best
practices is expected to ensure the emergence of more efficient and attractive housing schemes that have lower per capita infrastructure costs.
