Social Housing Project already over budget by Rs 5 billion

Social Housing Project already over budget by Rs 5 billion

When the 2020-21 Mauritius budget was announced in June 2020, the government aimed to create 12,000 new social housing units at a cost of Rs 12 billion. At the time of writing the project has been revised down to only 8,000 units but the price has now ballooned to Rs 17.6 billion - more than Rs 5 billion than originally estimated.
Originally the cost per house unit was estimated at Rs 1 million, but due to declining exchange rates, increased cost of cement and imports, and high inflation rates; the price has now risen to Rs 2.7 million.
The Mauritian government has earmarked a construction period of 18 months for the social housing project that is already underway with construction. There are a total of 14 companies that have been contracted to complete the project with each company being allocated a different number of units ranging from 200 up to 900 units per zone within the designated areas.
The cost of land acquired by the government of Mauritius amounted to over Rs 500 million, which was purchased from the private market and individual land owners. These land parcels are located in: Pointe-aux-Sables, Arsenal, Notre-Dame, Réunion Maurel, Côte-d'Or, Rose-Belle, Hermitage and Palma / La-Source, and cover a combined area of over 360 acres.

The government of Mauritius is subsidizing the project as part of its social housing initiative that allows future homeowners very positive payment terms of only 10% deposit and a repayment of up to 35 years.