100 Guoji dream houses ready by May

About 100 houses out of the 680 to be built at the Guoji Dream Town in Area 49, Lilongwe will be delivered to the owners by May, project executive Yankho Somanje has said.

The houses are being built by the Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) and Chinese-owned Henan Guoji Development Company.

Somanje told Business News on Wednesday in Lilongwe that by February, many houses would have taken off and that by May the first 100 houses will be given to the owners.

“Initially, people were sceptical that the houses will not be of the highest quality, but once we built the demonstration houses and the customers visited them, we saw an increase in the number of people who wanted to enter into a partnership with us,” he said.

Somanje said building of 200 houses within months shows that there is overwhelming demand for the units.

“Those who have acquired these houses will get real value for money because a house is a life-time investment which needs to be cherished and should not lose value easily,” he said.

Somanje said for a house to have high value, the location where it is built matters most because some houses lose value due to the fact that they were built in bad places.

“In this location, we will have tight security since we will have a police office, a clinic, tarred roads and on top of that, there will also be a shopping mall, a gym and a spa.

“We will have all these facilities to make sure that the occupants feel well taken care of once they are in their homes,” he said.

On the quality of the houses, Somanje said the fittings in the homes are all of high value and to emphasise that, the porcelain tiles being fitted are the best in the world.

“All houses will be roofed using the most expensive harvetiles to make sure that no occupant complains of the materials used for roofing. Our ceiling boards are made of gypsum and the doors are some of the best because we want our customers to know that going back home is a beginning of a vacation,” he said.

The houses being constructed at the site have two, three and four bedrooms and Somanje said even middle-income earners can afford them because the paying modalities are flexible.

So far, 500 people have been employed at the site and more jobs will be on offer as more houses will be constructed.

Minister of Lands and Housing Henry Phoya earlier said that the Guoji Dream Town will change the outlook of Lilongwe City and Malawians should not be afraid to purchase them.

“The rapid economic growth that Malawi has experienced in the last couple of years has created a situation where the country’s cities are in need of decent urban housing and Malawians must be in the forefront to purchase decent housing units,” he said.

The MHC—Henan Guoji Development Company Limited is a joint venture founded to reduce the problem of decent accommodation.