This’ why 188 NHC properties are unoccupied in Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam. The National Housing Corporation (NHC) is losing unspecified amount of money due to unoccupied premises in the commercial capital.

Over 180 premises owned by the National Housing Corporation (NHC) in Dar es Salaam are currently empty as tenants have either relocated to Dodoma, changed businesses or shut down operations, it has been revealed.

NHC announced last week that at least 188 premises for both business and residential occupation are vacant in different parts of the commercial capital.

The state-run institution’s communication and social responsibility manager, Muungano Saguya, told The Citizen that the majority of premises became vacant after government ministries and public workers shifted to Dodoma.

However, he said the situation was nothing to worry about for the corporation because the number of vacant premises was a mere fraction of the total number of properties they owned across the country.

“The figure might seem big, but it’s only two per cent of all our buildings countrywide,” he explained, adding, “more than 98 per cent of our properties are still occupied either by business or as residential premises.”

He, however, declined to reveal the total amount the NHC could have possibly lost in potential revenue from the vacant properties.

According to a statement from the NHC, seven of the vacant premises in Dar es Salaam are in Temeke District (three residential and four business); 68 are in Ilala (two residential and 66 business), and 113 in Upanga (three residential and 110 commercial).

Mr Saguya said there had been a rush for the properties in the past two months.

He explained that they decided to go public with the vacancies to ensure transparency in the allocation of the properties. The NHC official said some unscrupulous housing agents had been attempting to take advantage of the whole situation.

“We are not short of people to rent our premises, but dishonest housing agents were taking advantage of members of the public, so we had no choice but to issue a statement on the transparent process to get a premise, including directions on where to find us,” he said.

In areas like Kigamboni, the demand for NHC properties is so high that 160 applications have already been submitted for only 35 buildings.