Can councils reclaim a stand you bought without any refunds? Case study: Harare To reclaim all undeveloped housing stands.
It all starts with a dream and a vision to have a place you call your own, without having to actually worry about monthly rentals or bothersome landlords who can be sometimes too demanding. That pursuit for freedom leads you to deciding on building your own house and you would need a place to build your dream home and that’s where the councils in every city and rurals come in, to sell you the stand to build on. With the instability of our economy, well things don’t go according to plan, you may have the money to buy the stand but you may soon realise you don't earn enough to build a house and the law doesn’t permit resale of undeveloped stands unless you are a licensed developer. If you don’t develop for a certain period your land gets taken without compensation, let’s delve in to what really goes on.
Ok so like i mentioned earlier while you can’t legally resale a stand unless you are a licensed developer and you no longer have enough funds to build your dream home, you will now be stuck with an asset with limited options.
After buying a stand you will be expected to develop or show progress towards development of the allocated stand otherwise your risk you land being taken back by the local authority without you getting a cent of the money you paid for it.
Now bear with me, this is where things turn a little vague because it’s still yet unclear of how long you are expected to have built something or have progressed to what level to avoid losing your stand for nothing. If it is stipulated in the law well the law isn’t publicized enough for the average citizen to know, and at the very least it should be clearly stated upon purchase, everything that is expected from the buyer.
Yes sure some stands that no longer have owners who may have passed without anyone claiming them would be understandable but those stands that belong to people who are there, we can all agree at the very least those affected should be given back their money after the stands have been resold than to lose them for nothing.
This current approach tends to scare away people from trying to upgrade their lives with fear of losing it all if they fail to develop these stands. This only leaves the door open to the rich and making the poor more poor because they would be skeptical of investing in housing in fear of losing the little that they have.
What we know about these reclaims is that those to be affected gets notices but to an average person these notices won’t offer much time for them to do some meaningful progress. Recently Harare is going to reclaim all undeveloped housing stands.
The City of Harare has announced plans to reclaim all housing stands that have not been developed, sparking anxiety among thousands of stand owners. The decision, which forms part of the city’s Draft Master Plan 2025–2045, signals a major shift in urban housing policy.
According to the proposed blueprint, all undeveloped residential land will be repossessed within a month of the final gazetting of the master plan.
This includes stands held by individuals, housing cooperatives, and self-help housing schemes.
“The city intends to repossess all undeveloped land within one month after the gazette of the master plan,” reads part of the document now on public exhibition.
The city moves to deal with undeveloped stands:
The move is expected to affect hundreds, possibly thousands, of residents who acquired stands years ago but have failed to build due to financial, legal or logistical constraints. The city said leases for housing stands would not be renewed, starting immediately.
“With immediate effect, the council will not renew housing leases,” the Draft Master Plan states.The policy is part of a broader proposal to place a 20-year moratorium on allocating new housing stands, in favour of focusing on rented accommodation such as walk-up flats through public-private partnerships.
As of July 2025, the city’s housing waiting list had grown to 288,885 applicants, and 43 percent of Harare’s households were living as lodgers, according to the draft.
Deadline looms for objectionsThe city has given residents, developers and housing cooperatives until 16 October 2025 to lodge formal objections or representations. These must be submitted in writing to either the Town Clerk or the Director of Urban Planning.
“Any person or organisation wishing to object to or make representations on the plan must do so in writing on or before October 16,” the notice reads.
The Draft Master Plan has been made available for public viewing and includes detailed statistical data, aerial photographs, maps and development models. Officials say the plan is aimed at responding to rapid urbanisation and the pressure on housing and infrastructure in Harare.
What it means for you if you have a stand?
This latest development could potentially strip individuals of stands they have legally acquired but have not yet developed due to costs or delays in servicing land.
The city has not yet clarified whether partial developments or valid reasons for delay will be considered. There is also uncertainty over whether owners will be compensated for any improvements already made on the stands.
While the city argues the move is meant to address land hoarding and speculative ownership, critics have raised fears it may disproportionately affect poor households that struggled to raise construction funds.
The focus on rented housing, while welcomed by urban planners, has also raised eyebrows among homeownership advocates, many of whom fear it could undermine long-term empowerment and property ownership.
“The new housing policy is a shift from ownership to tenancy. We urge residents to study the Draft Master Plan and make their voices heard,” said one housing rights campaigner.
It remains to be seen how the City council will go about this program but the fact remains, there needs to be serious reforms in how this procedure is handled.
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