Lesotho Urban Housing Profile

HS/078/15E
ISBN(Series): 978-92-1-131927-9
ISBN(Volume): 978-92-1-132686-4
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PROGRAMME

P.O.Box 30030,Nairobi 00100,Kenya;
Tel: +254-20-7626742; Fax: +254-20-7625015;
infohabitat@unhabitat.org www.unhabitat.org
LESOTHO
H OU SIN G PROF IL E
LESOTHO HOUSING PROFILE

Prepared by Graham Tipple in collaboration with the Housing Department of the Ministry of
Local Government, Chieftainship and Parliamentary Affairs
First published in Nairobi in October 2015 by UN-Habitat.

Copyright © United Nations Human Settlements Programme 2015
Produced by the Housing Unit

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
P. O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi GPO KENYA
Tel: 254-020-7623120 (Central Office)
www.unhabitat.org
HS/078/15E
ISBN(Series): 978-92-1-131927-9
ISBN(Volume): 978-92-1-132686-4
DISCLAIMER
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not
imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United
Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or
concerning the delimitation of its frontiers of boundaries.
Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations
Human Settlements Programme, the United Nations, or its Member States.
Excerpts may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Supervisor: Christophe Lalande

Task Managers: Gregor Herda and Kamba Ankunda
Contributors: Channe Oguzhan, Fernanda Lonardoni, Kamba Ankunda and Gregor Herda
Principal Author: Graham Tipple
National Profile Team Coordinator: Kabelo Lethunya
Design and layout: Andrew Ondoo
Financial Support: The participatory Slum Upgrading Program (PSUP), a joint initiative by the European Commission and the African,
Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat and implemented by UN-Habitat, UNDP and the Government of Lesotho.
CONTRIBUTORS:
UN-Habitat acknowledges the contributions of all the individuals and organizations whose names are listed below and those who contributed
to the consultation workshops and interviews.
Mothetjoa Metsing, Local Government and Chieftainship; Lineo of Finance; Thabo Sophonea, Bureau of Statistics; Masetori Makhetha,
Lerotholi Moseunyane, Building Design Services – Works Ministry; Local Government and Chieftainship; Tieho Molise, Local Government
Cecilia Malikhetla, Building Design Services – Works Ministry; and Chieftainship; Mabohlokoa Tau, UNDP; Maroane Dingiswayo,
Maliteboho Makoetje, Ministry of Finance; Bereng Motsoeneng, Local Government and Chieftainship; Kabelo Lethunya, Local
Ministry of Finance; Tente Masia, Local Government and Chieftainship; Government and Chieftainship; Masechaba Tseoli, FNB; Benhard
Lerato Sello, MOPWT – Plan Unit; Itumeleng Chuene, Matekane Bahlaha, Maseru City Council; Nthona Kheleli, Local Government
Group of Companies; Moliehi Maraisane, Local Government and and Chieftainship; Sempe Theko, Orange River Development; John
Chieftainship; Sehloho Mosala, Local Government and Chieftainship; Ramakhula, Orange River Development; Mareitumetse Monyau,
Ntsoaki Matobo, Maseru City Council; Mathabo Makuta, Habitat For Lesotho Electricity Company; Tlotliso Mpeka, Bureau of Statistics;
Humanity Lesotho; Malesekele Matekane, Housing Officer; Mpho Bereng Motsoeneng, Ministry of Finance; Ramothobi Ramothi, Ned-
Molapo, Lesotho Housing and Land Development Corporation; bank Lesotho; Sehloho Mosala, Local Government and Chieftainship;
Tankiso Sephoso, Land Administration Authority; Kenneth Hlasa, Azael Makara, Standard Lesotho Bank; TsoloaneTaolane, Standard
Local Government and Chieftainship; Nkaiseng Maleke, REMAX; Lesotho Bank; Clement Leduka, University of Lesotho; Armando
Brenda Martins, REMAX Estate Agent; Napo Ntaote, Ministry of Villarosa, Khotso Build ware; Tsabeng Motiki, Cash Build; Palesa M.
Finance; Mpoea Phatela, MEMWA; Agi Veres, UNDP; Thabo Maema, Lekau, Maseru City Council; Lirahalibonoe Machel, Land Allocation
Mafeteng Urban Council; Ramothobi Ramothobi, NEDBANK; Seeisa Committee; Lucy Mosoang, Local Government and Chieftainship;
Ramaisa, Local Government and Chieftainship; Moshe Makotoko, ‘Mating Mahooana, Local Government and Chieftainship;
Matekane Group of Companies; Mothibeli Linakane, Matekane Maselemeng Mokose, Local Government and Chieftainship; Tšeleng
Group of Companies; Remaketse Mochochoko, Local Government Mokhehle, Local Government and Chieftainship; Mabakubung Pitšo,
and Chieftainship; Mantopi Lebofa, Technologies for Economic Local Government and Chieftainship; Mamahlapane Rakuoane,
Development; Mahashe Chaka, Land Administration Authority; Federation of Lesotho Women Entrepreneurship; Gerard Lefatle,
Motseoa Koali, Local Government and Chieftainship; Matiisetso Lerotholi Polytechnic; Mpho Mabetha, Federation of Lesotho Women
Libetso, Local Government and Chieftainship; Mamotake Matekane, Entrepreneurship; Shao Khatala, Lesotho Electricity and Water
Matekane Group of Companies; Mohapi Lepolesa, Local Government Authority (LEWA); Liengoane Lefosa, Bureau of Statistics; Malerato
and Chieftainship; Lejone Mongalo, Local Government and Lempetje, Land Allocation Committee; Mantoa Mabele, Bureau of
Chieftainship; Theoli Makhele, Local Government and Chieftainship; Statistics; Mohapi Mohapi, Maseru East Clay Brick Making; Mpho
Thandi Hlabana, National university of Lesotho; Mamajara Lehloenya, Moeletsi, SIGMA Construction Company; Napo Makara, SIGMA
Local Government and Chieftainship; Seriti Khabisi, Local Government Construction Company; Ntoi Rapapa, Lesotho Electricity and Water
and Chieftainship; Kwetliso Senoko, Orange River Development; Authority (LEWA); Zanele Hlongoane, Mosotho Newspaper; and
Maalinah Kori, Local Government and Chieftainship; Makhahliso. Morena oa Besele, Ha Besele.
Phakisi, Local Government and Chieftainship; M. Maleleka, Ministry
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii
LESOTHO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................iii
Acronyms and Abbreviations..............................................................................................viii
Foreword............................................................................................................................x
Minister’s Message.............................................................................................................xi
Executive Summary............................................................................................................xii
General .................................................................................................................................................... xii
The institutional framework for housing..................................................................................................... xii
Housing supply.......................................................................................................................................... xii
Housing need............................................................................................................................................ xii
Land......................................................................................................................................................... xiii
Housing Finance........................................................................................................................................ xiii
Infrastructure............................................................................................................................................ xiii
Construction industry................................................................................................................................ xiv
Housing market......................................................................................................................................... xiv
Ways forward............................................................................................................................................ xiv
01. Introduction..................................................................................................................1
Introduction to Lesotho............................................................................................................................. 1
1 Key indicators............................................................................................................................................ 1
Urban areas.............................................................................................................................................. 6
HIV/AIDS................................................................................................................................................... 8
The Profile Sample Survey.......................................................................................................................... 8
02. The Policy and Institutional Frameworks in the Housing Process................................11
2 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 11
The legal and regulatory framework relating to housing............................................................................. 11
The Poverty Reduction Strategy’s (PRS) policy on shelter............................................................................. 15
Key players in housing............................................................................................................................... 17
Private sector............................................................................................................................................ 22
Traditional leaders and customary landowners........................................................................................... 23
Non-government organisations.................................................................................................................. 23
Brief history of urban housing in Lesotho................................................................................................... 24
Capacity needs assessment........................................................................................................................ 26
Brief conclusion......................................................................................................................................... 27
03. Current Housing Stock..................................................................................................29
3 Housing conditions ................................................................................................................................... 29
Rooms occupied........................................................................................................................................ 35
Housing production................................................................................................................................... 37
Private developers..................................................................................................................................... 38
Informal sector stock and suppliers............................................................................................................ 40
04. Population growth and distribution.............................................................................42
Urban population...................................................................................................................................... 42
4 Household size and housing need according to LDHS................................................................................. 44
Household size and housing need according to the Profile Sample Survey................................................... 46
Income and ability to pay........................................................................................................................... 48
Brief conclusion: estimating housing needs................................................................................................ 52
05. Land for Housing..........................................................................................................53
5 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 53
Recent land reforms.................................................................................................................................. 54
Legal and regulatory framework governing land supply remaining from before the Land Act 2010.............. 58
Urban land tenure..................................................................................................................................... 58
Key players in land for housing.................................................................................................................. 60
Prices of land in the formal and informal sectors........................................................................................ 63
Brief conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 65
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
6 06. Finance for housing......................................................................................................67

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 67
The financial sector.................................................................................................................................... 67
Institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks governing housing finance .................................................. 68
Financing privately-supplied housing.......................................................................................................... 68
Cross-cutting issues: gender, disability, HIV-AIDS, youth.............................................................................. 73
07. Infrastructure for housing............................................................................................74
7 Basic urban infrastructure provision in a nutshell, actors and service providers............................................ 74
Infrastructure finance ................................................................................................................................ 77
Supply and coverage of infrastructure networks......................................................................................... 77
Energy...................................................................................................................................................... 84
Roads....................................................................................................................................................... 85
Capacity needs assessment ....................................................................................................................... 86
Brief conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 86
08. Construction.................................................................................................................88
8 The construction sector in a nutshell including the informal sector ............................................................. 88
Institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks governing the construction sector ....................................... 89
Organisation: actors, suppliers, contractors and service providers................................................................ 91
Building materials: traditional and industrialised production ...................................................................... 92
Building material costs ............................................................................................................................. 95
Skills training............................................................................................................................................ 97
Capacity needs assessment ....................................................................................................................... 97
Brief conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 97
9 09. Housing Market............................................................................................................99
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 99
The structure and functioning of the market............................................................................................... 99
Housing market regulations....................................................................................................................... 102
Actors and market institutions................................................................................................................... 102
Formal and informal housing prices............................................................................................................ 102
10 10. Cross-cutting issues......................................................................................................105
The Right to Adequate Housing................................................................................................................. 105
Gender balance and age distribution......................................................................................................... 106
Access to housing and land....................................................................................................................... 106
Women and land....................................................................................................................................... 106
People affected by HIV/AIDS...................................................................................................................... 107
Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs)................................................................................................... 108
Disability issues......................................................................................................................................... 108
Environmental issues................................................................................................................................. 108
11 11. Conclusions and Ways Forward....................................................................................111

General .................................................................................................................................................... 111
The institutional framework for housing..................................................................................................... 111
Housing Supply......................................................................................................................................... 111
Housing need............................................................................................................................................ 112
Land ........................................................................................................................................................ 112
Housing Finance........................................................................................................................................ 113
Infrastructure............................................................................................................................................ 113
Construction industry................................................................................................................................ 113
Housing Market......................................................................................................................................... 114
Bibliography.......................................................................................................................121
TABLE OF CONTENTS v
LESOTHO
LIST OF BOXES,FIGURES AND TABLES

LIST OF BOXES
BOX 1 Requirements for a Building Permit application...................................................................................................................................................................90
BOX 2 Small size of the Lesotho real estate market........................................................................................................................................................................100
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1 Ease of doing business in Lesotho..................................................................................................................................................................................3
FIGURE 2 Trends of urban and rural population (percentages, 1976-2026)......................................................................................................................................5
FIGURE 3 National and urban populations, 1960 to 2011..............................................................................................................................................................5
FIGURE 4 Urban Population in Lesotho (1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2011)..................................................................................................................................6
FIGURE 5 Urban Population in Lesotho as percentages (1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2011)..........................................................................................................7
FIGURE 6 Map of Lesotho showing districts..................................................................................................................................................................................12
FIGURE 7 Planned development of a mixed-class neighbourhood in Maseru...................................................................................................................................16
FIGURE 8 Low-income housing at Linakotseng being built by the MLGCPA.....................................................................................................................................18
FIGURE 9 Aerial view of Mohalalitoe showing triangular plots and greatly extended housing..........................................................................................................19
FIGURE 10 Khubetsoana showing higher original density and extensive extension activity..............................................................................................................19
FIGURE 11 Original LEHCO-OP housing at Khubetsoana, Maseru...................................................................................................................................................19
FIGURE 12 An original LEHCO-OP cement-block two-roomed dwelling (right) and a later transformation into a high-income villa in Khubetsoana...........................19
FIGURE 13 Khubetsoana (left) is clearly higher density than its neighbours.....................................................................................................................................20
FIGURE 14 LHLDC middle income housing.....................................................................................................................................................................................20
FIGURE 15 LHLDC flats in central Maseru......................................................................................................................................................................................21
FIGURE 16 Basic police housing. Note the very low density............................................................................................................................................................22
FIGURE 17 Higher income police housing (Matekane Group HQ is in the background)....................................................................................................................22
FIGURE 18 Low-density informal development of various standards of housing, peri-urban Maseru.................................................................................................23
FIGURE 19 Low-density informal development, Mafiteng...............................................................................................................................................................23
FIGURE 20 Habitat for Humanity dwelling in Lesotho.....................................................................................................................................................................24
FIGURE 22 Clothing factories in Maseru with malaene close by......................................................................................................................................................30
FIGURE 21 Malaene close to the Thetsane garment factories (Google Earth)...................................................................................................................................30
FIGURE 23 A line of malaene showing a door and one window for each one-roomed dwelling.......................................................................................................31
FIGURE 24 A longer line of basic malaene.....................................................................................................................................................................................31
FIGURE 25 Malaene round a communal open space......................................................................................................................................................................31
FIGURE 26 Polata in Maseru..........................................................................................................................................................................................................31
FIGURE 27 An expensive bungalow...............................................................................................................................................................................................32
FIGURE 28 Bungalows of varied size and quality............................................................................................................................................................................32
FIGURE 29 An optak in Mohale’s Hoek..........................................................................................................................................................................................32
FIGURE 30 Rontabole near Mafeteng............................................................................................................................................................................................32
FIGURE 31 Rooms occupied for sleeping (valid percentages)..........................................................................................................................................................35
FIGURE 32 Block saving on the plot ahead of construction.............................................................................................................................................................37
FIGURE 33 Houses in LHLDC’s gated Friebel Estate, central Maseru................................................................................................................................................38
FIGURE 34 Housing for senior police in Maseru..............................................................................................................................................................................38
FIGURE 35 Prison officers’ housing, central Maseru........................................................................................................................................................................38
FIGURE 36 One of the MLGCPA dwellings at Linakotseng..............................................................................................................................................................38
FIGURE 37 The retaining wall at Mpilo..........................................................................................................................................................................................39
FIGURE 38 Dwellings built by MGC to clients’ own designs at Mpilo.............................................................................................................................................39
FIGURE 39 Speculatively-built MGC dwellings at Mpilo.................................................................................................................................................................39
FIGURE 40 Informal development in the periphery of Maseru at Foso............................................................................................................................................40
FIGURE 41 Low density informal sector housing of in peripheral Mafeteng....................................................................................................................................40
FIGURE 42 National and urban population projections for Lesotho................................................................................................................................................43
FIGURE 43 (Bed)rooms supplied and rooms needed at 2ppr (LDHS data).......................................................................................................................................45
FIGURE 44 Cumulative need for rooms at 2ppr crowding threshold with current supply added (percentage)....................................................................................45
FIGURE 45 Persons per household (percentage frequencies)...........................................................................................................................................................46
FIGURE 46 Rooms occupied .........................................................................................................................................................................................................47
FIGURE 47 Rooms needed at 2 people per room............................................................................................................................................................................47
FIGURE 48 Annual consumption expenditure, urban Lesotho, 2011/12...........................................................................................................................................49
FIGURE 49 Land subdivisions are marked with a simple metal post and wire fence.........................................................................................................................54
FIGURE 50 Gazetted areas of Maseru (in purple) in which property tax is levied.............................................................................................................................57
FIGURE 51 Very low densities are usual in peri-urban Maseru.........................................................................................................................................................57
FIGURE 52 Intensive vegetable gardening, Khubetsoana ...............................................................................................................................................................57
FIGURE 53 Huge plots with poor servicing at Mabote....................................................................................................................................................................57
FIGURE 54 Expensive housing on LHLDC fully-serviced plots in Thetsane........................................................................................................................................62
FIGURE 56 Area required for new housing against three development scenarios.............................................................................................................................64
FIGURE 55 Space for infilling on the Maseru-Berea boundary.........................................................................................................................................................64
FIGURE 57 In the periphery of Maseru, a household provides water storage and toilet, and has a satellite dish for television...........................................................74
FIGURE 58 Water standpipe just inside a plot for sharing among malaene residents.......................................................................................................................77
FIGURE 59 Water tank in newly developing area............................................................................................................................................................................80
FIGURE 60 Water tank for roof run-off...........................................................................................................................................................................................80
FIGURE 61 Mass provision of toilet shelters above pit latrines........................................................................................................................................................82
FIGURE 62 VIP toilet showing vault at the rear. Most ventilation pipes are white instead of the recommended black so that they would be hot...............................82
FIGURE 63 Latrine of original LEHCO-OP house..............................................................................................................................................................................83
FIGURE 64 Solid Waste collected in Maseru for the year 2012 (percentage frequencies)..................................................................................................................84
FIGURE 65 Dumping within the beautiful environment on the periphery of Maseru.........................................................................................................................84
FIGURE 66 Roads through sandy ground in Khubetsoana...............................................................................................................................................................86
FIGURE 67 Typically poor quality road in a rapidly developing peri-urban area of Maseru................................................................................................................86
FIGURE 68 Stony side road in Mohale’s Hoek.................................................................................................................................................................................86
FIGURE 69 Simple, labour-intensive construction is used even for large dwellings...........................................................................................................................88
FIGURE 70 Construction as percentage of Gross domestic Product ................................................................................................................................................89
FIGURE 71 Poor construction occurs occasionally...........................................................................................................................................................................90
FIGURE 72 Developing area with a house finished to lintel level awaiting the final stages...............................................................................................................92
FIGURE 73 Informal construction using high quality materials; machine cut stone and local bricks...................................................................................................92
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FIGURE 74 Stone-built malaene are common.................................................................................................................................................................................93

