A Review of Housing Policies and Their Relevance to Vulnerable Households in Sub Saharan Africa

Abstract

This study reviews critical social science and policy documents on human settlement research to assess the practicality and relevance of the existing housing policy frameworks to urban households headed by vulnerable persons. Specifically, this study intends to justify the significance of vulnerable households’ classification and segmentation when in policymaking. Furthermore, the paper investigates the different omissions and stereotypes in the policymaking that have hindered adequate housing provision for the vulnerable households in sub-Saharan Africa. Several catchy strategies adopted by the various housing policies have been reviewed in this paper. These include; empowerment of the rental housing tenure, particular emphasis on low-income groups/households like the case in Tanzania, proposals for tenant-to purchase housing schemes, densification of the urban areas (Zimbabwe), delegation of house development to the private sector and the governments taking a back seat and assuming enabling roles among others. The various policies appear promising on paper but with limited or no tangible results regarding housing provision for low-income urban households. This paper avers that policy strategies like a special strategy for the low income and vulnerable households remain on paper with no streamlined strategies to achieve it.