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NewsDay

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Cabs to roll out Budiriro project in October

News
ZIMBABWE’S largest mortgage lender, CABS Building Society, said the construction of the Budiriro housing project is underway.

ZIMBABWE’S largest mortgage lender, CABS Building Society, said the construction of the Budiriro housing project is underway amid plans to roll out the housing scheme in October, a company official has said.

Business Reporter

CABS is a unit of Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed insurance group Old Mutual.

In an interview with NewsDay last week, CABS managing director Kevin Terry said efforts to finalise housing projects in Budiriro and Hatcliffe were underway, but did not disclose how much the company has invested in the project.

He said the building society had secured lines of credit and continued to seek more to finance housing projects.

“We are completing the servicing of four blocks to enable us to get a certificate of partial compliance and commence the housing construction. The tender process for the housing construction is now at an advanced stage and we are likely to begin construction by October this year,” Terry said.

CABS signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Harare City Council to set up a $15 million housing fund for Budiriro that will see the construction of 3 000 housing units.

The building society said as at April this year, development projects worth $101 million had been approved for low, medium and high cost housing projects.

The default rate, according to Terry, stood at 7,8% on the back of liquidity constraints on the domestic market.

In the full year ending December 2012, CABS loans and advances increased to $278,16 million due to mortgage funding.

Terry said loan repayment in the six months of this year went up for last year to 6,98% from  5,91%.

He said the focus for the operational environment should be to continue to provide accessible banking services to all market segments of the economy as well as appropriately priced consumer loans.

“A lot of effort should be put towards raising appropriate funding for capital expenditure for the corporate sector. The SME sector remains a key sector for economic growth and will require continued support.”