FIGURE 75 Machine-cut stone stacked on a building site...............................................................................................................................................................93
FIGURE 76 The entrance to Loti Brickworks and the AfriSam cement packing plant in Thetsane, Maseru..........................................................................................93
FIGURE 77 Advertising the range of Loti bricks outside its Maseru factory.......................................................................................................................................93
FIGURE 78 Bricks ready for burning by an informal manufacturer, Maseru East...............................................................................................................................94
FIGURE 79 A clamp of about 12,000 bricks during their burning, Maseru East................................................................................................................................94
FIGURE 80 Local burnt brick used in malaene................................................................................................................................................................................94
FIGURE 81 Cement block bungalow..............................................................................................................................................................................................94
FIGURE 82 Cement block housing by MLGCPA..............................................................................................................................................................................94
FIGURE 83 Complete experimental Hydraform block dwelling built by MLGCPA..............................................................................................................................94
FIGURE 84 Hydraform blocks are laid without mortar.....................................................................................................................................................................95
FIGURE 85 Corner and base detail of hydraform under construction...............................................................................................................................................95
FIGURE 86 For sale notice on new property...................................................................................................................................................................................101
FIGURE 87 Very high-cost housing.................................................................................................................................................................................................101
FIGURE 88 A two bedroom dwelling at Moshoeshoe II for renting at M4,500 per month................................................................................................................103
FIGURE 89 A three bedroom dwelling at Hillsview for renting at M15,000 per month.....................................................................................................................103
FIGURE 90 Sprawl on fertile land owing to large plots...................................................................................................................................................................108
FIGURE 91 Group discussions on the Performance Constraints Matrix at the Second Stakeholders’ Workshop..................................................................................114
LIST OF FIGURES
TABLE 1 Key indicators..................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
TABLE 2 Sex of head of household in 2013....................................................................................................................................................................................2
TABLE 3 Key Indicators for the Moderate Growth Scenario, 2010/11– 2016/17..............................................................................................................................3
TABLE 4 Percentage distribution of the de jure population by urban and rural residence: 1976-2026...............................................................................................5
TABLE 5 UN population projections for Lesotho and urban Lesotho (2000-2030)............................................................................................................................7
TABLE 6 Local population projections for Lesotho, rural and urban Lesotho (2006-2026)................................................................................................................7
TABLE 7 Selected urban neighbourhoods for the Profile Sample Survey...........................................................................................................................................8
TABLE 8 Projected population growth of urban Maseru, 2000 - 2025.............................................................................................................................................8
TABLE 9 Distribution of LHLDC plots provided before 2005............................................................................................................................................................20
TABLE 10 HFHL’s activities.............................................................................................................................................................................................................24
TABLE 11 Percentage distribution of housing units by type of housing unit, all Lesotho, 2006 ........................................................................................................33
TABLE 12 Wall materials used (percentage frequencies)..................................................................................................................................................................33
TABLE 13 Floor materials used (percentage frequencies)................................................................................................................................................................34
TABLE 14 Roof materials used (percentage frequencies).................................................................................................................................................................34
TABLE 15 Tenure (percentage frequencies).....................................................................................................................................................................................34
TABLE 18 Rooms used for sleeping................................................................................................................................................................................................35
TABLE 19 Rooms occupied (percentage frequencies)......................................................................................................................................................................36
TABLE 20 Occupancy rates (percentage frequencies)......................................................................................................................................................................36
TABLE 21 Proportion of Households and Household Population by Residence and Average Household Size - CMS 2011/2012..........................................................42
TABLE 22 Population projections for Lesotho and urban Lesotho (thousands; 2010-2025) .............................................................................................................43
TABLE 23 Number of households projections for urban Lesotho using CMS household sizes (thousands; 2010-2025).....................................................................43
TABLE 24 Number of households projections for urban Lesotho using LDHS household sizes (thousands; 2010-2025).....................................................................44
TABLE 25 Household head by gender.............................................................................................................................................................................................44
TABLE 26 Household size distributions (percentage frequencies).....................................................................................................................................................44
TABLE 26 Need for rooms at 2 persons per room (percentage frequencies).....................................................................................................................................45
TABLE 27 Persons per household (percentage frequencies).............................................................................................................................................................46
TABLE 29 Need for new urban housing, expressed as rooms and dwellings, by 2025......................................................................................................................48
TABLE 30 Monthly Consumer Price Indices by COICOP Divisions – August 2013 ...........................................................................................................................48
TABLE 31 Annual consumption expenditure, urban Lesotho, 2011/12............................................................................................................................................50
TABLE 32 Total household expenditure per annum (Maloti)...........................................................................................................................................................51
TABLE 33 Willingness or renters to pay for loan payments (Maloti).................................................................................................................................................51
TABLE 34 Estimates of median dwelling affordability (US$)............................................................................................................................................................51
TABLE 35 Land holding documentation (percentage frequencies)...................................................................................................................................................59
TABLE 36 From whom did owners obtain land (percentage frequencies).........................................................................................................................................60
TABLE 37 Relationship between plot sizes and coverage in residential plots...................................................................................................................................63
TABLE 38 Calculation of space per household under the planning standards of one dwelling plus malaene up to the floor area.......................................................63
TABLE 39 Most important source of housing finance (percentage frequencies)................................................................................................................................67
TABLE 40 Co mmercial banks in Lesotho........................................................................................................................................................................................69
TABLE 41 Documentation required for a mortgage with SLB...........................................................................................................................................................70
TABLE 42 Formal and semi-formal financial institutions operating in Lesotho in 2010.....................................................................................................................71
TABLE 43 Need for finance according to different median affordability calculations, 2006-2025 (US$)............................................................................................72
TABLE 44 Source of drinking water, urban, 2009 and 2010/11 (percentage of households).............................................................................................................78
TABLE 45 Main source of water (percentage frequencies)...............................................................................................................................................................78
TABLE 46 Round trip time to obtain drinking water (percentage of households)..............................................................................................................................79
TABLE 47 Person who usually collects drinking water (percentage of households)...........................................................................................................................79
TABLE 48 Water treatment prior to drinking (percentage of households)*.......................................................................................................................................79
TABLE 49 Urban water tariff structure in Lesotho, April 2013..........................................................................................................................................................80
TABLE 50 Distribution of households and de jure population by type of toilet/latrine facilities (percentage of households, 2009)......................................................81
TABLE 51 Percentage distribution of households by type of toilet, 2011..........................................................................................................................................82
TABLE 52 Toilet facilities (percentage frequencies)..........................................................................................................................................................................83
TABLE 53 Urban households by type of solid waste disposal in 2011..............................................................................................................................................84
TABLE 54 Sources of energy for cooking (percentage frequencies)..................................................................................................................................................85
TABLE 55 Cost of selected building materials.................................................................................................................................................................................96
TABLE 56 How owners found out about their plot (percentage frequencies.....................................................................................................................................99
TABLE 57 Circumstances under which owners would sell their dwelling (percentage frequencies.....................................................................................................100
TABLE 58 Monthly rental prices - current rental contracts...............................................................................................................................................................101
TABLE 59 Commission charged by estate agents............................................................................................................................................................................102
TABLE 59 Housing Sector Performance Constraints Matrix .............................................................................................................................................................115
TABLE 60 Housing Sector Priorities for Action MATRIX...................................................................................................................................................................118
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LESOTHO
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
AfDB African Development Bank Syndrome

CAHF Centre for Affordable Housing ID Identity
Finance in Africa
IFC International Finance Corporation
CARE Christian Action Research and
Education ILFS Lesotho Integrated Labour
Force Survey
CBEP Council for Built Environment
Professions ILO International Labour Organisation
CBL Central Bank of Lesotho IMF International Monetary Fund
CBO Community-Based Organisation ITT IT Transport Ltd
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination LAA Land Administration Authority

of all forms of Discrimination LAA Land Administration Authority
Against Women
LARP Land Administration Reform
CI Corrugated iron (often used of all Project
corrugated metal sheets)
LCIC Lesotho Construction Industry
CIA Central Intelligence Agency (USA) Council
CIDA Canadian International LDHS Lesotho Demographic and Health
Development Agency Survey
CMPS /CMS Continuous Multi-Purpose Survey LEC Lesotho Electricity Company
CPI Consumer Price Index LEHCO-OP Lesotho Housing Corporation
DLSPP Department of Lands, Surveys and LEWA
Physical Planning
LHC Lower Income Housing Company
DRWS Department of Rural Water Supply
LHDA Lesotho Highlands Development
FY Financial Year Authority
GDP Gross Development Product LHLDC Lesotho Housing and Land
GNI Gross National Income Development Corporation
HBS Household Budget Survey LHWP Lesotho Highlands Water Project
HFHL Habitat for Humanity Lesotho LPB Lesotho Postal Bank
HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus? LPG Liquid Petroleum Gas

Acquired Immuno-Deficiency LSAD Land Set Aside for Development
viii
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
LSPP Directorate of Lands, Surveys and PRS/PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy (Paper)
Physical Planning
PSD Private Sector Development
M Maloti (tied to the Rand at par):
Singular = Loti ROSCAs Rotating Savings and Credit
Associations
MCA Millennium Challenge Account
RSCG Rural Savings and Credit Groups
MCAL Millennium Challenge Account
SACCO Savings and Credit Co-operatives
MDWSP Metolong Dam and Water
Supply Programme SACU Southern African Customs Union
MFI Micro-Finance Institution SDA Selected Development Area
MGC Matekane Group of Companies SLB Standard Lesotho Bank
MMC Maseru Municipal Council SMMEs Small, medium and micro

(formerly Maseru City Council, enterprises
MCC) TVET Technical and Vocational Education
MOLGC Ministry of Local Government, and Training
Chieftainship and Parliamentary UK United Kingdom of Great Britain
Affairs and Northern Ireland
MoW Ministry of Works and Public UN United Nations
Transport
UNCDF United Nations Capital
MUP&T Maseru Urban Planning and Development Fund
Transport Study
US$ United State of America Dollar
N The number of cases within a
(sub)sample VDC Village Development Council
NDP National Decentralisation Policy VIP Ventilated Indirect Pit (latrine)
NDP National Decentralisation Policy WASCO Water and Sewerage Company

formerly the Water and Sewerage
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation Authority (WASA)
OVCs Orphans and vulnerable children WHO World Health Organization
Ppr Persons per room WILSA Women in Law, Southern Africa
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ix

LESOTHO
FOREWORD
UN-Habitat has welcomed the initiative of the points to ways in which the sector will be enabled
Government of Lesotho to undertake a National by the creation of dedicated Ministry of Housing in
Housing Profile, one of the most successful practical Lesotho.
tools for housing policy making which has been
conducted in more than fifteen countries in Latin I am confident that the housing sector stakeholders
America, Africa and Asia since 2010. in Lesotho have now have a fundamental tool in their
hands to continue working towards the realization
A Housing Profile is the first step within the overall of the right to adequate housing for the all. The
framework of UN-Habitat Global Housing Strategy Lesotho Housing Profile will be a fundamental tool
which aims to reposition housing at the centre of in influencing the development of sustainable and
national and urban development, as an imperative inclusive urban and housing development strategies
for a future of economic, environmental, cultural and as well as to contribute to poverty reduction efforts
socially inclusive cities. in the country.
The Housing Profile is instrumental towards assisting I wish to express my appreciation and gratitude to all
countries to formulate national housing policies, those who have contributed to this report, and my
as it improves the understanding of housing sector recognition for the commitment of the Government
challenges and the capacity of governments to seize of Lesotho.
opportunities and provide responses.
As we head towards the third United Nations
The Housing Profile of Lesotho brings a holistic Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban
depiction of the factors influencing housing provision Development, Habitat III, the steps made by Lesotho
in the country - from housing finance, land and to improve access to adequate housing will sum up to
construction to institutional, regulatory and cultural the efforts of UN-Habitat and partners at the global
settings. It provides decision-makers with the right level to reposition housing at the centre of the New
information for effective policy development. The Urban Agenda for the 21st century.
Profile also puts forward clear recommendations in all
core areas governing housing provision, particularly
on land. There is a need to revise land tenure systems
and harmonizing regulations and laws in order to
facilitate land acquisition and access to serviced land
for housing at the scale needed. A stronger policy
and institutional frameworks are needed to address Joan Clos
this and other issues preventing housing sector Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director
development. The Profile highlights the needs to United Nations Human Settlements Programme
review for a new the National Housing Policy and (UN-Habitat)
x
MINISTER’S MESSAGE
MINISTER’S MESSAGE
Increasing urbanization and population growth have process of elaborating the National Housing Sector
made housing one of the most crucial challenges facing Profile. The committee has been involved at all
the kingdom of Lesotho in terms of housing shortage stages of the process and has provided the necessary
particularly in the urban areas and deterioration technical guidance and supported data collection. I
throughout the country. The importance of housing am informed that at a later stage the NHC should be
in the economy cannot be over emphasized. Housing heavily involved in monitoring and evaluation of the
is seen as the total social, economic and cultural and National Housing Policy and Strategy.
physical environment in which people live and grow
and develop. In the light of these widely recognized I acknowledge the involvement of UN-Habitat
benefits housing becomes an important element of and UNDP in this process. Having realized how
poverty alleviation strategy. successful UN-Habitat has been in supporting other
African countries such as Malawi, Ghana, Zambia and
The Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho Liberia in developing housing profile, it challenged
developed the National Housing Policy in 2009. us to approach this partner to also assist us to develop
This policy will be reviewed this year to consider the the Lesotho urban housing sector profile. We further
relevance of its provisions and challenges. In the last approached UNDP to partner with us in a process.
years there have been advances in housing delivery I am delighted that today we form a tripartite which
concepts and technologies as well as new ideologies radiates how significant housing is to all of us.
on governance and sustainable development which
all contribute to the need for policy review. This I wish to impress therefore to all key stakeholders
review will be guided by this housing profile, who’s involved to continue our concerted efforts to make
primary goal is to understand the functioning and the review of the National Housing Policy and the
structure of Lesotho’s housing sector in urban areas development of a strategy an equal success.
and to identify who does what, when, how, etc
KHOTSO, PULA, NALA!
The process of developing this profile has not been
the responsibility of a single agent as the state is not
perceived as the provider of housing rather than to
create the enabling environment for the housing
sector to work. The Lesotho’s National Habitat Honourable Dr. Pontšo ‘Matumelo Sekatle
Committee (NHC) has been crucial during the Minister of Local Government and Chieftainship
MINISTER’S MESSAGE xi
LESOTHO
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
GENERAL HOUSING SUPPLY

