HABITATI;VTL. Vo1.4. No. 3. PP. 355-362 Pergamon Press Ltd. 1980. Prmed mCreat Brxdn

Co-operative Housing in Urban Tanzania

INGO GUHR Bowwcentrum International Education, Rotterdam, Holland

These notes are to give a better understanding of the “youngest child” of the co-operative movement in Tanzania. The first section gives the background for the promotion of co- operative housing in urban areas, referring at times to the rural situation, whereas the subsequent section attempts to explain the relatively slow and meagre progress made.

The total population of the country is now estimated at around 16 million, of which 9% live in urban centres. The rate of population increase is around 3% per year. There are about 90 towns with more than 5000 inhabitants - Dodoma, the new capital, is said to have crossed the 50,000 mark. Dar-es-Salaam, the former capital and an important harbour, with a population of more than half a million, for a long time will be the largest accumulation of people in the country. Its growth rate has been estimated at about 6-8% per year. It contains most of the country’s housing co-operatives, and 65% of its population is living in areas which have not been recognised as permanent settlements.’

The co-operative movement in Tanzania started in the early 1930s. The first co-operatives were oriented mainly to production or marketing. They were formed as primary and secondary co-operatives at district and regional levels and organized under regional co- operative unions which had as a parent body the Co-operative Union of Tanganyika. Co- operative ventures were governed by the Co-operative Societies Law and, later, by the Co- operative Societies Act of 1968. In 1975, a new Act was passed by Parliament-the Villages and Ujamaa2 Villages Registration Act. Based on the practical experience of the first Ujamaa villages, this Act was to set the pattern for co-operative living in rural areas. Sharing and investment of common profits is decided by the Village Development Committee. The third relevant Act is the Urban Wards Administration Act of 1976, which is designed to make provision for the organization and administration of wards in urban areas similar to that of villages in rural areas. Like the Villages Act, this Act seeks to carry out the final phase of the process of decentralizing the government administration. Economic ventures within the ward now have to be approved by the Ward Development Committee. This means that a housing co-operative has first to seek the consent of the Ward Committee before negotiating with a financial institution.3

‘Data of this paragraph refer to unpublished reports of the Urban Planning Division of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Dar-es-Salaam.

2Swahili for: living together, working together and sharing the benefits. 3Since the writing of this article about a year ago, the Urban Wards Administration Act has not been put into

practice.

355

356 Ingo Guhr

The first housing co-operative in Tanzania was registered in 1971. Initiated by the government, and following recommendations made by a United Nations conference on human settlements in Addis Ababa in 1969, it was launched as a pilot project for both co- operative housing and the sites-and-services approach. The reconnaissance team chose Tanzania as the country offering the most favourable conditions for such a project in East Africa.

Another asset for co-operative activities is the country’s land policy. Since 1969, through the enactment of the Government Lease Conversion to Rights of Occupancy Act, all land is fully controlled by the government. Thus, land speculation has been eliminated.

In the rural areas a ten year crash programme, the Better Housing Campaign, was started. The objectives were: to increase the durability of houses; to improve the standard of hygiene; and to train the people in basic building skills. The implementing cadres are the Rural Construction Units which have been established in most of the districts for assisting local construction projects. Consisting of five technicians, equipped with tools, lorry and a landrover, under the Better Housing Campaign, their aim is to construct a number of model houses throughout the country. The first 1500 houses have been started last year. In September 1977, the radius of operation of the Rural Construction Unit was extended to urban areas in order to assist housing co-operatives in planning and building their houses.

It is stated in the First and Second Five Year Development Plans that the present housing shortage can only be solved through the combined efforts of the government and the people. For urban areas, this implied the discontinuation of conventional low-cost public housing projects due to the negligible number of units produced. Under the new policy the limited resources are geared to meet the needs of low-income families by providing surveyed land together with public utilities and community facilities. House construction is left to the plot holder. At the same time, the method of clearing spontaneous settlements and replacing them by expensive development was abandoned. Instead, selected areas are recognized as permanent settlements and they are provided with the same services as the newly-planned residential areas. The implementation of the new approach started in 1973 with the National Sites and Services Programme which entered its second phase in 1978.

