Impact of legal and policy framework on affordable housing

Abstract

Affordable housing is achieved when the related acquisition costs do not jeopardize other fundamental needs and represents a reasonable portion of a household’s overall income. According to the UN habitat, the cost for housing should not exceed 30% of the total household income. Despite the increase in investment in the segment, supply has not been sufficient to meet the growing demand. With the population growth rate of 3.3% and an urbanization rate of 5.67%, the current population of 42 million in Uganda indicates a housing shortage of 2.4 million units, with 210,000 in urban areas and 1.395 million in rural areas. The housing supply is neither adequate nor reasonably priced to meet the needs of the population in the housing gap. According to H2 2021 Kampala Market update report, the housing supply in Kampala’s prime residential suburbs increased by 9%. However, different policies both the government and private sector have been laid out to ensure house affordability when it comes to the different groups of income earners. This study will assess the impact of the legal and policy framework on affordable housing in Uganda.