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NewsDay

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$12,7m boost for Fidelity Life housing project

Business
Fidelity Life Assurance of Zimbabwe is expected to complete the servicing of stands at its housing project ahead of schedule, buoyed by the $12,7 million raised.

Fidelity Life Assurance of Zimbabwe is expected to complete the servicing of stands at its housing project ahead of schedule, buoyed by the $12,7 million raised, board chairman Lawrence Tamayi has said.

BY STAFF REPORTER

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed entity is selling housing stands at South View Park along the Harare — Masvingo highway.

In a statement accompanying the group’s financial results for the year ended December 31 2014, Tamayi said servicing of the Fidelity Life South View Park would be completed this year and not in 2016 as earlier planned.

“The completion date for the servicing of the residential stands have been brought forward to December 2015 from 2016 due to more funds having been raised through the Fidelity Life Park bond earlier than expected,” Tamayi said.

Last year, Fidelity was in the market to raise $5 million via a housing bond. The bond was oversubscribed by 1,5 times and $12,7 million was raised.

Tamayi said a total of 5 304 stands would be availed to the market, adding that 4 000 units had already been sold.

“The project is 40% complete and a total of 4 000 stands have already been sold,” he said.

The bond has three-year tenure at a rate of 10% per annum. It has a prescribed asset status, meaning that it can be traded.

The South View Park housing scheme was launched in 2013 last year on a 323-hectare piece of land.

The new suburb is also set to have a police station, six primary schools, two secondary schools, six crèches, 14 flats, two commercial stands, an open space and five churches.

South View Park, according to the company, is Harare’s first low-cost housing project in the country since 2000. Fidelity first embarked on housing development projects in 2011 and developed 317 stands in phase one of Manresa Fidelity Park in Arcturus.

Companies are venturing into housing developments due to opportunities available in the wake of a housing backlog. The country has a housing backlog of over 1,5 million.