Lesotho has had relatively stable economic The formal private sector concentrates on housing
performance in the recent past which has been a at the very top of the market leaving the majority
great asset. Exposure to South African economic unserved by formal housing supply. As in other
variations, however, such as changes in customs countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, however, the great
duties and fluctuations in the value of the Rand, majority of housing in Lesotho is built in the informal
could be a problem from which Lesotho’s housing sector by small contractors in partnership with
sector might need protection. Housing tends to individual owners. The Profile argues that informal
be built with simple materials and labor-intensive stock should be the focus of policy intervention
technologies; this has great potential for building to enable it to be more efficient without raising its
the economic growth looked for in Vision 2020. The cost. In parallel, any policies which hinder informal
depletion of human resources implicit in the HIV/ housing supply are unhelpful.
AIDS pandemic and the brain-drain of educated
Basotho to South Africa and elsewhere endanger the The current housing stock is dominated by the
efficient growth of the economy. two traditional house types known as malaene and
polata. Both are simple dwellings with suites of one
or two rooms opening off the outside world. There
THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK is a growth in the bungalow, especially in Maseru,
FOR HOUSING but there is little that is beneficial to the poor in this
The institutional framework for housing has many change. Most housing in urban Lesotho is built of
of the necessary components, such as respect for permanent materials though more have mud floors or
the home and limitation of state procurement of thatched roofs in the towns than in Maseru.
property, enshrined in law and the constitution. The Owner occupation is the main tenure in towns but
PRS is committed to appropriate urban policies and renting is as common as owning among households
suggests public-private partnerships going forward. in Maseru; the provision of rooms or suites of rooms
The regulations controlling housing development, on owner-occupied plots is an important housing
however, are outmoded and ready for recasting to supply in urban Lesotho.
be relevant to the housing affordable by ordinary
Basotho rather than to a small elite. Regulations The small formal supply has been led by LHLDC
allow malaene as well as the main dwelling which is and government building employer housing. Private
very pro-poor and a route into increasing density and contractors have difficulty building for anyone but
the supply of truly affordable housing. the rich elite and expatriates.
Housing has a relatively lowly place in government

structures having no dedicated ministry. Local HOUSING NEED
authorities have many housing-related functions Housing need will be driven by the need to maintain
delegated to them and will have even more as the and improve the existing stock and to add sufficient
National Decentralisation Policy is implemented. new stock to accommodate 60,000 new urban
They do not, however, have the resources to fulfil these households between the 2006 Census and 2025.
functions unless revenue streams can be activated and There are no data on how many dwellings existed in
the central government money allocated to these the 2006 census data or to estimate how many have
functions can be devolved to the districts. There is been added since then. The need for housing has been
a need to form a more focused approach to housing calculated for the need to supply housing by 2025.
supply, bringing functions together under one The housing stock needed to encourage reductions
dedicated ministry. Local authorities should only be of overcrowding in the towns. The major need for
expected to perform functions for which a revenue housing is in the one to three room range. Only
stream is evident. in some towns are larger dwellings needed in any
xii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
significant percentages of the stock to accommodate Almost all owners either built or inherited their
large households. dwellings, very few bought them. Existing financial
thought in Lesotho seems to be based on the idea
The capital cost for housing affordable to the mean that a household that can finance the incremental
low-income households seems to be about M90,000 building of a home through the informal sector can
($8,200). This is too little to afford much in the afford to buy a formally-built and financed home.
formal sector but could easily pay for a dwelling in Housing micro-finance is in its infancy in Lesotho
the informal sector. Renters with income close to the but MFIs are playing a small role in housing supply.
mean for the low-income population could afford a
room in a malaene or polata. This also points to ways Households tend to pay about 17 per cent of their
forward which encourage the informal construction total expenditure on housing and services. It is likely
sector using simple labor-intensive technologies. that they might be willing to pay 20 per cent to afford,
at the mean, a dwelling costing M90,000 ($8,200) as
owners or to rent (at market rents) housing costing
LAND M30,000 ($2,700) to build. Housing supply and
Plots in Lesotho are very large but this is offset to housing finance supply arguments in the Profile
some extent by the regulations allowing more than concentrate on these affordability levels.
one dwelling (one dwelling plus malaene rooms up
to the same area). Recent reforms over the length of
time and transaction costs involved in obtaining land INFRASTRUCTURE
for housing have so revolutionized it that Lesotho has Infrastructure has improved considerably in the
risen 69 places in the World Bank’s ranking of ease of last decade with far more urban households having
obtaining a registered plot. The Land Reforms seems access to water and improved sanitation. There is
to be very good news for housing production. still, however, a servicing deficit, mainly in peri-
urban areas. Labour-based infrastructure installation
There is still little gender equality in land ownership has been found to be particularly viable in Lesotho;
potential. Despite being in the majority in urban It offers many benefits for jobs in installing and
areas, women do not have fully equal rights to own managing infrastructure for housing through labour-
and inherit land. based technologies and activities.
The potential of property taxation is being ignored by There are considerable differences in infrastructure
local authorities who remain underfunded. Chiefs are between Maseru and the towns where services are
still active in land allocation even though they have much less well-provided. Where water is provided it
no legal powers. Customary land has been allocated is usually on or near the plot rather than in public
in a non-transparent way through backdated Form standpipes. Sanitation is mainly by VIP and pit
Cs. latrines, again close to homes rather than as a public
The land needs for the need for housing by 2025 can facility. The activities of LEWA in ensuring that tariffs
be greatly reduced by making optimum use of plots for electricity and, more recently, water, meet the
or cutting down on their size. Encouraging owners needs of the providers as well as customers bodes well
to add malaene rooms up to the maximum that they for an improvement in coverage and sustainability of
are allowed could save considerable amounts of land. services.
Solid waste is poorly handled, there is much dumping
HOUSING FINANCE to be seen in the urban environment. There is great
potential in improving labour-based collection and
The main finance for housing in Lesotho is a small
management of solid waste and introducing more
mortgage-granting sector which grants about 400
recycling. The markets of South Africa provide some
loans per annum to Basotho earning more than $900
potential for recycling.
a month. Qualification criteria limit them to salaried
workers who can prove a household monthly income Electricity is provided to most of Maseru and towns
of 2.5 to three times their proposed loan repayments. in Leribe but not in the other towns where many still
Finance is needed for the majority, however, at around use wood and LPG for cooking. It may also be that
US$2-5,000 on loans of only a few years duration. such households have power in the dwellings but
choose to cook with other fuels.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xiii

LESOTHO
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WAYS FORWARD

Construction in Lesotho is very heavily influenced Ways forward will be driven by the need to maintain
by its surrounding neighbour, South Africa, with and improve the existing stock and to add sufficient
construction and materials supplies companies new stock to accommodate 60,000 new urban
and many building materials imports originating households between the 2006 Census and 2025.
in South Africa. The informal sector is the major Housing supply and housing finance supply policies
provider of housing in Lesotho but there are issues should concentrate on housing costing M90,000
over its employment conditions. There are virtually ($8,200) for owner-occupation or M30,000
no dwellings built of junk in Lesotho, cement block ($2,700) to build for renting (the equivalent of
and burnt-brick construction predominates. This malaene or polata housing). Owner-occupier housing
should be taken as a positive sign of the general should be supplied to the median price of M90,000
affordability of simple housing in conventional ($8,200) rather than to an artificially-set standard
materials. Incremental development is often layer of construction. Supply policies should focus on
by layer rather than room by room. This tends to housing with three rooms or fewer, particularly in
underuse land for many years until construction is Maseru. Current owners should be encouraged to
complete. add more rooms to their dwellings.
There is a brain-drain of skilled construction workers The informal stock should be the focus of policy
out of Lesotho. If the housing supply system is intervention to enable it to be more efficient without
streamlined to supply all the dwellings needed by raising its cost. Policies which hinder informal housing
2025, it should provide many jobs which may attract supply should be resisted. The idea of housing as a
Basotho skilled workers to stay in the country. There marketable good should not be the basis of housing
are no professional registration institutions in Lesotho policy for a majority of Basotho households.
for professionals involved in housing.
Finance is lacking for the majority; its supply should
be a focus of policy in the future. Amounts of around
HOUSING MARKET US$2-5,000 on loans of only a few years duration
There is little housing market information in Lesotho. might be suitable. Infrastructure supply should
Most owners and renters find out about their plot focus on closing the supply deficit and supplying
or rented accommodation from their own networks, infrastructure to the new housing as it is built at costs
few through real estate practitioners. There is no affordable to the occupants. There is great potential
registration or regulation institution for real-estate in improving labour-based infrastructure provision
professionals in Lesotho; their services are quite and management.
expensive.

As in most of SSA, most Basotho would not think of
selling their dwelling so policy must not assume that
owners will sell smaller housing and use the proceeds
to buy larger accommodation.
xiv
01
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO LESOTHO In 2012, the country’s GDP growth was a modest 3.8
Lesotho is a small, landlocked state, covering per cent as drought reduced agricultural production.
30,350sq. km completely surrounded by the Republic Major contributors to the growth were the diamond
of South Africa. Known as the Kingdom in the Sky, mining industry and increased construction. In
Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy with a bi- 2012/13 and through the medium term, growth is
cameral parliament based in the capital Maseru. It is only expected at an average of 3.4 per cent per annum.
a small area of plentiful rain-fed rivers within a region “Construction activities related to the Metolong
marked by a shortage of water. Over the last century, Dam, the Millennium Challenge Compact, and Phase
it has been a recruiting ground for men to go and 11 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, coupled
work on the mines of South Africa and Zimbabwe. It with other government investments in infrastructure
now has a thriving garment industry manufacturing development, are expected to contribute to growth in
clothing for export world-wide. GDP through the medium term”.2
According to the Bureau of Statistics,1 the estimated The internationally-published key indicators for
population of Lesotho in 2014 is 1,920,000 of Lesotho are shown in Table 1.
whom 510,000 (27 per cent) are in urban areas.
Lesotho has one of the lowest levels of urbanisation
in the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) region.
KEY INDICATORS
TABLE 1 Key indicators

Value Source
Total Population 2,100,000 NDP (2014)
National Population Growth rate/annum 1.1% NDP (2014)
Males to 1,000 females 970 2014 est CIA
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 5% 2013 est CIA
Unemployment 25.3% 2008 ILFS
Literate (tested) 89.6% 2010 CIA
Infant mortality (<5s deaths per 1,000 births) 50.48 2014 CIA
Maternal mortality per 100,000 live births 620 201 CIA
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) 2.78 2014 est CIA
Net migration rate -7.62 per 1,000 2014 CIA
INTRODUCTION 1
LESOTHO
Urban population 27.6% 2011 CIA

Urbanisation rate per annum 3.57% 2011 CIA
Life Expectancy at birth (For the total) 52.65 2014 est CIA
Life Expectancy at birth (Females) 52.75 2014 est CIA
Life Expectancy at birth (Males) 52.55 2014 est CIA
National Development Index 0.461 2012, NDP
GDP real growth rate 4.1% 2013 est CIA
Aid per capita (US$) 96.4 NDP (2014)
GNI per capita (PPP US$) 2,210 2012 NDP
GDP per capita (US$) 1,963 NDP (2014)
GDP at PPP (US$) 4.265 billion 2013 est CIA
Food Poverty Line M 84.41 2002/03 HBS
Poverty Line M 149.91 2002/03 HBS
Corruption Perception Index 55/175 2013, NDP
CIA = Central Intelligence Agency (USA) Fact Book.3

HBS= Household Budget Survey4
ILFS = Lesotho Integrated Labour Force Survey. 5
NDP = National Decentralisation Policy.6
Gender statistics
in their household home unless there has been no
A marked feature of the population of Lesotho is contact with them for three years. The differences
the greater number of females than males. This is are likely caused by higher infant mortality of males
less owing to migration than might be expected and risky lifestyles (including sport, dangerous work
as, in the census, Basotho are taken to be resident environments, etc.).
TABLE 2 Sex of head of household in 2013
Male Female Total

Location Number % Number % Number %
Urban 82,521 61.7 51,243 38.3 133,764 100
Rural 163,575 65.7 85,358 34.3 248,933 100
Total 246,095 64.3 13,6601 35.7 382,697 100
Source: CMPS7
Following from the greater number of females in Economy

the population, the proportion of female-headed
households is quite large but not untypical for the Annual inflation reduced from 12.2 per cent in
region. According to UN Statistics, it is higher 1981 to reach single figures by 1998 (8.6 per cent)
than Zimbabwe’s 33 per cent and lower than South and about 5 per cent in 2013. Much of the inflation
Africa’s 41 per cent.8 These are both countries with in Lesotho is an indirect consequence of importing
a tradition of male migrant labour which also more than 80 per cent of its consumables from South
characterises Lesotho. There might well be even more Africa where prices fluctuate.9
female-headed households as many migrants are still The local currency is the Loti (plural Maloti) which is
regarded as living in the family home in Lesotho even tied to the Rand at par.
though they are away for most of the year.
2
INTRODUCTION
TABLE 3 Key Indicators for the Moderate Growth Scenario, 2010/11– 2016/17
2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

Real GDP (Million Maloti) 15,572 16,534 17,771 18,006 19,169 21,132 21,890
Real GDP ( per cent annual change) 6.2% 7.5% 1.3% 6.5% 10.2% 3.6%
GDP (Million Maloti, current prices) 15,572 17,175 19,800 21,071 23,390 27,117 29,375
Formal Employment (000s) 213.0 215.6 230.6 233.7 231.7 243.0 252.2
Source: IMF.10
The moderate growth scenario predicts a virtual doubling of GDP at current prices between 2010 and 2017
but an average household income increase of only 2.4 per cent from M46,000 in FY2010/11 to M53,000 in
FY 2016/17.
FIGURE 1 Ease of doing business in Lesotho
Starting a Business (79)
Resolving Insolvency (75) Dealing with Construction Permit (140)
Enforcing Contracts (139) Getting Electricity (133)
Trading Across Borders (144) Registering Property (157)
Paying Taxes (95) Getting Credit (154)
Protecting Investors (100)
Source: World Bank11
Of the co-ordinates of the diagram showing ease of and Mokhotlong. In addition, Hlotse and Maputsoe
doing business in Lesotho (Figure 1), the four poorest in Leribe district and Semonkong in Maseru district
are housing related (Dealing with construction are also towns. The district councils are generally
permits, Getting electricity, Registering property and inadequately funded with only 2.5 per cent of the
Getting credit). Since the World Bank data above was recurrent budget allocated to them during 2007/08
gathered, the Land Administration Reform Projects to 2012/13.12
(see chapter 5) has so streamlined registering land
that Lesotho has been lifted 69 places to rank 88th Government policy in development and service
in 2014. provision can be found in two policy documents,
the Lesotho Vision 202013 and Poverty Reduction
Governance Strategy (PRS).14 These have recently been joined by
the National Decentralisation Strategy.
Lesotho is divided into 10 districts, each with its
main urban centre, and 129 community councils.
Maseru is the only city; it has Municipal status. There
are urban councils for the eponymous district towns
in the districts of Botha-Bothe, Berea, Mafeteng,
Mohale’s Hoek, Quthing, Qacha’s Nek, Thaba-Tseka
INTRODUCTION 3
LESOTHO
Priorities in government policy are: ensure the planned settlement of peri-urban areas.
Access to land for private sector housing development
• rapid employment creation, is to be facilitated and individual access to housing
• delivery of poverty-targeted programmes, and development loans improved. In recent years there
• ensuring that policies and legal frameworks has been an increase in property development
operate within a coordinated environment. companies, who are constructing residential and
commercial buildings in urban areas, especially in the
The details of the Poverty Reduction Strategy that capital city of Maseru.
pertain to housing are discussed in chapter 2.
Experience elsewhere has shown, however, that private
Vision 2020 sector property development companies cannot work
at a level which benefits more than a few thousand
Vision 2020 presents a broad perspective of how
households at the top of the market.15 It is likely to
Basotho, through their representatives, would like
be more effective if the household supply sector, i.e.,
to see their country by the year 2020. It stipulates
households linked to small-scale contractors) is the
that Lesotho shall be a stable democracy, a united
focus of collaboration with government.
and prosperous nation at peace with itself and its
neighbours. It shall have a healthy and well developed
Current poverty perspective
human resource base. Its economy will be strong, and
its environment and technology will be well managed. Lesotho’s national productivity has been in severe
decline, especially in the agricultural sector, which
These main tenets of Lesotho Vision 2020 include used to be the most important. This has been
housing in at least two concerns, economy and accompanied by increasing redundancies among
environment as a strong economy, a prosperous emigrant mineworkers and the remittances they
nation and a well-managed environment are all send back from South Africa and Zimbabwe. From
assisted by housing-related investments. Housing, as 126,000 in 1990, these had reduced to only 46,000
such, is not regarded as a core concern even though it by the end of 2007.16
specifies that, in 2020, people will observe regulation
and requisite building standards and will make The average household size increased from 4.9
optimal use of available space for housing in urban in 1994/95 to 5.0 in 2002/03 but the level of
areas. There is a great deal to be done in the housing dependency17 declined from 0.78 in 1994/95 to
sector in the next six years if these aspects of Vision 0.67 in 2002/03. There has been some improvement
2020 have any hope of coming into being. in the reduction of poverty, probably linked to
the reducing dependency ratio. According to the
Poverty 1994/95 and 2002/03 household budget surveys, 67
per cent of population lived below the total poverty
Despite plans for prosperity, poverty is still a real issue line in 1994/95 but this improved to 57 per cent in
in Lesotho and has come under government scrutiny 2002/03. This represents a 10 per cent decline in the
in recent major policy publications. level of poverty with a comparable improvement in
welfare.18
Poverty Reduction Strategy
The Poverty Reduction Strategy has set the goal There has only been limited progress on narrowing
of developing a national housing policy as well as the gap between the rich and the poor. The Gini-
streamlining procedures to stimulate the growth Coefficient improved slightly from 0.57 in 1994/05
of a mortgage and property development market, to 0.52 in 2002/03. At the same time, poverty
reviewing the National Settlement and Shelter Policy increased slightly in the urban areas from 32.3 per
and establishing a National Housing Authority to cent in 1994/95 to 33.7 per cent in 2002/3.19
4
INTRODUCTION
Population distribution
TABLE 4 Percentage distribution of the de jure population by urban and rural residence: 1976-2026
1976 1986 1996 2006 2016 (est) 2026 (est)

