STRENGTHENING land governance and sustainable urban planning amid rapid population growth is central to the work plan at the Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development ministry for the next financial year.

Deogratius Ndejembi, the minister, said in presenting 164.14bn/- estimates for fiscal 2025/26, affirming that the work plan takes up major issues raised in the 2022 Population and Housing Census report.

It showed a 61.8 percent surge in the urban population, from 13.3m in 2012 to 21.5m in 2022, implying an urgent need to manage this growth to prevent the spread of unplanned settlements, which now account for 67.1 percent of urban housing, he stated.

A real estate regulatory agency will be set up to oversee market operations, maintain professional standards, and combat financial malpractices as a booster to weak regulation in the booming real estate sector, he further noted.

Finalising drafting real estate amendments, registering property agents and developers are slated, along with launching a public awareness campaign on the issues, he said.

The government will replenish the Plot Development Revolving Fund housed in the ministry, where in 2024/25 about 12,303 plots were surveyed in 10 districts, raising the national total to over 556,000 surveyed plots, he said.

Village land use planning is also being prioritized as currently plans for 334 villages had been completed, with 219 such plans being completed, thus bringing the total to 4,679 planned villages out of 12,333 villages altogether. An additional 5bn/- allocation helped expand the planning efforts, the minister noted.

The National Housing Corporation (NHC) has already initiated the construction of 5,399 housing units valued at 659.48bn/-, with 3,217 completed. A total of 560 homes have been completed and sold in the past four years, with 908 more still under construction in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam, he said.

Projects like the 169bn/- Kawe 711 and the 71bn/- residential flats at Morocco suburb are set for completion in the next financial year, he said, acknowledging presidential assistance to NHC efforts to access financing that has revived stalled housing projects.

Additionally, NHC is developing commercial buildings in various regions and executing 67 strategic construction projects valued at 458.2bn/-, including key government facilities and markets. It is also renovating existing NHC buildings with full refurbishment expected by fiscal 2026/27, he stated.

NHC will oversee 21 joint ventures pegged at 351bn/-, initiate housing developments in Ruvuma and Arusha, while building warehouses in Mtwara. Feasibility studies are lined up for new urban settlement hubs, while building capacity at professional boards and land sector training institutions, he added.