condominium housing in ethiopia - International Union of Tenants

More documents

Recommendations

Info

and its ability to achieve its aims of slum reduction andprevention, economic growth, and improvement in theliving conditions of the low-income population.AffordabilityWhile the IHDP has the laudable aim of targeting thelow-income sector of the population, unfortunatelyexperience has shown that the ‘poorest of the poor’ arenot benefiting from the IHDP due to inability to affordthe initial down-payment and monthly service payments.The ‘poorest of the poor’ are primarily excluded fromsecuring a unit because they do not have the financialcapacity to pay the required down-payment. EvenWHILST THE IHDP HAS THELAUDABLE AIM OF TARGETINGTHE LOW-INCOME SECTOR OF THEPOPULATION, UNFORTUNATELYEXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THAT THE‘POOREST OF THE POOR’ ARE NOTBENEFITING FROM THE IHDP DUE TOINABILITY TO AFFORD THE INITIALDOWN-PAYMENT.if they manage to pool resources between familyand friends to meet the down-payment (a commonapproach), if they choose to live in their unit servicingthe monthly mortgage is difficult if not impossiblebecause the majority have no stable formal employmentor income source. Furthermore, in addition to mortgagerepayments, monthly service charges such as electricitymust be paid, placing extra financial strain on alreadyeconomically challenged households. For the ‘poorestof the poor’ the increase in monthly expenditure issignificant considering the low rent and service chargespaid in previous Kebele housing. As noted above, tocope with this economic pressure many householdsmove out from their units and rent them out to middleincomepeople who can afford the monthly expenses.Alternatively, groups that have pooled resources to securea unit live in the unit together, resulting in overcrowdingthat places additional strain on households, communalareas, and infrastructure and services.The inclusion of four unit typologies was made in aneffort to address affordability but this approach wronglyassumed that unit size would relate to economiccapability; that is, the smaller and therefore cheaper unitswould be occupied by the poorest households. However,experience has shown that the poorest, who often havelarge families, do not opt for the small studio unit butthe one and two bedroom units. Overall, it appears thatthere was insufficient thought given to affordability, bothinitial down-payment affordability and the percentageof monthly income required to be allocated to housing(monthly service charges and mortgage repayments).Moreover, the programme faces a specific affordabilitychallenge in terms of gender. While special provisionto female-headed households is being addressed throughthe 30 per cent lottery allocation policy, the reality isthat there is a higher poverty level among femaleheadedhouseholds 3 . Many of the poorest householdswho cannot afford condominium housing are femaleheaded: single mothers, with little formal educationor employment. Therefore, because of the affordabilityproblems already mentioned these women and theirchildren are excluded from development plans.As described in the Lideta case study, an NGO has beeninstrumental in facilitating the down-payment for 200women in the Lideta project. Apart from this uniquecase, there are no policies, public systems or financialsupport organizations in place to facilitate increasedaccess to condominium housing for women and singlemothers’.Programme financingThe current financial approach underpinning theprogramme is unsustainable. In order to continue theprogramme and meet the ambitious completion targets,secure finance is necessary. Commencing projectsrequires considerable funding and capital outlay fromcity government finances, which are reportedly alreadyALTHOUGH SPECIAL PROVISION TOFEMALE-HEADED HOUSEHOLDSIS ADDRESSED THROUGH THE 30PER CENT LOTTERY ALLOCATIONPOLICY, THE PROGRAMME FACESAN AFFORDABILITY CHALLENGEIN TERMS OF GENDER BECAUSETHERE IS A HIGHER POVERTYLEVEL AMONG FEMALE-HEADEDHOUSEHOLDS 3 .stretched. Programme financing will be further testedin the coming years if residents and tenants cannotcontinue to meet mortgage repayments and/or thecommercial units are unsuccessful. Concerns havebeen raised regarding what city government activities40PROGRAMME PERFOMANCE
SEVERAL PROBLEMS HAVE BEENRAISED REGARDING THE LIMITEDCONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATIONPROCESSES, INADEQUATECOMPENSATION IN THE CASE OFRELOCATION, AND THE LACK OFSUPPORT FOR THE TRANSITION OFRELOCATED PEOPLE TO TEMPORARYHOUSING.have been reduced or discontinued in order to financecondominium projects which require significantamounts of financial resources. Along these lines, cautionmust be taken to grow all aspects of cities in a balancedfashion, for instance to also grow urban infrastructureand services and not only focus on isolated housingprojects.Beneficiary consultation and managementAlthough the programme makes explicit effort to consultwidely on development plans, provide compensationin the case of relocation, and support the transition ofrelocated people through temporary housing, severalproblems