Urban 10.5 11.8 16.9 23.8 27.4 30.3
Rural 89.5 88.2 83.1 76.2 72.6 69.7
Sources: Lesotho Bureau of Statistics20

Note: The de jure population includes absent migrants as long as they have been in touch with their household in Lesotho in the last
three years. Thus it is probably an overestimation if more urban residents migrate and an underestimate if more rural residents migrate.
FIGURE 2 Trends of urban and rural population (percentages, 1976-2026)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1976 1986 1996 2006 2016(est) 1976(est)
Urban Rural
It is evident from Figure 2 that Lesotho is still accepts the potential of urbanisation to transform
predominantly rural, with only about one quarter of economic development and promises to formulate
the people currently living in urban areas. Even by urban strategies and policies to organise urban areas,
2026, it will only be about 30 per cent urban. Figure ensure their capable leadership and management, and
3 shows that both national and urban populations establish fiscal and technical support for urban areas’
have grown substantially over the last 50 years. In the particular needs.
National Decentralisation Policy,21 the government
FIGURE 3 National and urban populations, 1960 to 2011
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
0
1960
1963
1966
1969
1972
1975
1978
1981
1984
1987
1990
1993
1996
1999
2002
2002
2005
2008
2011
Urban National
Source: Index Mundi22
INTRODUCTION 5
LESOTHO
URBAN AREAS which tend to encourage people to engage more in

Lesotho has no history of indigenous settlements non-agricultural activities.”25
that were large enough to qualify as towns. It was According to Leduka,26 it is very difficult to estimate
only with the arrival of missionaries that population Lesotho’s urbanisation rate with any degree of
concentrations began to appear in the vicinity of certainty. The Department of Lands, Surveys and
mission stations, especially Morija (Paris Evangelical Physical Planning (DLSPP), which is responsible for
Missionary Society) and, later, Roma (Roman town and regional planning, regards urban areas as
Catholic Church). Other relatively concentrated those areas over which there is a legal proclamation.
settlements were typically confined to areas around The Bureau of Statistics population censuses,
the residences and courts of the most important however, define urban areas as all administrative
chiefs. With few exceptions, contemporary urban district headquarters and other settlements of rapid
centres in Lesotho are British colonial creations that growth where people are predominantly engaged
were meant for the exclusive occupation of colonial in non-agricultural activities. The Water Resources
magistracies and police. These settlements were Management survey of 1996, on the other hand,
spatially set apart from the rest of the countryside defined urban centres as concentrated settlements of
as colonial ‘government reserves that were directly at least 2,500 people with a density of at least 1,000
controlled by British District Commissioners.23 persons per square kilometre.
There are eleven settlements that are designated as At independence in 1966, the level of urbanisation
urban (10 towns, one city) in Lesotho. The Land was estimated to be 7 per cent but, by 2006, it was
Act, 2010, section 24(4) states that the “minister 23 per cent. UN-Habitat27 estimates the level of
shall, by notice published in the gazette, define the urbanisation at nearly 27 per cent in 2010 and then
boundaries of each urban area”. There is no provision future levels of urbanisation are likely to be 34 per
or description as to what minimum characteristics cent by 2020 and nearly 60 per cent by 2050.28
(economic, density, population size or settlement
pattern that such an area must meet in order for it The Bureau of Statistics is aware that there are
to be declared urban. In 1996, the two settlements problems with current definitions of ‘urban’ and the
of Roma (where the University of Lesotho is located) need to be more realistic about peri-urban areas where
and Morija were de-gazetted and dropped from the much of the urban growth occurs. It is likely that
list. The 1996 Population and Housing Census24 there will be a consequently greater urban growth in
classified as urban “all administrative headquarters the current inter-censal period owing to redefinitions
and other settlements of rapid growth, with facilities for the 2016 census.
500,000
FIGURE 4 Urban Population in Lesotho (1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2011)
450,000
400,000
Thaba-Tseka
350,000
Qacha’s Nek
300,000 Mokhotlong
Quthing (Moyeni)
250,000
Butha-Buthe
Mohale’s Hoek
200,000
Mafeteng
150,000 Hlotse/Maputsoe
Teyateyaneng (Berea)
100,000
Maseru
50,000
0
1976 1986 1996 2006 2011
Source: Leduka and National Population Projections29
6
INTRODUCTION
FIGURE 5 Urban Population in Lesotho as percentages (1976, 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2011)
100%
90%
Thaba-Tseka
80% Qacha’s Nek
Mokhotlong
70%
Quthing (Moyeni)
60%
Butha-Buthe
50% Mohale’s Hoek
Mafeteng
40%
Hlotse/Maputsoe
30%
Teyateyaneng (Berea)
20% Maseru
10%
0
1976 1986 1996 2006 2011
Source: Leduka and National Population Projections 30
Figure 5 shows the urban population of the districts, the urban population but much of the urban area in
not of contiguous urban areas differentiated from the former is the north-eastward spread of Maseru
rural areas. Maseru district has easily the largest city. This could mean that the built-up area of Maseru
urban population, with 196,000 in 2011 (of which has about 260,000 people, almost 60 per cent of the
180,000 is Maseru itself ), constituting 44 per cent urban population. The urban populations of Botha-
of Lesotho’s urban population of 448,000. It is losing Bothe, Quthing (Moyeni), Mokhotlong, Qacha’s
ground as a percentage from a high of 55 per cent Nek and Thaba-Tseka together only constitute 15 per
in 1986. The urban populations of Teyateyaneng cent of the country’s urban population.
(Berea) and Hlotse together are about one quarter of
TABLE 5 UN population projections for Lesotho and urban Lesotho (2000-2030)
2000 2010 2020 2030

National Population (thousands) 1,964 2,171 2,395 2,566
Urban Population (thousands) 392 583 817 1,051
Percentage urban 19.96 26.85 34.11 40.96
Source: The State of African Cities Report, 2014: 263 & 26531
TABLE 6 Local population projections for Lesotho, rural and urban Lesotho (2006-2026)
Additional population
2006 2016 2026
since the 2006 Census
National Population (thousands) 1,878 1,933 2,055 177
Urban Population (thousands) 426 529 622 196
Rural Population (thousands) 1,449 1,404 1,433 -16
Source: National Population projections: table 532
It is evident from Table 6 that the local projections for population growth based on detailed projection of
mortality, fertility, etc., show lower growth rates than the UN-Habitat data in Table 5. Indeed, it predicts
lower national population in 2026 than the UN-Habitat data predicts for 2010. This Profile will use the BoS33
projections to calculate housing need.
INTRODUCTION 7
LESOTHO
HIV/AIDS support systems are severely stretched by poverty;

The LDHS34 shows that, in 2009, 23 per cent of adults the increasing pressure imposed by the HIV/AIDS
aged 15-49 in Lesotho were infected with HIV (27 pandemic is threatening to destroy traditional and
percent of women age 15-49 and 18 per cent of men community support systems.35
age 15-49). This is almost the same HIV prevalence
as in 2004 (26 percent for women and 19 percent for THE PROFILE SAMPLE SURVEY
men). The prevalence of infection increased with age As part of the Profile process, the local team carried
to peak at age 35-39 for women (43 and 42 percent, out a sample survey in Maseru and urban centres in
respectively) and at age 30-34 for men (41 and 40 Leribe and Mohale’s Hoek districts. The team decided
percent, respectively). to add two more areas for the survey which were
HIV/AIDS is depleting the human resources of representative of the highlands namely Mokhotlong
institutions at all levels, from the ranks of labourers and Thaba Tseka. The selection of survey areas was
and skilled artisans to the providers of governance and based on the income of the neighbourhood (high,
services. At the same time, the spread of HIV/AIDS middle, and low) and urban and rural areas (the latter
is exerting overwhelming pressures on government are not included in this analysis). The initial sample
and its service agencies and reducing the trust of size was 400 but, with the addition of Mokhotlong
the public in the service providers. Furthermore, the and Thaba Tseka districts, the sample size increased
extended family is overcome by the need to support to 500. The rural villages surveyed were removed for
orphans which threatens to break the very social the analysis used in the Profile.
fabric upon which communities survive. As such
TABLE 7 Selected urban neighbourhoods for the Profile Sample Survey
Town Sampled neighbourhoods

Maseru Qoaling, Ha Thetsane, Matala, Khubetsoana, Hoohlo, Ha Abia, Sekamaneng, T’sosane, Koalabata
Leribe towns Amerika, Ha Tlai-tlai, Ha Mathata, Temong
Mohale’s Hoek Ha Mapotsane, Mohlakeng
Mokhotlong Ntlholohetsane, Toropong (Matamong).
Thaba-Tseka Ha Bereng
Maseru Much of the city’s current expansion is into the Berea

Maseru is the capital city of Lesotho; it is the largest District to the North East which explains why the
urban area and the only city in Lesotho. The name city’s population is projected to be greater than the
Maseru supposedly means “place of the red earth” district’s.
after the sand stone called Leseru. Established as a
TABLE 8 Projected population growth of urban Maseru,
police camp and assigned the capital town status
2000 - 2025
after Lesotho became a British protectorate in 1866,
Maseru is right on Lesotho’s western border with Year Maseru Maseru District
the Republic of South Africa, the frontier being
2000 265,000
the Caledon River (Sesotho: Mohokare). It is the
main border crossing point on the road that leads 2005 342,000
to Ladybrand and then on to other parts of South 2010 454,000 453,571
Africa. Maseru has most industries and commercial
2015 599,000 480,274
activity in the country; Government offices area all
headquartered there. It has many buildings from 2020 782,000 508,605
colonial time, most of which are preserved. 2025 1,010,000 539,654
Source: Maseru, Molapo (2005): table 3.2; Maseru District from

the National Population projections36
8
INTRODUCTION
Towns in Leribe Mokhotlong town

Hlotse is the capital (camp) town for Leribe district. Mokhotlong is the capital (camp) town of Mokhotlong
Founded in 1876, it is named after the river on district. It was founded as a police fort in 1905. It
which it is located. It is known for good agricultural developed into a training centre for the people living
production both within the town and in the areas in the Highlands. An air strip and a gravel road were
surrounding it. In the 1970s, it was the seat of an built to link Mokhotlong with rest of Lesotho as it was
agricultural project, known as Leshoele vegetable and once very remote with no communication channels
grain production. It also retains some of the colonial with the rest of the country. It was named after the
buildings such as the District Administration offices Southern Bald Ibis (Geronticus calvus), known in
and the colonial army watch tower. Sesotho as “Mokhotlo”. It is the place where the
Polihali dam, that will supply water to South Africa,
On the main road to the north east from Maseru and is to be built. Mokhotlong town is on the road to Sani
also on the Mohokare (Caledon) River, Maputsoe pass (2,865m), an important tourism area that also
is a border town across the border bridge from the includes the highest mountain in Southern Africa. It
Free State town of Ficksburg, which gives access to is known for animal production (sheep) and for the
the Durban to Bloemfontein road. Founded after clean water in many rivers associated trout fishing.
independence to be an industrial hub outside and
second to Maseru, it is named after the village of Ha Thaba-Tseka town
Maputsoe. It is renowned for many industries ranging
from textiles to packaging of agricultural products. Thaba-Tseka was founded in 1975 to break the
It has highly productive red soils. With an estimated remoteness of the highlands areas of Lesotho. It
population of about 36,000, Maputsoe is the largest is the capital (camp) town for the Thaba-Tseka
town in Lesotho not to be a camp town. district with a population of around 6,000. Like the
other highlands towns, it is known for agricultural
Mohale’s Hoek town production particularly wool, mohair and potatoes,
Connectivity of Thaba-Tseka to Mokhotlong
Mohale’s Hoek was founded by the Baphuthi tribe and Qacha’s Nek remains rudimentary but road
in 1795 as it moved to areas south of the town, in improvements are planned for the coming years.
to what is now Quthing district. The area was then
settled by Basotho under Mohale, the younger
brother of Moshoeshoe I. The original area they
settled in is known as old Hoek, just outside the
present urban areas of Mohale’s Hoek. The village was
destroyed during the Siqiti war. When Lesotho was
proclaimed a British protectorate in 1869, the town
had an assistant commissioner.
INTRODUCTION 9
LESOTHO
END NOTES
19. Maleleka (2009).
1. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010b).
20. Maleleka (2009): table 5 and Kingdom of Lesotho (2010b).
2. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) (2013)
21. Kingdom of Lesotho (2014).
3. CIA (2014).
22. http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/lesotho/urban-population
4. Bureau of Statistics (2003) accessed 25 April, 2014
5. Bureau of Statistics (not dated, 2010?). 23. Duncan (1960); Machobane (1990) in Leduka (2012).
6. Kingdom of Lesotho (2014). 24. Bureau of Statistics (not dated).
7. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013a): appendix table 4 25. Silitshena et al. (2005).
8. UN-HABITAT (2005a): table B4. 26. Leduka (2012).
9. Maleleka (2009). 27. UN-HABITAT (2010b)
10. International Monetary Fund (2012): table 3.2. 28. Leduka (2012).
11. World Bank (2013) 29. Leduka (2012) and Kingdom of Lesotho (2010b).
12. Kingdom of Lesotho (2014). 30. Leduka (2012) and Kingdom of Lesotho (2010b).
13. (Kingdom of Lesotho, 2000). 31. UN-HABITAT (2014): 263 & 265
14. International Monetary Fund (2012). 32. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a): table 5.
15. UN-HABITAT (2012a); UN-HABITAT (2012b). 33. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a).
16. Maleleka (2009). 34. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a).
17. Dependency ratio is a measure of the number of dependants 35. Mphale et al. (2002).
to the number of economically active people.
36. Maseru, Molapo (2005): table 3.2; Maseru District (Kingdom
18. Maleleka (2009). of Lesotho, 2010a).
10
02
THE POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS IN THE HOUSING PROCESS
THE POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL

FRAMEWORKS IN THE HOUSING PROCESS
INTRODUCTION THE LEGAL AND REGULATORY

In this chapter, the main issue that presents itself is FRAMEWORK RELATING TO
that Lesotho has most of the institutional context HOUSING
and documentation for inclusive and orderly urban
Lesotho is a unitary state which has retained,
development, apart from a housing policy, but most
from colonial days, the Westminster type of two-
development occurs outside of their influence. The
tier parliamentary system which has a National
absence of a sustainable and inclusive framework
Assembly (Lower House with 120 members), the
for urban development in Lesotho has been largely
main law-making organ of the state, and a Senate
attributed to the lack of a national housing policy.
(Upper House) of 22 Principal chiefs and 11 other
This profile serves as an inception study for the
appointees, responsible for overseeing the work of the
development of a comprehensive national housing
Lower House.2
policy and strategy that will address the current
shortcomings of the role of the current government The country is divided into 10 districts, each with
with respect to ensuring adequate housing for its a main urban and business centre. Each of the
citizens. 10 district councils has a number of community
councils, 129 in all.
According to data given to Habitat for Humanity’s
Audit of Housing Policy in Lesotho, 70 per cent of Prior to the 2005 elections, local authorities were
supply is informal. Informal development occurs very mainly agents of central government. Various forms
rapidly in Lesotho but, as in formal development, of decentralisation have been tried between 1966
plots are very large; too large to be provided and 1986. Because it deprived the community of the
with infrastructure in a sustainable way. This is power to make decisions, the abolition of District
mitigated by the Planning Standards (1990; see Councils in 1969 had stifled local development and
below) allowing more than one household on a plot led to little trust in government institutions and
through the development of malaene1 in addition to poor involvement in development activities at local
the main dwelling. This not only increases density level.3 The establishment and democratisation of
but also provides income for the owners and cheap local government structures through the 2005 local
accommodation for the renters. government elections was an important development
in Lesotho bringing to an end the trial and error
period of decentralisation.4
THE POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS IN THE HOUSING PROCESS 11