One of the major constraints in housing development was the lack of finance. This bottleneck was overcome by establishing the Tanzania Housing Bank in 1973. The role of the Bank was defined as: (1) mobilizing savings; (2) acting as custodian for housing finance; and (3) making as much finance as possible available to would-be builders. Presently, the two major sources of finance for housing co-operatives are funds designated for the national Sites and Services Programme and finance coming from the Workers’ and Farmers’ Housing Development Fund. The latter was established in 1974 particularly for the support of low-cost housing. It acquires the major part of its funds from an additional house tax, which each employer has to pay related to the salaries paid to his employees.

Bringing housing within the reach of substantially increased numbers within a relatively short period can only be achieved if the cost and the planning standards are lowered. This led, in 1973, to the establishment of the National Housing and Building Research Unit. It started with a mandate to research on the effectiveness of local building materials and techniques, on the improvement of local house designs and on reviewing the building regulations to achieve feasible standards.

Co-o~erufive Housing in Urban Tatxaania 357

The structure of the construction industry is also being reviewed to identify current problems. These relate to manpower, supply of materials, communication, organization and efficiency.

At the start of the first housing co-operative in 1971, service personnel already existed all over the country. These were the Regional and District Ujamaa and Co-operative Development Officers who provided assistance to all sorts of co-operatives. But at that time they were not yet prepared to give guidon to housing co-operatives. Since then, the promotion of co-operative housing has been planned as an integrated part of their duties and of the existing co-operative development system.

The present structure of this system can be outlined as follows. At national level the Prime Minister’s Office (P.M.O.) and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (Ardhi) are jointly responsible for policy and strategy planning. While the former is mainly concerned with co-operative organization, the latter covers all aspects related to house construction. The body coordinating their efforts is the Co-operative Housing Section which is part of the Housing Development Division of Ardhi. Registration and auditing is done at regional level. At the district level, the formation of co-operatives and building assistance are taken care of by the Ujamaa and Co-operative Development Personnel and by the Rural Construction Units. They are guided in their work by an office handbook which covers all the steps a housing co-operative has to undertake before moving into the completed house. The handbook was started by compiling the necessary information that is needed for a prospective housing co-operative. Later, these handouts were complemented by adding the forms required by government and by adding technical material for planning and organizing the building process. Financing and research institutions were involved in its preparation as well as the two ministries and district and regional personnel. The second edition was reviewed by the co- operative housing seminar organized in 1975 for district officers from all over the country. Although originally designed only for use in towns with sites-and-services projects, its practicality for all urban areas was soon recognized. However a third edition had to be prepared when it was decided to use it in rural Tanzania as well.

To summarize, Tanzania has a long experience in co-operative activities. ft has kept theco- operative legislation for both rural and urban areas up to date. It has no real bottlenecks in the provision of building land and finance, and the larger part of the required service personnel is i~ediately available. In addition, and most importantly, wherever housing co-operatives have been formed, the members have been very active-at least during the formation stage. From the technical point of view, all that is needed for a bright future in co-operative housing seems to be available.

Presently, however, there are only a limited number of groups in Tanzania willing and able to build their houses co-operatively. In rural areas, these are mostly people living in model villages or those who need shelter after they have moved to the planned villages. In urban areas, these people fall into two groups: one group consists of people who received information on co-operative housing through government sources. The other much larger group in urban areas is formed spontaneously by people who understand that they can only obtain building land and construct a house by pooling their limited resources and by working together with a larger number. The first group is made up of three components: first, the official pilot project; secondly, housing co-operatives formed by institutions involved in co-

358 Ingo Guhr

operative promotion like the P.M.O. and Ardhi; and, thirdly, housing co-operatives formed by people working for the same employer. All these were initiated by the government. Ail the other housing co-operatives with such members who felt that they could not make it alone sprang up in unauthorized settlements.