have been raised.Private owners have concerns regarding the low level ofcompensation provided for their property, which theyargue is below the current market value 4 . Furthermore,project evaluations indicate that the compensationprocess is not transparent and consistent, and it doesnot account for social and economic costs (for examplemoving household belongings and disruption to businessincome/livelihoods) incurred due to displacement 5 .Some have suggested that compensation was based onthe estimated value at the time of construction, whichis much lower than the current replacement value thusmaking it impossible for affected households to reestablishthemselves in housing conditions that are atleast equal to the previous ones.The temporary relocation of people into transitionalhousing is proving problematic. Unfortunately, it isoften the ‘poorest of the poor’ and most vulnerable inthese houses because they can not afford condominiumhousing 6 . Physical conditions in temporary housing areusually worse than those in Kebele housing in whichthey were living previously. Furthermore, residents oftenhave to inhabit temporary houses for a long time (6-12months), and they are scared they will be forgotten or, ifthey cannot afford the down-payment for condominiumhousing, will remain in temporary housing 7 . In addition,residents in some projects complain that insufficientnotice of relocation plans was given to residents, 45days, not the 90 as stipulated by Ethiopian law 8 , andthat government assistance in moving personal itemswas not provided even though it has been agreed aspart of the relocation deal. Further research is needed toascertain the validity and scale of these issues in practice;if it is found to be the case affected households could beconsidered as victims of forced eviction by internationalhuman rights standards.Project specific issuesPeripheral sitesThe lack of undeveloped central-city land combinedwith the initial undesirability to undertake projectsin occupied and slum areas led many projects to belocated on the periphery of Addis Ababa, which hasproven problematic for both beneficiaries’ livelihoodsand infrastructure provision. There are insufficientemployment opportunities in such locations andtransportation to access the city centre is costly andtime consuming. Furthermore, the cost of infrastructureprovision is greater on peripheral sites, which increasesthe overall project cost and in particular the cost to analready financially overstretched local government.To address this issue, the completion of Bole Summitmarks the last peripheral project and now condominiumprojects focus on inner city redevelopment sites, whereproposals are for eight storey blocks to make themfinancially viable and address the density requirements.The first of these inner city projects is Lideta.Built environment designHaving now been occupied for some time, several issuesconcerning the design of the built environment haveemerged. In particular, there are design problems interms of the responsiveness of the units and urban designto occupants’ needs and activities. Most occupants areaccustomed to living close to the ground and so adjustingto life in multi-storied apartment blocks is proving achallenge 9 .Adding to this adjustment pressure, the unit and buildingdesign does not successfully respond to occupants’lifestyles and activities. For example, customary activitiessuch as preparation of traditional injera bread andslaughtering of animals have long been acknowledged ascrucial parts of Ethiopian culture 10 .These activities require space for large ovens and openareas for slaughtering. Due to lack of space in the inCondominium Housing in ethiopia41
Page 2 and 3: Series Summary:Housing Practices: c
Page 4 and 5: contentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTSTABLE OF CO
Page 6: list of figuresFigure 1: Bole Gerji
Page 10 and 11: Figure 2: Addis Ababa’s rising fr
Page 16 and 17: THERE IS MASSIVE DEMAND FORSERVICED
Page 18: skim concrete or compacted earth fl
Page 22: Figure 13: The collosal condominium
Page 25 and 26: The upkeep of walls and features in
Page 27 and 28: Through the firm’s involvement in
Page 29 and 30: Beneficiary financeCondominium unit
Page 31 and 32: popular amongst condominium-applica
Page 33 and 34: Figure 20. Condominium Block Typica
Page 35 and 36: Figure 22. Condominium sites includ
Page 37 and 38: currently living in an inner-city a
Page 39 and 40: Figure 25: Lideta site being cleare
Page 41 and 42: 2.4 Case studiesTwo case studies ar
Page 43 and 44: Option B: Kebele tenants are alloca
Page 45 and 46: Box 4: Forced eviction and the pres
Page 47 and 48: ProgrammePerformance3.1 Anticipated
Page 49: Figure 33: View from a communal cor
Page 53 and 54: one million tonnes of cement and ir
Page 55 and 56: conclusions4.1 Key lessonsThe Ethio
Page 57 and 58: IN LIGHT OF ETHIOPIA’S PREVIOUSLY
Page 59 and 60: Ministry of Works and Urban Develop
Page 61 and 62: 27 Ibid., p. 71.28 Mulugeta, S., op
Page 63 and 64: 10 Ministry of Works and Urban Deve

condominium housing in ethiopia - International Union of Tenants

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?