LESOTHO
FIGURE 6 Map of Lesotho showing districts
12
During the one-party rule between 1970 and The Constitution also indirectly protects against
1986, Village Development Councils (VDCs) eviction. It prohibits “arbitrary seizure of property”
were established as nominated structures generally except when “provision is made by a law applicable
serving the interests of the ruling party. Traditional to that of full compensation”. Property may only be
leaders (chiefs) only served on councils as ex-officio acquired by the state in the interests of
members. In addition, Interim Community Councils
were introduced in 2002. The institutionalisation of “defence, public safety, public order, public
forms of local government helped in facilitating local morality, public health, town and country
level, community-based development. Communities planning or the development or utilisation of
can prioritise their own issues and enable government any property in such manner to provide public
interventions in them. According to Mattes et al.,5 benefit.”8
local government structures are seen to be more
National Strategic Development Plan
responsive than central government and inspire
greater popular confidence.6 Unfortunately, though Housing is one of the top MOLGC medium term
the local institutions are in place, they mostly do not priorities within its Strategic Plan (2009-2013).
have the capacity to perform as required in housing It aimed to facilitate the provision and delivery of
supply issues. affordable housing and shelter for all Basotho. Chief
among the deliverables is the development of the
Lesotho does not have a current housing policy.
National Housing Policy as the main framework
There was a national housing policy produced in
to guide housing development in the country. The
the late 1980s, but it was never implemented apart
preparation of this Profile is a stage in the process of
from the formation of the LHLDC. There is also
formulating a National Housing Policy.
a draft National Shelter Policy which included a
market driven shelter delivery approach, advocated National Strategic Development Plan (2012/13)-(2016/17)
transparent, efficient and consistent delivery systems,
and set out the development of an effective regulatory The National Strategic Development Plan is the
framework towards equitable access to shelter GoL’s Medium Term Plan to achieve accelerated and
delivery. It also sought to recognise, support and sustainable economic and social transformation. It
integrate all sectors of the economy, including the recognises the importance of housing; suggesting that
informal sector, into shelter delivery, and to localise the government intends to put important enabling
housing solutions.7 systems into place including facilitating some of
the components of the right to adequate housing;
Housing rights in the Constitution of Lesotho basic infrastructure provision, improving the quality
and safety standards of housing and ensuring their
The Principles of State Policy in the Constitution enforcement. It also suggests encouraging local
provide that the state should fulfil a number of policy construction, promoting increasing densities and
principles. Article 34 of the Constitution of Lesotho regularising property markets, developing housing
requires the state to adopt policies that encourage its finance, land markets and property development
citizens to acquire property, including land, houses, capacity, and identifying appropriate housing
tools, and equipment, as far as economic conditions solutions especially for low income households and
allow. Such principles, however, are not enforceable industrial workers.9
by the Constitution. As a consequence, a direct and
enforceable right to housing does not exist in Lesotho. Strategic objectives and actions for the Housing
The Bill of Rights in the Constitution provides for the Sector are:
“right to respect for private and family life”, which
provides that, • “Develop well planned and serviced human
settlements;
“every person shall be entitled to respect for his • Identify appropriate and cost-effective ways of
private [and] family life in his home unless these re-planning and accelerating integrated infra-
conflicts with the interest of defence, public safety, structure roll-out to human settlements.
public order, public morality or public health.”
• Promote urban densification both by reduc-
ing the average size of plots as this will make
housing more affordable by cutting capital
costs and bring people closer to essential

LESOTHO
infrastructure and social services, and by con- Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
structing more multi-storey residential build- ‘compact’
ings.
There is a Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)
• Improve access to and quality of housing; ‘compact’ between the US and the Lesotho
• Facilitate acquisition of land parcels for hous- government. Land administration reform is part of
ing developments and a well-developed land the private sector development component of the
and housing market. MCA ‘compact’ as a component aiming to achieve
improvement in the land laws and policies, in
• Facilitate access to housing finance (e.g.,
people`s awareness of land rights, especially women’s
establish a low-income housing fund, encour-
land rights, and in the efficiency of issuing of land
age financial institutions to design instru-
leases to people in urban areas, starting with Maseru.
ments for different segments of the market
In order to enhance land administration and land
and develop a housing resource mobilisation
administration services, the MCA supported the
strategy).
establishment of the Land Administration Authority
• Establish effective monitoring and control (see chapter 5).10
measures to improve standards.
The legislative and institutional reforms that have
• Evaluate and empower the public taken place to date include the Land Administration
housing development agencies (such as Act and the Land Act, both of 2010, the Land
Lesotho Housing and Land Development Regulations and Land Court regulations of 2011,
Corporation (LHLDC)) and explore ways of and the Draft Sectional Titles Bill of 2011. The main
increasing private participation in housing challenge that remains is access to land for poor
development. people (see chapter 5).11
• Regularise the housing rental market.
National Decentralisation Policy12
• Promote and expand production of local building
materials The objectives of the new decentralisation policy are,
• Conduct research and encourage develop- • Increasing citizens’ access to services;
ment of domestic materials and promote their
• Ensuring quality (sic) and accountable service
use.
deliver at local levels;
• Train and capacitate local producers in entre-
• Increasing participation of citizens and non-state
preneurial, managerial and competitiveness
organisations in governance and service delivery;
skills and enable them to improve quality of
products. • Promoting equitable economic development;
These are a reasonable set of priorities for any • Promoting livelihood and economic security;
country but their respective usefulness and focus, • Enhancing local autonomy; and
e.g., establishing a low-income housing fund, will be • Promoting national values, identity and unity by
addressed within the Profile. re-positioning and empowering the chieftainship.
The Lesotho United Nations Development Many of these are relevant for this Profile. In
Assistance Plan – LUNDAP 2012 addition, as would be expected, in a decentralisation
strategy, it is committed to subsidiarity; the principle
Within its Governance and Institutions cluster, that decisions should be made at the lowest level
this document aims to promote peace, democratic commensurate with efficiency. This is accompanied
governance and build effective institutions. Its by an aim to create greater autonomy in decision-
outcomes would be that, by 2017, national and making for local governments and an intention to
local governance structures would deliver quality support local governments in their efforts to raise
and accessible services to all citizens, respecting and collect revenues. These are extremely relevant to
the protection of human rights, but there is no housing when conditions in the districts are different
direct reference to housing. This is one of the signs from those in the capital. Unfortunately, there is
that housing has not been a priority policy issue in insufficient institutional capacity for local authorities
Lesotho for many years. to perform as needed in housing and infrastructure
supply issues.
14
THE POVERTY REDUCTION The PRS calls for National Settlement and Shelter
policies.17 The former is in need of revision and
STRATEGY’S (PRS) POLICY
the latter is being developed with this Profile and
ON SHELTER a first step. The PRS suggests establishing effective
The PRS13 recognises problems that need to be monitoring and control measures to improve
addressed as including lack of access to finance standards. It proposes empowering the public housing
and housing development solutions that enable development agencies (such as Lesotho Housing and
households and entrepreneurs to own or rent at Land Development Corporation (LHLDC)) and
acceptable terms. It sees a need to regularise property exploring ways of increasing private participation in
rental markets, especially to ensure safety and housing development. This is a standard way forward
orderliness, and to improve access to water, sanitation proposed in several Sub-Saharan African countries
and roads. There is also a perceived need to reduce but tends only to provide housing at the top of the
urban sprawl. market. This will be seen in more detail later in the
Profile.
Further expansion of the housing sector is seen to
have economic potential for the development of PRS recognises a need to regularise the housing rental
Lesotho. It creates jobs in both construction and market; to promote and expand production of local
materials production, and property can serve as building materials; and improve training for builders
collateral for households seeking loans to establish to enable them to improve quality of products.
business ventures.14
Housing development is also linked with the Physical
In response, the PRS15 contains strategic objectives and Economic plans to develop growth poles and
and actions focusing on housing and related issues. with the medium to long-term budget and financing
It commits to strategies.18
• Improving and developing well-planned and The PRS also recognises that there are some vulnerable
serviced human settlements. The process suggested groups including those in slums/squatter settlements,
in the PRS includes rolling out planning and elderly and OVCs and the poor, that need to be
infrastructure provision to unplanned settlements assisted to live in decent dwellings. Many of these
in appropriate and cost-effective ways. issues are dealt with in this Housing Profile.
• Developing a national land-use plan and Planning for housing
implementation strategy;
There are legal and regulatory instruments in place to
• Reviewing and/or developing town and area enable forward planning and control development.
physical plans and implementation strategies They are, however, outdated and inappropriate for
• Promoting increased densities in urban areas current urban conditions.
both by reducing the average size of plots and
Town and Country Planning Act, 1980
by constructing more multi-storey residential
buildings. Both of these are seen to make housing This 34 year old act is the most recent to control
more affordable by cutting capital costs and planning in urban Lesotho. It aims to ensure orderly
bringing people closer to infrastructure and other development of land in urban areas. It established
services.16 planning boards, declared planning areas and set
out procedures for the preparation of physical plans.
The PRS seeks to improve access to and quality of
Silitshena et al19 declare that, despite its existence,
housing through making acquisition of land for
no visible sign can be found that town and country
housing easier and facilitating access to housing
planning has been practised. Everyone does as they
finance. In these, it is seen as important to have
like.
a well-developed land/housing market and to
encourage financial institutions to design instruments Planning: Development Control
for different segments of the market and develop a
housing resource mobilisation strategy. One of the The aim of the Town and Country Planning Act
financial tools suggested is a low income housing 1980 is to promote orderly development of land and
fund. improvement of the amenities thereof (Figure 7). It is
augmented by various regulations, as follows:

LESOTHO
• The Development Control Code, 1989; • The Planning Standards, 1990 which sets
minimum standards for development;
• The Development Regulations, 1991 which
regulate land use and building use classes;
• The Building Control Act, 1995 and its
Regulations 1999.
FIGURE 7 Planned development of a mixed-class neighbourhood in Maseru
The Physical Planning Department of the Ministry of There is no direct linkage between physical planning
Local Government, Chieftainship and Parliamentary activities and the Land Administration Authority
Affairs (MLGCPA), is responsible for orderly planning (LAA). In areas with planned layouts, the LAA has
overall but Development Control is delegated to regularised sites which contradict local planning
councils. Applicants pay a fee of one per cent of intentions. For example, leases have been granted to
the project cost for development control. Through sites which block a road in the layout. Better liaison
the Environment Act, the Ministry of Environment is essential in the future.20
shares responsibility for Physical Planning.
Under the Development Control Order, setbacks are
In order to allow small-scale development to be stipulated for plots; five metres at the front and 3.5
relatively straightforward, Lesotho has a permitted metres on the other sides. The Development Control
development clause in the planning law. Development Code, which sets out the regulations, stipulates that,
of less than 10 per cent of a site requires no planning normally, only one dwelling is allowed per plot except
permission. Additionally, a rondavel and/or a for the addition of malaene rental units to an area not
boundary wall up to two metres high can be built exceeding that of the main dwelling
without permission.
Under the Building Control Act, 1995, local
There is a general lack of capacity to enforce planning authorities are given the duty of controlling buildings
and development control regulations in urban Lesotho. in their jurisdiction, through a building control officer.
In addition, institutional problems in the planning The building authority must approve all buildings
system have contributed to creating uncertainty. before construction is started and may disallow their
16
building on the grounds of unsightliness or danger to be provided for low income households through
life or property. Approval only lasts for twelve months public standpipes (tap stands) at a rate of one per 20
if the construction work has not started by then and households or plots, within 100 m and not across a
24 months if not finished by then. The building main road. Refuse tips should be provided at 0.5m3
authority may also grant exemption from permission per person per year.
for small developments. The authority must grant a
certificate of occupancy before the building can be The standards are unaffordable for Basotho households
occupied.21 so it is no surprise that they are largely ignored.
The draft National Shelter Policy

The building permit is issued after inspection
and approval of the building plans and diagrams. In preparation for many years and running to at least
The following documents are necessary: lease (if three different draft reports, the National Shelter
applicable), building plans, and drawings along Strategy is still in draft form, awaiting approval by
with a duly completed application form. A lack of the cabinet, but will need to be rewritten in light of
resources and capacity constrains the municipality’s this profile.
ability to carry out inspections during the construction
phase.22 In 2009, MLGCPA produced a Background
Report26 which covered some of the ground covered
Planning: Standards in this Profile. It relied on national data, rather than
urban, and ended with findings (from focus group
Promulgated in 1990, the planning standards23 discussions) that most households would like a
establish the regulatory aspects of planning and set bungalow with two rooms with all services. The
minimum standards below which developments problems of keeping communal facilities and areas
should not fall. Developed by Swedish consultants were highlighted by those currently sharing.
in very much the prevailing style of the day, they
set out regulations for housing and other uses. In In addressing the likely number of dwellings, the
relation to housing, they support the “inestimable Background Report27 argued that there is one
value” of a plot large enough to grow vegetables household per dwelling and, therefore, the number of
on and the productivity of urban gardening in dwellings is equal to the population divided by mean
comparison to arable land. At the same time, it poses household size (then 4.6).
the issue that large plots may force lower ambitions
for infrastructure provision and longer cost-recovery The Sectional Titles Bill
times. In response to the above, it sets a minimum This piece of legislation, which is in its final stages
plot size of 375m2, and a normal range of 375 to towards approval, is eagerly anticipated by many
1,000m2. Where septic tanks are to be used, 600m2 stakeholders as a way of allowing multi-storey
should be a minimum. The densities resulting are 26 development for sale rather than just for rent as is
plots per Ha for the smaller plots and 10 plots per currently done. LHLDC, among others, intends to
Ha for the larger. At 50 per cent of land used for develop flats as soon as the Bill becomes law.28
residential, this gives grow densities of only between
five and 13 plots per Ha.
KEY PLAYERS IN HOUSING
Silitshena et al24 attempt to take this further by
calculating that at a (then) mean household size of Public Sector
4.38 persons, a 375 m2 minimum plot generates a There are several public sector players with interests
maximum legal density of 85.6m2 per person (117 in housing and infrastructure supply whose functions
person per Ha.). This seems to be in error as the are not clearly demarcated and which do not appear
Development Control Code25 allows for the addition to co-operate very effectively.
of malaene rental units (above) which could increase
density by at least a factor of two. As the Profile points Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship
out below, this ability to build additional malaene is and Parliamentary Affairs (MLGCPA)
an important feature for the provision of affordable
The ministry with housing as part of its remit is
housing supply in the future.
the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship
Infrastructure for water and sanitation appear in the and Parliamentary Affairs. Not only is housing only
standards for residential provision. Water should allocated a small part of a ministry, as is common

LESOTHO
to the other countries for which a profile has been and other relevant stakeholders. It has recently built
written, but the ministry in question does not 17 low-income dwellings at Linakotseng in peri-
even contain the name of Housing in its title. In urban Maseru. They are currently nearly complete
addition, the same ministry is responsible for land. but have been given to LHLDC to finish them off.
The Department of Housing within the MLGCPA The MLGCPA is charged with supporting local
is meant to have a complement of a Director, a councils, promoting effective land management and
Chief Housing Officer, two Housing Officers and administration, facilitating the delivery of affordable
four Assistant Housing Officers. The Department formal housing in planned neighbourhoods, and
of Housing decides policy direction and passes it on supporting chieftaincy.29
to LHLDC (which is an older organization by far)
FIGURE 8 Low-income housing at Linakotseng being built by the MLGCPA
Other ministries involved The Lesotho Housing and Land Development