Of the 14 housing co-operatives registered in urban areas, only three have constructed houses -all on surveyed land. Of those three, one has been dissolved, the second is still facing financial arguments with the National Housing Corporation over the supply of building materials and the third one is the pilot project mentioned earlier, with a number of houses not yet completed. Although the housing co-operatives in unauthorized settlements are officially registered, none has received building land or financial support. Reviving from time to time, some of them have been carrying on their fruitless efforts for years. Thus there is a considerable gap between the potential for the formation of housing co-operatives and their small number and poor performance.

However, housing co-operatives do not represent an especially neglected part of the overall housing development. Low-cost housing both in rural and urban areas is no better off. PossibIy the largest factor contributing to this situation is not the number of agencies or bodies involved in planning the housing sector but their lack of co-ordination and consequently their lack of co-operation. For example, earlier co-operation between the P.M.O. and Ardhi would have allowed more time for planning the relocation of the people during the villageization campaign before the operation started. The P.M.O., which is responsible for Ujamaa and co-operative development and is creator of the Villages Act as well as of the Urban Wards Act, controls nearly all aspects of rural development-including housing. To better implement the village&ion campaign the P.M.O. requested the Urban Planning Division of Ardhi to prepare a handbook for village planningj. Later, the Building Research Unit, also a division of Ardhi, was asked to assist in planning the construction programme of the 1500 model houses. The handbook for village planning has been prepared and the construction programme for the model houses is still going on. Both projects are important for the mass movement of people into planned vitlages which has mainly been carried out during 1976-78. However, the preparations were only made while people were leaving their homes or even after.

This example referred to two ministries with overlapping spheres of influence in urban and rural planning. The fear of losing influence or power in certain areas through co-operation and the resulting division of responsibilities is a common phenomenon. The situation in Tanzania is likely to improve in the near future as soon as the planned reorganization of these two ministries is carried out. It is planned to have a Prime Minister’s Office as we11 as a Ministry for Rural Development and a Ministry for Urban Development.

Let us now have a closer look at how far the ground for co-operative housing is actually prepared. This might lead to conclusions on what is needed to make housing co-operatives more effective.

4Model Village Plan Handbook, page (ii): “Tanzania has decided to move alI people living in isolated homesteads in the rural areas into nucleated settlements (villages) where these basic services can be provided more easily and cheaply and where their productivity’ can be increased through the provision of agricultural inputs, extension services and adequate and cheap transportation. _ . .” (Urban Planning Division of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Dar-es-Salaam; no date of publication.)

359

It should be made clear that the Co-operative Housing Section of Ardhi, in cooperation with others, has been preparing the handbook as work guidelines for the employees of another ministry. All the service personnel working with these guidelines- the Regional and District Ujamaa and Co-operative Development Officers, as well as the Rural Construction Units -are employees of the P.M.O. During Ardhi’s preparation of the guidelines, the P.M.O. made changes in the co-operative legislation resulting in the Villages Act and the Urban Wards Act. So this work could not really be done without the knowledge of the new legislation. But there was little flow of information from one ministry to the other. The lack of communication was then made worse by the transfer of the P.M.O. to Dodoma. The work of the Co-operative Housing Section was further hindered by Ardhi’s lack of commitment. The official statement on co-operative housing in the five year development plans and in the World Bank appraisal report of the National Sites and Service Programme do not go into much detail about what really is expected, so the Co-operative Housing Section has been working since 1975 without terms of reference. The general attitude of Ardhi can best be described as observing carefully the results of the efforts of the Co-operative Housing Section without taking any responsibilities. This must be seen against the background of a country in the process of searching for its own socialist principles; of a country putting emphasis on rural development; with an administration in the process of decentralizing power but hampered by a serious lack of skilled manpower.

