Housing Finance Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Habitat for Humanity and the Buganda Kingdom in support of the Decent living Campaign that aims at improving lives of Ugandans through decent shelter, better livelihood, access to safe and clean water, better hygiene and sanitation.
Mr. Michael Mugabi, Managing Director of Housing Finance Bank handed over a cheque of Shs40 million to Habitat for Humanity Uganda, in the presence of Buganda kingdom’s Owek. Mariam Nkalubo Mayanja, to be used for construction of two houses for two underprivileged families in Kalagi and Kyaggwe townships.
“In line with our mandate as Housing Finance Bank is to enable home ownership and financial independence to our growing population across all walks of life, I am excited to perform two important tasks; first is to sign our pledge and commitment to work with Habitat for Humanity and Buganda kingdom for the foreseeable future so as to build turnkey projects for vulnerable families in our communities; and secondly, to hand over a cheque for the first two houses to be built this year,” he said
“As the only tier one commercial bank that is fully owned by Ugandans, one of our key social responsibility pillars is to build a better society, as we continue to care about people. This aspiration is also in line with the prescriptions of the Sustainable Development Goals underlined under SDG 11, which looks at striving to provide access to decent housing for the truly marginalized and vulnerable in our society,” Mr. Mugabi said
Housing Finance Bank’s partnership with Buganda kingdom and Habitat for Humanity dates back to 2018 when the three entities came together under the “Decent Living Campaign”.
More recently, Housing Finance Bank has gone ahead to develop a financial solution termed the
incremental housing loan a flexible and extremely inclusive loan that can be accessed by low-income earners to buy a plot, build incrementally, access solar and water harvesting solutions, and furnish their homes using this loan which stretches between 500,000 to 50 million shillings. It recognizes that many Ugandans lie within the low to middle income segment, with fragmented revenue streams, and minimal documentation.
Ms. Peace Kabunga, the Housing Finance Bank Executive Director noted that different housing solutions have been customized to cater for Ugandans based in Uganda and even those in the diaspora and they range from purchasing land or incomplete houses to outrightly purchasing multiple units.
For over 50 years now, Housing Finance Bank has continued to provide viable solutions that enable home ownership for all Ugandans. The bank has entered into a number of partnerships with different developmental partners to facilitate the deployment of an affordable housing offer, enabling them to diversify the mortgage loan offer to include low and middle-income population who currently do not have access to an adequate financial offer from most commercial banks.
“An opportunity to give back to the community, especially in the housing segment, is one we couldn’t pass. We will continue to participate in initiatives that deliver decent housing solutions to the vulnerable and marginalized in the communities where we do business,” Kabunga added.
Mr. Robert Otim, the National Director Housing for Humanity said, “Housing is the key to other vital rights-based services such as access to clean and safe water, Hygiene, sanitation, health among others. The logic of housing is not only as a physical structure but as a platform and foundation to access wider development opportunities that contribute to the wellbeing of humanity. This is what the Decent Living Campaign is doing! We are glad to partner with Housing Finance Bank during this time when Uganda’s economy is grappling with the health and lockdown effects of the #Covid-19 pandemic. Our partnership with Housing Finance Bank is timely to not only empower vulnerable communities to have a decent home under the Decent Living campaign but it also provides us with the opportunity to explore and grow the sector immense opportunities to realise access to decent and affordable housing for all income levels of people, acknowledging the fact that our values are so closely aligned with Housing Finance Bank; to eliminate poverty housing in Uganda.”