Corporation (LHLDC)
The Ministry of the Public Service is responsible
for provision of good quality and effective human LHLDC is a state-owned developer, which was
resources management services to the Government established following the National Housing Policy of
Ministries and Agencies. It is also charged with 1987, as a provider of housing for all. It was a merger
overseeing the performance of the line Ministries and of the Lesotho Housing Corporation (LEHCO-OP),
their compliance to the laws and regulations governing a government-supported provider of low-cost housing
the Public Service. Through its Remuneration set up in 1975 and the Lower Income Housing
and Benefits department, the Ministry of Public Company (LHC), set up in 1971 with the support
Service processes applications for housing loans and of CIDA and the World Bank. The merger took place
government housing.30 to maximize resources, and the new organization has
three broad mandates:
The Ministry of Works and Transport has responsibility
for promoting the construction industry.31 • to develop serviced sites,
• to provide rental accommodation, and
The Ministry of Social Development is charged with
enabling the regulatory and institutional environment • to provide home ownership.
for those who assist the poor and vulnerable groups.32 The operational activities performed by the LHLDC
Other government agencies join the ministries include the development, upgrading and servicing
mentioned above in housing some of their staff of land and housing. Initially, LHLDC took up the
through the government’s housing stock and drawing projects that were still outstanding from both and
a small percentage of their salary at source. The completed them by 1989. From LHC it inherited
government builds a few houses and issues tenders some rental housing which is mostly occupied by
for time to time for their construction projects.33 expatriates and a home-ownership scheme of 42-55m2
18
housing for ownership that was under construction. FIGURE 11 Original LEHCO-OP housing at Khubetsoana,
In addition, it took on the MCC project in Thetsane. Maseru
Earlier schemes inherited from LEHCO-OP

incorporated the building of dwellings either by aided
self-help or (increasingly with time) contractors in
Mohalalitoe co-operative (1976-78) and Khubetsoana
site and service scheme (1981-83).
FIGURE 9 Aerial view of Mohalalitoe showing triangular

plots and greatly extended housing
FIGURE 12 An original LEHCO-OP cement-block two-

roomed dwelling (right) and a later transformation into a
high-income villa in Khubetsoana
Between 1989 and 2006/7 financial year, LHLDC

FIGURE 10 Khubetsoana showing higher original density concentrated on providing serviced sites for different
and extensive extension activity income groups. By 2010/2011, the LHLDC had
delivered 9,519 serviced sites, mostly in Maseru. The
different income groups’ housing is differentiated
by the amount of servicing provided up-front. The
lowest cost plots have basic servicing consisting of
gravel roads and water mains along the roads with
a connection in the front of plots. Middle income
housing has street-lighting in addition. High income
plots are fully serviced including a septic tank
sanitation system.34 They have been provided on the
basis of full cost recovery with a profit. The purchasers
of plots had to use cement blocks and corrugated
metal sheet roofing. LHLDC has launched a project
for 400 dwellings for middle income ownership
(Figure 14), costing M480,000 each in 2006, but
At Khubetsoana, LEHCO-OP had provided serviced the institution continues to concentrate on providing
sites of 190 m2 meant for owner occupation through serviced plots, with 60 per cent of them intended
assisted self-help. The houses were built to a simple for low-income households.35 Because of its need
plan, first by guided self-help but later by contractors, to remain financially sustainable, it has shifted
with pit latrines and gravel roads. The dwellings away from any intention to focus on low-income
followed a simple form, known as polata in Lesotho, households to those of high net worth who can pay
that were sited on one side of the plot so that they cash up front; access to its plots is based exclusively
could be extended out from the main side façade. on affordability,36 as have its equivalents elsewhere in
Sub-Saharan Africa.

LESOTHO
FIGURE 13 Khubetsoana (left) is clearly higher density than its neighbours
TABLE 9 Distribution of LHLDC plots provided FIGURE 14 LHLDC middle income housing
before 2005
Estate Number
Thetsane Phases 1 & 2 2,075
Matala Phases 1 & 2 888
Masowe Phases 1 & 2 1,458
Total Maseru 4,431
Mafeteng 334
Mohale’s Hoek 84
Quthing 293
Teyateyaneng 1,125
Hlotse 116
Total 6,374 Phase II consisted of 81 units situated at Phomolong,
Maseru South Urban, on 1,650 hectares of land.
Source: Silitshena et al, table 4.3.37
The loan, which was to be repaid over three years,
LHLDC has a few rental apartments inherited from including a grace period of 18 months, represented
LHC which it manages. It has a few flats in central 59 per cent of the total project cost estimated at
Maseru let for M4,000 to M6,000 (Figure 14) and is US $2.3 million.38 The balance was to be funded
planning to build 50 apartments for first-time buyers. from the developer’s equity. It was not taken up by
The forthcoming Sectional Titles Act will assist in this LHLDC.
type of development for sale to occupiers.
Although the Corporation has improved in recent
In 2009, a loan of M12 million was offered to the years, it is still inadequately equipped to address the
LHLDC by Kenya-based Shelter Afrique to co- needs of low income groups.39 In this it is similar to
finance the construction of Phase II of the Masowe III the state agencies charged with housing supply in
project. Phase I involved the construction of 34 units. Malawi, Ghana and Zambia.40
20
FIGURE 15 LHLDC flats in central Maseru • Central Government seems to lack political
commitment in resolving management problems
of Maseru City Council;
• Central Government has not transferred the
authority and legal powers to provide of services
and enforcement of regulations;
• The Council is poorly resourced to carry out all
its functions and responsibilities both financially
and in human resources, so it does not perform
well and level of services are very poor;
• The Council’s top management is weak and
ineffective;
• Key departments (finance, personnel and
purchasing) are poorly managed so their key
functions are not being effectively performed;
Local authorities
• Pay and conditions are too poor to attract
Local government was established under the Urban professionals of the right calibre;
Government Act of 1983 and then again by the Local
There is poor staff morale and the public has little
Government Act of 1997, which came into operation
confidence in the MCC.46
in December, 2001. The Act established three types
of local government; 128 Community Councils, 10 Although the MMC is the authority for forward
District Councils (consisting of two nominees from planning in Maseru, it has to seek approval of its
each community council) and only one Municipal plan from the MLGCPA. Development control was
Council, for Maseru. In April 2005, they were elected. allocated to the MCC under the Town and Country
Customary chiefs can be elected as councils members Planning Act, 1980. Contrary to this, the Local
but they are not there as ex-officio chairpersons as Government Act 1997, as amended in 2007, however,
they were in the past.41 gave the MMC power for forward planning. Under
the Land Act 2010, local authorities can allocate land
Under the MLGCPA, and by the Land Act 2010, land
and conduct planning functions without reference to
allocation and planning falls under the responsibilities
the MLGCPA.
of the Local Authorities. They lack funding and
efficient systems of financial management and The zoning of land in Maseru, made through
accountability, however, and rely mostly on central development plans developed by MCC, has been
government for revenues, collecting hardly any allowed to lapse through lack of quinquennial review
revenues in their own areas.42 of the plans. This has led citizens to feel free to ignore
zoning and develop informally.
Maseru Municipal Council (MMC)43
MMC was first established as Maseru City Council Major Employers

(MCC) in 1989 by the Urban Government Act Major employers provide housing for their employees.
(UGA) of 1983. The City Council’s responsibilities There are large estates for personnel of the forces,
included the collection of waste, provision and prison service and police. Indeed, Maseru started as a
maintenance of streets and access roads, and the police post. Many government employees are housed
management of the city.44 by their ministries and pay a small amount of their
Set up in 2005, five years after the dissolution of the salary as rent. Thus, most institutional housing is tied
chaotic Maseru City Council by the Military regime, to employment.
MMC has inherited many problems from its previous
incarnation. These are related by Leduka45 as:
• The Urban Government Act [1983] does not
clearly define MCC’s management control and
responsibilities;

LESOTHO
FIGURE 16 Basic police housing. Note the very low FIGURE 17 Higher income police housing (Matekane
density Group HQ is in the background)
PRIVATE SECTOR The contractors are usually artisans who have a set
of other workers upon whose services they can call
Private developers to implement the parts of the building work they
The formal real estate market is poorly developed cannot or do not want to do themselves. So, a mason/
and private sector developers are discouraged from bricklayer will have friends who are carpenters,
providing housing because of difficulty of obtaining plumbers, plasterers, electricians, etc. They tend to
land. The strong demand for property expressed work together on labour-only contracts with the
by the expatriate and high income community has householder providing the materials and paying them
recently resulted in construction of a few relatively at the end of a phase, or daily or weekly rather than by
high density, enclosed real estate developments, the job. Contractors may not to have access to front-
similar to those in South African cities. One actor in end finance so cannot supply materials or pay labour
this is the locally owned Matekane Property, part of themselves. In addition, they use very low technology
the Matekane Group of Companies (MGC). It has and locally available materials.
developed Mpilo Estate of 20 luxury three-bedroom The contractors will build any type of dwelling but the
units and Hilton Estate, with 15 units to be built to majority are either ‘malaene’ (rows of single or double
order, is in the planning phase.47 The Mpilo estate was interconnecting rooms, sometimes with a kitchen,
intended as a place where owners would have their constructed mainly for renting) or bungalows of
own dwellings designed and then Matekane would various standards.
build them. When only a few plots were developed
in this way, MGC developed the remainder for sale. This supply chain, with its very low overheads and
basic levels of technology, finishes, and equipment,
Households with small contractors generates very cheap housing, often at a small
fraction of the cost of formal housing of similar size.
The main housing supply mechanism in Sub-Saharan
Prices may depend as much on the perceived wealth
Africa is the myriad of households who decide to
of the client as the cost of doing the job. Most of this
have their own dwelling and engage a local, informal
development is beyond any official control and tends
sector contractor to build it. The householder must
to develop slowly, consuming large areas of land for
save or borrow the money, obtain land, gather
long periods before development is complete (Figure
together the materials, and enter into a relationship
18 and Figure 19).
with a contractor or carry out the work themselves
by self-help. Even in so-called self-help housing,
contractors are often engaged for parts of the work.
The close relationship that residents of cities in Sub-
Saharan Africa have with the local construction
process is partly evidenced by the universal awareness
of the price of cement. Everyone one might ask in
Maseru knows how much cement costs per 50kg
bag; something which is unbelievable to people from
Western Europe.48
22
FIGURE 18 Low-density informal development of various standards of housing, peri-urban Maseru.
FIGURE 19 Low-density informal development, Mafiteng Despite this loss of legal power from the hands of
customary chiefs, housing land can easily be bought
informally or extra-legally from sub-divided fields
(masimo). Chiefs have encouraged their subjects to
subdivide their masimo because without it they could
lose it to state appropriation with compensation
that is very low. The chiefs have issued ‘Form C’
certificates to those who bought the plots and
backdated them to before June 1980, because the law
allows the conversion of ‘Form C’ certificates from
then into formally registered leaseholds.51 Thus, the
chiefs retain some of their powers.
The NDP recognises that the role of chiefs should
be reviewed as they can contribute greatly to local
TRADITIONAL LEADERS AND governance and efficient development, and can carry
CUSTOMARY LANDOWNERS out helpful conflict-resolution and bring land into
the urbanisation process within a context of social
Customary chiefs cohesion rather than antagonism.52
Chiefs are referred to in the National Decentralisation
Policy (NDP)48 as “the fulcrum of Basotho NON-GOVERNMENT
nationalism and governance.” Though their land
allocation powers have been removed from them,
ORGANISATIONS
There is a strong NGO presence in Lesotho but most
“As Kapa (2005), Shale (2005), Leduka (2006) and are focused on rural issues, especially concerning
Quinlan and Wallis (2003) all note, in the absence women’s rights and response to the HIV/AIDS
of local government, chiefs have remained useful pandemic.
and respected symbols of grassroots authority
and attempts to remove them from local policy Habitat for Humanity Lesotho (HFHL)
matters in the past have rarely paid dividends”.49 HFHL is a non-profit, Christian charity which started
Until 1980, land allocations in peri-urban work in Lesotho in 2001. Seeking to eradicate poverty
neighbourhoods were controlled by local chiefs using housing, it combines housing improvement with
customary land tenure rules. Under the Land Act of community development. It is an affiliate of Habitat
1979, however, the right to manage land was taken for Humanity International, largely funded through
away from the chiefs and replaced with local land donations from churches and other organisations
administration institutions.50 Customary tenure is and individuals. Its method of operation includes a
now also abolished by the Land Act, 2010. measure of international volunteering to help educate

LESOTHO
people in Europe and North America to the realities TABLE 10 HFHL’s activities
of poverty.
Intervention Cost
In Lesotho, HFHL projects target orphans and Two roomed dwellings of 7.2m x 3.6m (26m ) 2
vulnerable children (OVCs) and their households with concrete floors and plastered interior US$5,000
which may be a child-headed household, and/or walls.
include an elderly grandparent, disabled caregiver Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrines
or an abusive parent. HFHL has provided a safe and constructed with concrete and/or corrugated US$800
decent shelter through the construction of 354 two- iron with appropriate ventilation.
roomed dwellings suitable for a household of five Water tanks ranging from 500 litres to 5000 US$800 to
people (Figure 20) but its construction programme litres. US1,000
is now suspended. Each dwelling is constructed in Repairs and Rehabilitation - A solution
cement block or brick with corrugated iron roofs and offered to OVC households living in unsafe US$800
range from a single-room addition to three-roomed shelter that improves it with minor repairs.
dwellings. All houses have a detached ventilated pit Inheritance Rights and Security of Tenure
latrine and access to safe drinking water, by providing Training and Home Maintenance and US$25 per
water tanks where needed. The recipient households Hygiene Training (minimum of 10 persons per training
training).
and over 100 others have received training on house
maintenance and basic hygiene and are in possession Source: Presentation at the Stakeholders’ Workshop, January,
of land ownership documents. There is also training on 2014
inheritance rights & security of tenure to beneficiary

OVC households to reduce the vulnerability of their BRIEF HISTORY OF URBAN HOUSING
children. IN LESOTHO
By working in partnership with other NGOs, CBOs, The Lesotho Housing and Land Development
government bodies and the local communities, Corporation (LHLDC) is the agency charged with
HFHL ensures an all-round response to the needs assisting government in meeting the shelter needs of
of the recipient households. OVCs can maintain all Basotho by providing a variety of housing sites as
familiar home environment with close access to well as home ownership and rental accommodation
extended family and/or familial support networks. options to cater for a wide spectrum of income levels
in the most cost effective manner available.
Increasing community knowledge of inheritance and
property rights has been a focus for HFHL, through An assessment of the housing sector undertaken a
training and advocacy campaigns, registering wills few years ago revealed that most housing is provided
and enabling the training of 60 paralegals by the informally, constructed by the owner, and financed
Master of the High Court to train communities in by the individual savings.
inheritance rights and security of tenure. Community
engagement and participation is high on HFHL’s Foreign donors have been a major element in the
agenda as is job creation through use of local labour evolution of housing strategies and supply in Maseru.
to provide construction skills that can be used for In the immediate post-independence period the
local economic development. UK continued to assist in constructing civil service
housing, much of it for expatriate personnel. Later,
the UK government was involved to a small extent
FIGURE 20 Habitat for Humanity dwelling in Lesotho with funding the initial survey and design work for
the Mabote project (Devas, 1989).
The UN’s Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
assisted the first housing project aimed at lower
income groups, the housing cooperative project at
Mohalalitoe built by the Lower Income Housing
Company. The pioneering approach of this project
interested other donors so that both the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) and the
World Bank assisted in follow-up projects undertaken
by LEHCoop, including Khubetsoana.53 The World
Bank’s involvement was part of a wider strategy of
24
urban development which included the upgrading LEHCo-op provided the plans and supervised
of a large area of ‘informal housing’ called Thamaes construction.57 As is common in sites and services
and setting up the Municipal Council for Maseru. projects, most construction was done by private
The Bank’s involvement is continued through a builders hired by the plot owners.
Second Urban Project to upgrade further areas in
Maseru South and to develop a large sites and services Applicants were selected from those having incomes
programme at Thetsane.54 at about the median for Maseru. Loans were available
from a revolving fund with an interest rate of 9 per
Mohalalitoe housing co-operative scheme (1976-8) cent to cover on-site infrastructure, building materials,
was aimed at households with incomes below the construction labour and technical assistance. The
median level. It involved laying out 300 m2 plots and land and off-site infrastructure (such as it was) were
servicing them with water and sewerage connections; financed by the donors and the government. Despite
the construction of 270 dwellings (in the first phase) better efforts at collection and the eviction of a number
and the provision of some community facilities. of long-standing defaulters, arrears were a problem.58
Groups of households were expected to collaborate The plots at Khubetsoana are now considered to be
to construct their dwellings. The buildings were of too small and alien to Basotho tradition.
high standard with brick walls, asbestos sheet roofing,
concrete floors and internal sanitation. The standard Although these two schemes were innovative, they
plan was for an L-shaped, three-roomed dwelling plus provided only a fraction of the housing required for
sanitary core, capable of extension. Plans, materials the growing urban population at the time and had
and technical supervision were provided by LEHCo- little influence on housing outside their boundaries.
op which set up the necessary Technical Services Most of the increasing population had been
Organization.55 accommodated informally, either within existing
informal settlements or by new ones in the peri-urban
There was a single mortgage to the housing co-operative area. In 1984, the World Bank started an upgrading
for which beneficiaries would repay the costs of on-site scheme for many of the informal areas in Maseru. It
infrastructure, building materials and direct technical involved a rationalisation of the road network with
assistance for construction. The costs of land, off-site main routes being covered with tarmac; provision of
infrastructure and overheads would be absorbed by a water reticulation network with public standpipes
the donor and the Lesotho government. In practice, and the opportunity for private connections; street
the eventual subsidy element was considerably greater lighting; and a refuse collection service. Loans were
than had been intended. Its pioneering approach offered for the construction of improved dwellings
not surprisingly led to problems, especially with and the newly-developed VIP latrines. A number
certain aspects of cooperative management, such as of serviced plots were also made available on vacant
collaboration between households in construction land within the areas. The work was carried out
and the development of community facilities. Much through a special Project Coordination Unit attached
of the construction work was carried out by LEHCo- to the Ministry of Interior and financed jointly by
op’s skilled workers. There was a high rate of default the World Bank and the government; this unit was
in payments but the project provided good quality later incorporated into the newly established Maseru
housing for a number of lower-middle-income Municipal Council.59
households.56
Although the World Bank upgrading intended to
Khubetsoana followed on from the Mohalalitoe regularise land tenure rights by replacing existing
project in 1981, although without the co-operative traditional rights with formal leases issued by the
approach. Its dwelling price had to be drastically government, most people regarded their existing
reduced to make the project affordable by lower- titles to be adequate and the necessary survey was
income groups without the large but hidden subsidy too expensive. Thus it was only those who wished
involved in Mohalalitoe. CIDA and the World to obtain a mortgage or to sell their plots who were
Bank assisted with finance and they both insisted on interested in obtaining the new titles. The project
reductions in standards to help with both affordability envisaged cost recovery through a plot development
and full cost-recovery. Service standards were cut to charge, but it was never collected. Anyway, many of
pit latrines and public standpipes (although plot the poorer households could only have paid it if they
connections were also available). Plot sizes were sold and moved out!60
reduced to 190 m2 and simple two-room, extendable
dwellings were built in blockwork instead of bricks.