The government has not yet given high priority to co-operative housing in urban areas. But the completion of the Urban Wards Act in 1976 was the first major official step towards creating the basis for housing co-operative formation on a larger scale. However, housing co- operatives formed by low-income earners can only be built up with a well planned support system. In order to base the planning of such a system on the actual needs of the would-be builders, the Co-operative Housing Section has been working with various housing co- operatives in certain squatter improvement areas5. The assistance given during this work came from an administration not yet prepared to give adequate support to housing co-operatives; the results were therefore meagre. This vicious circle resulted in the loss of hope by the members and in an even more reserved attitude of Ardhi. There was therefore not much emphasis given to strengthening the administration for providing better assistance.

Over the years, the lack of interest by Ardhi changed into the understanding that “now we should do something” -which in reality was not much more effective than before. The general willingness of the other institutions to support co-operative housing grew as they became more directly involved in preparing the later editions of the handbook. In this exercise, the P.M.O. basically concentrated on reviewing the model by-laws for housing co- operatives and various other forms required for the administrative procedure. But the whole process was delayed through the inapplicability of parts of the Urban Wards Act, because the transfer of principles designed for rural Ujamaa to the urban ward had caused some disturbance and needed revision. When the final form of the rules and regulations of the Urban Wards Act is decided, the related parts of the handbook will have to be rewritten and then sent to all district offices. This may be the start of the continuous process of regularly up- dating the handbook. When these notes were written the handbook had been distributed to the regions but was not yet available at the district offices where it will be used. Its utilization at district level will depend on how it is introduced to the implementing personnel.

SUnauthorised settlements selected for improvement by the National Sites and Services Programme.

360 Guhr

Poor communication of strategies, designed by the centre, to the personnel at regional or district level has caused major constraints in most aspects of public housing development. So, for example, the District Land Allocation Committees were not informed that groups intending to form housing co-operatives were supposed to be given preference in land allocation provided they registered their co-operative within a certain time limit. The result was that none of the applying groups received building land under the National Sites and Services Programme through the normal allocation procedure. Nor have the Rural Construction Units, officially assigned by the P.M.O. as technical service units for housing co-operatives, received any instructions on the form of technical assistance to be given.

In the same way, employees of the technical section of the Tanzania Housing Bank are not aware of the decision to recognize some of the local materials - like “mud and poles” -under certain conditions as permanent materials so that loans for such houses can be given even when constructed in urban areas. Similarly, housing co-operatives in squatter improvement areas are officially accepted as a vehicle for improving these now recognized settlement; in practice however, everybody still expects these co-operatives to receive new plots first before troubling with the house design and the funding of the building materials. Furthe~ore, the procedure and conditions for loans to housing co-operatives in such areas has not been worked out. So, for example, nobody knows what percentage of self-employed members can be accepted. But no doubt this issue will be clarified when the increasing number of co- operatives puts more pressure on the Tanzania Housing Bank.

More preparations have still to be made for assisting housing co-operatives in the planning and in the execution of the construction process. A few more details of the complex process which the common house builder in Tanzania refers to as “buying a house plan” illustrate the fact that the more control in housing is used the more assistance to the people has to be given.

When an applicant for a loan takes the plan of his future house to the Tanzania Housing Bank, he has normally already spent the equivalent of one month’s minimum salary on getting an acceptable plan. Now the cost of the house has to be estimated by the Bank and this takes time. So he would have done better to have chosen one of the plans offered by the bank. If the plan uses modern materials the cost of the house will be high. He may not know that the Bank under certain conditions also provides loans for traditionally-constructed houses. The cost will be high anyway since the smallest Type Design offered by the Bank (three rooms and an out-building) is estimated to require more than seven years’ minimum sa1ar-y. Estimates are made on a square foot basis. If the estimated cost of his own house plan is too high the Bank offers a smaller one within his income in the formal sector. The smaller house normally does not allow subletting6, so that the monthly payment for the loan and the service cost has to come entirely from his normal income. In most of the cases this is beyond the means of the average low-income earner.

