Due to a shortage of affordable formal housing, as well as the colonial legacy of not allowing Zambians to settle in areas being developed by the colonial administration, the housing stock is dominated by informal settlements and self-built homes. The National Housing Policy (NHP) was developed by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing (MLGH) in 1996 to provide adequate shelter for all income groups based on an enabling approach. There were many key elements to the approach, including allocating 15% of the annual budget to housing, making serviced land available for development, streamlining building regulations, encouraging local materials production, and assisting low-income groups with affordability issues.
The NHP was revisited in 2007, in order to include the promotion of public-private partnerships (PPPs). A 2015 evaluation of the policy made clear that the policy has not fully achieved its intended results, and will require additional strategies to create an enabling environment for both public and private sectors to be effective actors in affordable housing provision.
Source:
UN-Habitat. (2021) Evaluation of The Impact of UN-Habitat’s Housing Approach to Adequate, Affordable Housing and Poverty Reduction, 2008-2019: Zambia Country Report (4/2020). UN-Habitat.