LESOTHO
Housing development began in the Mabote area Fortunately, perhaps, the informal sector has taken
following the Khubetsoana project close by as field over as the major supplier of housing, even though
holders sold their land to all-comers. Plots tended to be much of it is unserviced, and the low-income
30mx30m (900m2) with some buyers joining together population has been largely provided for by home-
up to four (3,600m2) but development was sparse owners constructing and renting out malaene on their
and chaotic. With help from the UK, the Lesotho plots. This is specifically allowed for in the 1980 Town
government established a Mabote project team in and Country Planning Act. In this way, the number
1985 to survey and draw up a development plan for of dwellings seems to have kept pace with need.
the 630 Ha site including plots, some servicing, road
lines and open spaces. With some difficulty owing There was a National Housing Policy produced
to competing claims to land and disputes over plot in 1987, but it was never implemented apart from
boundaries, a rational layout was established and the formation of the LHLDC from LEHCo-op
reduced further unauthorised allocations by field- and LHC. A National Shelter Strategy has been in
holders. Although this project guided the pattern of preparation for many years, running to at least three
development and provided some services, it has not different draft reports. It is not influencing policy at
benefited the poor significantly, as the plots were present and copies are very difficult to find.
quite expensive in the first place. There were a total Between 1989 and 2007, LHLDC concentrated on
of 3,600 plots demarcated between 1986 and 1990 providing serviced sites for different income groups
accommodating 4,400 households (18,600 people).61 of which it has delivered 9,519, mostly in Maseru.
Only about one-third of occupants at the end of the The lowest cost plots have basic servicing while high
1980s were below the median of the Maseru income income plots are fully serviced including a septic
distribution62. tank sanitation system. They have been provided on
Thetsane, quite a conventional site and service the basis of full cost recovery with a profit. LHLDC
scheme, benefited from the experience of Mabote by has recently built 400 dwellings for middle income
ensuring that field owners did not feel compelled to ownership (Figure 14), costing M480,000 each
sell before they could lose their land to government in 2006. Because of its need to remain financially
without reasonable compensation. It covers 180 Ha sustainable, it has shifted to building for customers of
and was designed for 1,500 serviced sites in a variety high net worth who can pay cash up front.
of sizes and service standards to serve low-, middle- MLGCPA is currently building a few low-income
and high-income groups. A system of cross-subsidies dwellings at Linakotseng on the periphery of Maseru
was planned to ensure that about half the plots are but they are likely to be too costly for most low-
affordable by those with incomes below the median. income households.
Plot holders could obtain loans from the Building
Finance Corporation for the construction of housing
and assistance with materials and supervision. CAPACITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT
It is clear that, although many of the necessary
Since these relatively active times in the 1970s
institutions and legislation are in place, the regulatory
and 1980s, Lesotho housing supply policy and
framework and capacity of the actors in the process
performance has settled into the orthodoxy of the
are inadequate to respond to the scale of housing need
late 20th Century, provided by the enabling approach
in urban Lesotho. As an example of how government
encouraged by UN-HABITAT and the World
institutions need more capacity to carry out the
Bank. Lesotho has, in common with many other
required activities in enabling housing supply over
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, fulfilled one side
the next decade or so, the Department Planning and
of enablement without intervening in the other. So,
Development in MMC is short of the following staff;
while the government and its agencies withdrew from
about half its total complement:
direct interventions in housing supply, as advised by
the enabling approach, it has not formulated and The two most senior positions in Planning are
implemented the policies to reduce bottlenecks in vacant as is the Chief Valuer’s job. There are
the land, finance, infrastructure, construction and vacancies for three out of six senior planners,
building materials sectors. Thus, formal housing four out of four planners. In the Lands Office,
initiatives have largely disappeared. the lands officer, the valuations officer and four
assistant planner/land economist posts are vacant.
26
The main capacity challenges facing housing in or no longer effective in its intended sphere. Major
Lesotho is for there to be sufficient capacity within government documents show the right intentions on
the institutions to encourage well located and efficient housing-related issues but action is less forthcoming.
development (however it occurs) and discourage There is no dedicated housing ministry, nor one with
poorly located and inefficient development of housing. housing even in its title. No formal institution is
The presence of a housing policy may help this but it affecting the housing supply for the majority except
must enable a workable collaboration between public through providing small quantities of relatively high-
and household activity. The task of the institutions in cost housing but greater quantities of infrastructure
the future is more likely to be one of encouragement, and land registration. As elsewhere in Sub-Saharan
enablement and promotion of multiple households’ Africa, estate developers have a small effect on
housing supply efforts rather than directly developing housing stock but the majority of housing is provided
a few thousand dwellings. Staff needs are likely to be by the households in informal contracts with local
moving away from technical professions to those of small-scale builders.
promoting the activity of others towards positive
housing outcomes. Customary chiefs have no rights over land allocation
any more but their presence, significance and activity
are fundamental to the current housing process. The
BRIEF CONCLUSIONS almost ubiquitous backdated Form Cs give a perceived
Lesotho has most of the necessary institutional and security to many householders in the informal areas
regulatory framework in place for secure ownership of urban Lesotho.
of property and systematic planning of urban
development, but much of it is inefficient, obsolete
END NOTES
22. IFC and The World Bank (2013).
1. See chapter 3.
2. Matlosa and Shale (2007) in Maleleka (2009).
24. Silitshena et al (2005).
3. Maleleka (2009).
4. Shale (2006) in Maleleka (2009).
5. Mattes et al. (2000).
6. Maleleka (2009).
28. Presentation at the Stakeholders’ Workshop by Mpho
7. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) Molapo, MD of LHLDC, January, 2014.
(2013).
29. http://www.gov.ls/local/.
8. UN-HABITAT (2005b).
30. http://www.mps.gov.ls.
9. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF)
31. http://www.gov.ls/works/
(2013).
32. http://www.gov.ls/social/default.php.
34. Septic tank sanitation system was partly provided in one
of the projects because house owners moved in before
13. International Monetary Fund (2012). WASCO serviced the area. LHLDC has successfully worked
14. International Monetary Fund (2012). with WASCO to see that projects are sewered (Personal
15. International Monetary Fund (2012). communication, MLGCPA).
16. Affordability is one of the components of the right to 35. Stakeholder interview, LHLDC.
adequate housing, 36. Leduka (2012)
17. http://www.lesothoembassyrome.com/about11.htm accessed 37. Silitshena et al. (2005).
24 April, 2014. 38. http://www.lesothoreview.com/construction.htm
18. International Monetary Fund (2012). 39. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF)
19. Silitshena et al (2005). (2013).
20. Presentation at the Stakeholder Workshop, January 2014, by 40. UN-HABITAT (2010a); UN-HABITAT (2012a); UN-HABITAT
Masetori Makhetha, Chief Physical Planner, MLGCP. (2012b).
21. http://www.commonlii.org/ls/legis/num_act/bca1995181.pdf. 41. Leduka (2012).

LESOTHO
42. Kingdom of Lesotho (2014). 51. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a).

43. The authority will be referred to as (the old) MCC or (the new) 52. Leduka (2012).
MMC depending on what date is being referred to in the 53. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a).
context.
54. Devas (1989).
44. Leduka (2012).
55. Devas (1989).
45. Leduka (2012).
56. Devas (1989).
46. From IDM (Institute of Development Management)
57. Devas (1989).
Consultants (1996) cited by Leduka (2012): 15.
58. Devas (1989).
(2013). 59. Devas (1989).
48. The international consultant in this report, who lives in UK, 60. Devas (1989).
has no idea of the local price of a 50kg bag of cement. 61. Devas (1989).
49. Kingdom of Lesotho (2014): 6. 62. Leduka (2004) in Silitshena et al. (2005).
50. Leduka (2012): 15; citing Kapa (2005), Shale (2005), Leduka 63. Devas (1989).
(2006) and Quinlan and Wallis (2003)
28
03
CURRENT HOUSING STOCK
HOUSING CONDITIONS Housing typology and materials

There seems to be very little numerical housing Concepts in housing policy in Lesotho are defined
shortage in urban Lesotho but there is a considerable in the enumerator’s manual used during the 2006
backlog of servicing. Most housing is built in the Population and Housing Census.
informal sector through an incremental system that
works in layers (all the foundations and floor slabs, A dwelling unit is defined as the housing
followed by all the walls, then the roof and, finally, accommodation appropriate for occupation by one
the finishes) rather than room by room. This is a household. Thus, a dwelling unit may be a whole
time-consuming method with a result that there are house or a part of a house, or a flat or an apartment.
many unfinished structures around the towns and Internationally, this is normally referred to simply as
cities and more urban sprawl than there needs to be. a dwelling and the Profile will use that term.
It is traditionally expressed that all male Basotho feel The term “housing unit” is used as in the US Census
they have the right to own a house before they die. for a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group
According to data given to Habitat for Humanity’s of rooms, or a single room occupied, or intended for
Audit of Housing Policy in Lesotho, 70 per cent occupancy, as separate quarters. This seems identical
of supply is informal. Although there are no data to the “dwelling unit” above.
on the percentage of urban housing built in poor
A household is defined as a person or a group of
quality materials, Basotho are proud of the fact that
people who live together and have common catering
their cities are relatively free of the very poor quality
arrangements, whether or not they are related. This is
housing found in many countries in Sub-Saharan
the “eating from the same pot” definition common in
Africa and even in surrounding South Africa. There
Sub-Saharan Africa. In Lesotho, a household member
are virtually no dwellings built of corrugated metal or
who has migrated but has been in touch with home
recycled materials.
in the last three years is counted as part of what is
There are no data on how many households live in or known as the ‘de jure’ household even though they
near hazardous conditions, in slums, or in squatter do not share catering arrangements.
settlements.
Housing unit types are quite specific in Lesotho, as
follows:
CURRENT HOUSING STOCK 29

LESOTHO
Malaene (formerly li-line) FIGURE 21 Malaene close to the Thetsane garment

This is a rectangular building, normally of concrete factories (Google Earth)
blocks or local bricks, and with a shallow single
pitched corrugated iron roof. It normally comprises
rows of single rooms (roughly 4m x 4m) or two-
roomed suites, rented to households (Figure 21 to
Figure 25). The front façade usually shows a door and
one or two windows depending on the number of
rooms; the standard of external and internal finish
is highly variable. The norm is to combine living,
cooking, eating and sleeping all in a single room.
Malaene is the Sesotho rendering of ‘line’. Leduka 1
claims that malaene have eased the pressure on the
public sector to provide housing for the urban poor.
They are developed as an investment opportunity and
their informality allows a pace of development that
far outstrips the formal supply. Very little is known
about the owners of malaene or whether they are
good investments. Some obviously live in the main
dwelling on the plot but some are probably absent.
Mapetla2 mentions an owner living in Bloemfontein.
They comprise just over 40 per cent of all dwellings3
and dominate urban house forms built to rent. They
are actually mentioned in the Planning Standards
1990 as being allowed to be built on a plot along
with a main dwelling for rental income. They are
particular predominant in the areas close to the
garment factories.
FIGURE 22 Clothing factories in Maseru with malaene close by
30
FIGURE 23 A line of malaene showing a door and one window for each one-roomed dwelling
FIGURE 24 A longer line of basic malaene FIGURE 25 Malaene around a communal open space
Polata
FIGURE 26 Polata in Maseru
This is also a rectangular building with three or fewer
rooms and a shallow single pitched roof. Polata is
a Sesotho rendering of ‘flat’. The walls of concrete
blocks, sandstone, rubble, burnt or mud bricks are
topped by a corrugated iron roof. The flooring is
earth or concrete covered by linoleum or may be
covered in vinyl tiles; ceilings are either not installed
or of decorated plaster board. It may be rendered
and decorated externally. In the Development
Control Code of 1989, a ‘flat’ is regarded as the
same as amalaene. Indeed, it can be said that when a
Bungalow
polata is attached to another, they become malaene.
Comprising 38 per cent on its own, the polata is This is a villa of a single or multiple storeys with
the second most common urban house form and, either flat or double-pitched roof (Figure 27 and
combined with malaene, these two rectangular single- Figure 28). Walls may be of sandstone, first grade
room deep house forms provide almost 80 per cent of brick or rendered and decorated concrete block. The
all urban housing (Table 11). roof covering can be corrugated iron sheets, tiles or
thatch. The internal finishes normally include cement
flooring and plaster board ceiling. They constitute
about 8 per cent of urban housing (Table 11) though
they are evidently much more common in Maseru.