Therefore various attempts are being made to lower the const~ction cost. Minimum standard Type Designs have been prepared for the Dar-es-Salaam and Coast Region. Others have to be designed to comply with the cultural and climatic differences of the rest of the

6A survey was made in 1974 within an unauthorized settlement in Dar-es-Salaam. The area was later selected for improvement by the National Sites and Services Programme. 95% of the 151 members of a housing co-operative interviewed war&d to have a six-room house, and 90% of them intended to rent an average of three rooms. At that rime the co-operative had 214 members. (Survey of Mwito Housing Co-operative Sociery Lfd., May 1974, Housing Development Division of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Dar-es-Salaam.)

Co-operative Housing in Urban Tanzania 361

country. These plans, which will be sold by the Bank, will not only lower the cost of obtaining an acceptable house plan but will also accelerate the administrative procedure. However, it will need time for all regional authorities of the country to approve these Type Designs.

The idea of supplying plans and loans for minimum standard houses to housing co- operatives was to allow members with the minimum salary to participate, so that all members initially will get the same house. Then they have the chance to add to it from their own funds whenever a part of the house should be better than minimum standard. This of course, contradicts the widespread expectation of receiving “European-type” modern houses whenever a government programme is being launched. I think that only continuous propagation of the minimum standard idea and possibly the limitation of public funds against a larger number of housing co-operatives will bring some changes of this understanding.

As indicated above, the National Housing and Building Research Unit has directed its efforts largely towards research into locally-available materials and traditional building techniques; for instance, the replacement of building materials with a high cement content. Lowering construction costs by using alternative materials will depend on the efforts made in the future to communicate the outcome of this research to those for whom it was intended.

Another cost-reducing element is the acceptance of pit latrines in urban areas. Although the construction of permanent pit latrines-with block-lined walls and a concrete slab-was accepted in 1977 by the National Sites and Services Programme in areas with an appropriate ground water level, official building permission was not given for this type of sanitation.

The latest attempt to control construction costs involves a system for preparing more detailed cost estimates of the houses planned by the loan applicants. For each part of the house- walls, floor, roof etc. -alternative materials are suggested, so that the valuer of the Bank together with the loan applicant can choose the appropriate materials. After having selected the material for each part of the house, the current prices can be filled in and the result is a fairly sound cost calculation. Before making use of this system, the present actual costs of the Type Designs have to be discovered by constructing demonstration houses, price lists of materials have to be compiled for different regions of the country, and the technical personnel of the Bank have to be trained.

The important part of making cost estimates in this way is the involvement of the applicant. In the same way members of housing co-operatives are expected in future to purchase most of the materials themselves to understand more, to become more responsible and more involved in the whole process. The earlier housing co-operatives were organized in such a way that a tremendous work load was put on the committee; the members were condemned to wait for things to happen, and were at the same time totally dependent on the actions of the authorities.

Today, housing co-operatives in Tanzania are not understood as mere producers of housing stock. After constructing their houses by some form of organized self-help, the members are not expected to dissolve their co-operative. Other co-operative activities might follow. Therefore the title to the land which provides security for a mortgage is normally issued in the name of the society and not in the name of the individual member. This trend away from the imposed government programmes towards user participation in development -although still far away from “housing by people” -needs more understanding, communication and

362 lngo Guhr

dialogue between user and planner. At the moment, this is the greatest bottleneck in the promotion of co-operative housing, since the co-operative development personnel at district level is not really aware of what has been planned, nor is the Co-operative Housing Section at national level fully functioning as a monitoring unit due to the fluctuation of personnel.

Regional seminars bringing together the personnel of all institutions involved have been planned to simulate the formation of a housing co-operative through all stages of development, in order to make each participant understand the role he is to play. Workshops for the Rural Construction Units and the technical personnel of the Tanzania Housing Bank have been under discussion. The construction of demonstration houses as centres of information and instruction has been envisaged. All these efforts of formal and informal training will contribute to get housing co-operatives off the ground. Then practical experience with a growing number of housing co-operatives will enable all parties involved to produce an analysis of what is needed better than that on which the preparations of the handbook were based; and the actual potential of low-income builders and the complemenary areas of government assistance can then be more soundly defined.