The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Monday, February 22, 1993 — The Government has revised the minimum building standards for medium and low-cost housing in all local authorities to make housing more affordable to the man in the street.

Burnt farm bricks and prefabricated panels can now be used in the building of houses.

A circular from the Ministry of Public Construction and National Housing dated December 8, 1992, also calls for the reduction of the minimum stand sizes.

“In designing residential plans, planners should aim at a mixture of stand sizes in each scheme, be cost conscious and ensure efficient layout designs,” says the circular.

“The minimum stand size has been reduced from 300 square metres with a frontage of 12,5m with a minimum stand frontage of 8,5m for the development of detached houses.”

The reduction would result in a direct cost saving of more than 29 percent serviced plot, making the stands more affordable to a greater number of lowincome earners.

With stand sizes for high density detached houses ranging from 150 to 300 sqm the ministry has given a guideline as to how stands should be mixed. Forty percent of the stands should be 150 sqm, 40 percent 200 sqm and 20 percent 300 sqm.

The circular says: “The ministry has adopted cluster houses with a minimum of four rooms and plinth area of 36 sqm per unit. With the cluster house arrangement, the estimated savings as compared to the cost of constructing a four-roomed detached house with a minimum plinth area of 50 sqm is over 30 percent.