LESOTHO
FIGURE 27 An expensive bungalow Apartment building or town house
This is a single or multi-storey complex of self-

contained dwellings built of modern construction
materials such as concrete block or first-grade brick
with single shallow-sloping or double-pitched roof, of
corrugated iron sheets or tiles. These housing units are
normally rented out. The factor, which distinguishes
the apartment/town house units from malaene, is the
number of habitable rooms and the level of services.
Although some policy-makers see them as the future
housing form, they currently only constitute less than
3 per cent of urban housing (Table 12)
Heisi
This is also a rectangular building with three or fewer

FIGURE 28 Bungalows of varied size and quality
rooms (0). Its roof is usually thatched and walls are
sandstone, rubble, mud, sand, cement, brick and
render. There are very few in urban areas
Rontabole
This is a round building (elsewhere called a Rondavel)

with a conical roof. There is normally no ceiling.
Floors are normally earth but can also be cement. The
roof may be thatched, tiled or covered in corrugated
iron; walls will consist of local materials such as
sandstone, rubble or mud brick and render. The
stone rontabole with thatched roof is the traditional
rural dwelling (Figure 30). Very uncommon in urban
areas, the rontabole type constitutes almost 28 per
FIGURE 29 An optak in Mohale’s Hoek cent of the national stock (Table 11).
FIGURE 30 Rontabole near Mafeteng
Optak or opdak
This is a single storey house with a double-pitched roof

normally with five or fewer4 habitable rooms (Figure
29). Walls are normally of sandstone, rubble, brick or
concrete blocks; the roof covering is corrugated iron
sheets or thatch. Internal finishes are highly variable.
About 6 per cent of urban housing is in optak form
(Table 11)
32
Temporary Structure
Temporary structures tend to be built from cardboard, plastic sheeting or pre-used roofing materials.5 While
they were common enough for Mapetla6 to mention them, they are now quite uncommon in urban Lesotho.
If an observer sees a corrugated iron-clad building it is much more likely to be a retail kiosk than a residence.
TABLE 11 Percentage distribution of housing units by type of housing unit, all Lesotho, 2006
National
Type Urban Percentage
Percentage Number
Malaene 41.4 8.4 57,666
Polata 38.0 44.9 309,773
Bungalow 7.8 4.5 30,895
Optak 6.0 7.2 49,623
Apartment 2.7 0.7 5,023
Temporary 2.2 0.8 5,636
Rontabole 1.5 27.9 192,517
Heisi 0.8 5.6 38,285
Total number 95,456* 100 689,418
Source: 2006 Census 7

Note: *This is derived from 22.6 per cent of households that are urban and one dwelling per household
Urban housing is almost equally divided among Building materials

Malaene, Polata and Rontabole types, with Bungalows
and Optak being less common. Apartments are There are no separate urban data on the building
very rare. There is very little housing recorded as materials used in the nation’s housing stock so the
temporary in Lesotho. More than one type may occur Profile will use the data from its own sample survey to
on one plot. The number of bungalows in Maseru give an indication of the existing conditions.
seems to be increasing and they may be a far larger
proportion of housing types there than in urban
Lesotho generally.
TABLE 12 Wall materials used (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru Middle

Leribe Mohale’s Hoek Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka
income and high income
Brick/ cement blocks 75.0 87.4 65.7 71.4 37.5 47.1
Mud-adobe 4.6 0.8 14.3 17.3 54.2 50.
Mortar 3.9 7.1 18.1 0.0 8.3 0.0
Other 16.4 4.7 1.9 11.2 0.0 2.9
Source: Profile Sample Survey
Permanent wall materials are dominant in much of urban Lesotho (Table 12) although less so in Mokhotlong
and Thaba-Tseka than elsewhere. Mud housing is uncommon in Maseru, Towns in Leribe and Mohale’s Hpek
but more common in the mountain cities. The ‘other’ category includes stone housing which is common in
some locations, especially close to quarries. Around some border posts, a few households have built corrugated
iron shacks.

LESOTHO
TABLE 13 Floor materials used (percentage frequencies)
Maseru Maseru Middle Towns Mohale’s Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka

low income and high income in Leribe Hoek
Ceramic/vinyl tiles 39.7 71.1 52.8 35.4 22.9 14.7
Concrete 36.5 22.7 32.1 26.3 33.3 41.2
Carpet 17.3 5.5 0.0 10.1 2.1 0.0
Mud 6.4 0.8 15.1 28.3 41.7 44.1
In the Profile’s sample survey, it is evident that most dwellings in the Maseru middle and high income and towns
in Leribe samples have tiled floors, with most of the remainder having concrete screed flooring. In the towns,
mud flooring is still quite common (Table 13).
TABLE 14 Roof materials used (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru Middle Leribe Mohale’s Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka

income and high income Hoek
Corrugated iron 88.5 41.4 56.6 85.0 24.5 42.9
Tiles 7.1 54.7 34.0 9.0 24.5 8.6
Grass 3.2 2.3 9.4 6.0 51.0 48.6
Other 1.3 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Table 14 shows how the dwellings in the Profile’s Occupancy and Tenure
Sample Survey are mainly roofed in corrugated iron
in the larger cities but grass thatch is still common in There is no occupancy information in the 2006
small cities. Tiles cover half the dwellings in middle Census.8 It shows the tenure of the land held by the
and high income areas of Maseru, one third in towns owner of the house; it does not show how households
in Leribe, and one in four dwellings in Mokhotlong. acquire rights to occupy the rooms they live in.
The PRSP9 asserts that “owner occupied dwellings
These data show that there is almost no housing built dominate the sector” but it is unlikely that a majority
of poor quality materials or scrap in the urban areas of households own the structure in which they live.
of Lesotho.
The Profile sample survey shows a mean of 3.03 and
a median of two rooms occupied by households in
Maseru with a mean of 3.5 for owners and two for
renters.
TABLE 15 Tenure (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru Middle Leribe Mohale’s Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka

Own 38.7 63.6 86.0 89.1 83.7 88.6
Rent 61.3 36.4 11.2 5.9 14.3 5.7
Sub-rent 0.6 0.0 1.9 4.0 2.0 0.0
Other 0.0 0.0 0.9 1.0 0.0 5.7
34
The Profile Sample Survey found most households It is evident from Table 16 that most owners built
are owners in the small cities while there is a general their dwellings while a minority inherited them. This
balance in Maseru between owners and renters; half inheritor minority is largest in low-income areas of
the households in Maseru are renters although renters Maseru when fully one in four owner households
dominate in low-income areas and owners in middle inherited. Buying a dwelling is relatively rare, as it is
and high income areas. Renting is much less common in most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
in the smaller towns at between six and 14 per cent.
There is very little sub-renting or any other tenure Most low-income households will probably continue
(Table 15). to rent single rooms or two rooms in privately provided
malaene (rows of single or double interconnecting
The MUP&T study10 shows that more than half of rooms popularly constructed for renting) or their
the Maseru housing stock was rented while 45 per equivalent.12
cent was owner-occupied. Small percentages were
occupied free or through other means. Most rental Table 17 shows that the Profile’s sample population
housing is in the form of malaene. In some parts pay median rents of between M400 and M500
of Maseru, especially around the areas where the (between US$36 and US$45) in Maseru, Leribe and
garment factories are located, tenancy rates can be as Mohale’s Hoek. Means are higher throughout but
high as 72 per cent.11 especially high in Maseru Middle and high income
areas where some very expensive rental property is
found. The sample sizes for renters in some small
cities are very small, e.g., two in Thaba-Tseka.
ROOMS OCCUPIED
TABLE 18 Rooms used for sleeping13
Urban Rural Total

One 46.4 39.2 41.3
Two 19.5 33.0 29.0
Three or more 14.3 14.3 14.3
Missing 19.8 13.5 15.4
Source: LDHS14
FIGURE 31 Rooms occupied for sleeping (valid percentages)
70%
60%
50%
40% Urban
Rural
30%
Total
20%
10%
0%
One Two Three or more
Source: after LDHS15 with missing values removed.

LESOTHO
As evidenced from Figure 31, which is data from Both towns in Leribe and Maseru middle and high
Table 18 with the missing values removed, almost 60 income neighbourhoods have few households in
per cent of urban households only have a single room single rooms. The difference between the different
for sleeping. The Profile’s sample survey (Table 19) income-group areas in Maseru is quite marked with a
shows more rooms occupied with only Thaba-Tseka mean of only 2.3 rooms in the low income areas and
having more than half its households in single rooms 4.1 in the higher income areas.
and a mean of less than two rooms per household.
TABLE 19 Rooms occupied (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru Middle Leribe Mohale’s Hoek Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka

1 37.2 10.5 12.6 24 30.6 51.4
2 35 18.5 11.7 26 22.4 28.6
3 14.6 16.1 26.2 18 12.2 11.4
4 4.4 14.5 16.5 18 20.4 2.9
5 6.6 12.9 16.5 8 4.1 5.7
6 0 12.1 6.8 4 8.2 0
7 0.7 6.5 6.8 1 0 0
8 0.7 5.6 1 0 0 0
9 0.7 1.6 1 0 0 0
10+ 0 1.6 1 1 2 0
Mean 2.19 4.12 3.79 2.83 2.86 1.83
Median 2 4 3 2.5 2 1
The household size distributions from the Profile’s sample survey (see chapter 4) show a consistent pattern of
most grouped fairly tightly around four persons apart from Mokhotlong, where there is a very steady percentage
of household sizes up to seven persons, and Maseru low income areas where households are at least one person
smaller than the others with a focus around two to four persons.
TABLE 20 Occupancy rates (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru Middle and Leribe Mohale’s Hoek Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka
income high income
0-1.0 32.8 59.7 41.7 28.0 26.6 31.4
1.01-2.0 40.2 30.6 37.9 13.0 10.2 25.7
2.01-3.0 15.3 6.5 8.7 23.0 16.3 20.0
3.01-4.0 7.3 0.8 7.8 11.0 4.1 22.9
4.1+ 4.4 2.4 3.9 7.0 22.4 14.3
Mean 2.0 1.3 1.6 2.2 2.7 3.3
Median 1.6 1.0 1.3 2.0 2.0 2.5
Percentage
27.0 9.7 20.4 41.0 42.8 57.2
overcrowded at 2ppr
Occupancy rates are relatively low in urban Lesotho in relation to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with
a majority of households living at two persons per room or less, at least in Maseru and towns in Leribe, which
have mean occupancy rates of less than 1.5 people per room. Crowding is greater in the towns where occupancy
rates above two people per room are more normal. Owners and renters seem to live at very similar levels of
crowding, both having means of 1.9 persons per room in the Profile’s sample survey.
36
HOUSING PRODUCTION Formal housing supply

In line with Table 16, the CAHF report16 points LHLDC is the major state-owned developer of
out that a significant proportion of housing is serviced sites, rental accommodation and to homes
owner-constructed and owner-financed. By this, for ownership. It is entirely self-financing, receiving
it acknowledges the main supply process in Sub- no government subvention. By 2010/2011, the
Saharan Africa which is that the prospective owner LHLDC had delivered 9,519 serviced sites. Nearly
decides to engage a local small-scale contractor to 52 per cent of serviced plots and 76 per cent of
build a house for him/her. In addition, some build the dwellings delivered by LHLDC’s projects have been
house through their own labour. The next stage, in in Maseru. LHLDC has, however, made little mark
the urban and peri-urban areas, is often to add rented on the rental market for low-income groups; it has
rooms in the form of one or more rows of malaene a rent-to-purchase scheme which was developed as a
in front of the main house. Indeed, the Planning means of improving the chance to sell some of its new
Standards specifically mention this as a permitted stock. The occupier can pay a monthly sum of which
addition to the single dwelling allowed on the plot half is rent and half is repayment over the first ten
(see chapter 2). years. The rental half builds a deposit, for five years,
The CAHF report17 estimates that 23% of households than the deposit is transferred to bank.
live in homes they built themselves, and 20% Down payments are the major problem for LHLDC’s
inherited their houses. The finance is raised through buyers (hence the rent to purchase scheme), especially
earnings, windfall gains (such as retirement gratuities) outside Maseru. There is also a saturation of the market
and loans from family and friends. The majority at the highest price levels so it now concentrates on
of people in Lesotho depend on family networks two bedroom units selling for M450-500,000 to keep
and/or inheritance to acquire housing (see chapter out of the price bracket above M600,000. It tries to
6). Owners often anticipate the eventual build by reduce costs by reducing standards a little through,
collecting materials over time (see Figure 32) and for example, using steel window frames instead of
build their houses after most or all of the building aluminium.
materials have been assembled. CAHF18 estimates
that it normally takes a minimum of three years Going forward, LHLDC faces several general
for a household to gather the materials before they problems;
can begin construction. Construction costs may be
• It does not have very much financial muscle; it
further spread by building additional layers or rooms
must recover costs on one phase or project before
as and when possible (see chapter 8). Infrastructure
starting another. Under its law, which is outdated,
tends to follow later, often years after construction, if
it cannot borrow sufficiently. There is the hope
at all (chapter 7)
that it will be able to pledge its properties and
FIGURE 32 Block saving on the plot ahead of raise money on them.
construction • It lacked a Board of Directors for a long time until
April 2014, and has carried some problems over
from that time.
• The up-front cost of servicing is costly to carry
while the projects are being implemented.
• Land price rises in Maseru are seen as a problem
for competitive pricing.19
Many government departments have built housing
for their staff in the past (Figure 34 and Figure
35). The government undertakes limited housing
development, and issues tenders for time to time for
the construction of residential buildings.20 Employees
pay a percentage of their salary as rent.

LESOTHO
FIGURE 33 Houses in LHLDC’s gated Friebel Estate, The ministry responsible for housing, MLGCPA, is
central Maseru currently building a small estate of 17 low-income
dwellings of about 42m2 each, at Linakotseng in
the periphery of Maseru. For some of the three-
roomed dwellings, it is using hydraform blocks as
an alternative to cement blocks (see chapter 8).
The project is currently at a stand awaiting private
contractors’ taking over the completion of the
dwellings.
FIGURE 36 One of the MLGCPA dwellings at

Linakotseng
FIGURE 34 Housing for senior police in Maseru
PRIVATE DEVELOPERS
Some private developers are focusing on high-
FIGURE 35 Prison officers’ housing, central Maseru
density gated residential estates in inner Maseru
in significant enough numbers to be considered as
a ‘property boom’.21 They are too small at present
to qualify as the self-contained gated community
development that is common in South African cities
but they are fully serviced, unlike the peri-urban
informal neighbourhoods. Fortifications around
dwellings, in the form of high security walls and/or
fences (sometimes electrified) sometimes with 24-
hour security guards and surveillance gadgets, are
increasingly found around middle and high-income
dwellings whose occupants perceive danger from
crime. They pose new challenges to urban planning
as their security fences are often higher than the 2m
allowed by the Development Control Code.22
38
Developers evidently encounter numerous challenges The Mpilo estate was built on SDA land (see chapter
in acquiring land and registering it, which cause long 5) for which MGC paid M525,000 (US$47,500)
delays in the issuing of titles. This is seen by CAHF23 for a steeply sloping site very close to the Parliament
as a factor discouraging developers to enter the building. It involved major engineering work
market. When enquiries are made into the problems, including a retaining wall (Figure 37), so it was not an
one is stated that developers are delayed in their bid easy site to build on. Nevertheless, MGC developed
to buy land by land-holding agencies. What from the some dwellings to owners’ own designs (Figure
developers’ side appears to be prevarication, however, 38) and then developed the remainder of the site,
is often an issue that public-sector land holders cannot the lower part, with 20 dwellings on 500 m2 plots
part with the land on the promise of money coming (Figure 39). Only a few of them have been bought as
from partners in a few months’ time.24 Leduka25 customers are put off by the ‘small’ plots which leave
doubts whether there is the demand for as much only a thin strip of land around each dwelling. The
high-income housing as is being developed in Maseru cost is between M1.5 and M2.6 million to purchase
(and Lesotho), especially given that foreigners cannot and between M15,000 and M25,000 per month to
own property. rent (US$1,350 to $2,260).28 They are still not all
sold in September, 2014.
One actor in this process that has learned the truth
of this the hard way is the locally owned Matekane
FIGURE 38 Dwellings built by MGC to clients’ own
Group of Companies (MGC) which is involved in
designs at Mpilo
mining, transport and property.26 The company is
diversifying into residential real estate in a limited
way and for high-net-worth buyers. It has developed
Mpilo Estate, with luxury three-bedroom units for
sale, while the Hilton Estate, with 15 units to be built
to order, is in the planning phase.27
FIGURE 37 The retaining wall at Mpilo
FIGURE 39 Speculatively-built MGC dwellings at Mpilo

LESOTHO
Habitat for Humanity Lesotho (HFHL) INFORMAL SECTOR STOCK AND

HFH’s former international policy was to provide SUPPLIERS
similar dwellings, wherever it worked, to households Probably a large majority (90 per cent) of households
co-operating together and paying for them through in urban Lesotho live in the informal sector. Their
repayments based on the cost of two bags of cement. dwellings are built, on land allocated by chiefs and
HFHL has moved on from this in the new international masimo-owners, by small-scale contractors employed
policy of collaborating with other actors in the on labour-only contracts to build single dwellings or
housing process in other types of interventions which rows of malaene. The informal neighbourhoods are
provide the poor with housing-related assistance, poorly serviced but of reasonable physical condition.
often in less tangible ways than building dwellings. Some recent mass provision of pit and VIP latrines
HFHL has concentrated its provision of completed has occurred. Densities are low (Figure 40 and Figure
dwellings on the needs of OVC’s households. It has 41).
supplied 354 two roomed dwellings of 7.2m by 3.6m
(26m2) with concrete floors and plastered interior
walls costing US$5,000 each.
FIGURE 40 Informal development in the periphery of Maseru at Foso
FIGURE 41 Low density informal sector housing in As will be described in more detail in chapter 8, the
peripheral Mafeteng dwellings are built incrementally, usually in three
layers, all the foundations, all the walls to lintel or
roof level, and the roof and finishing. These are
the same type of increments used in Ghana29 but
not in Malawi or Zambia30 where room by room
incremental building is more the norm. To increase
the time available for funding the building, it is
common to stockpile materials before construction
starts (Figure 32).
40
BRIEF CONCLUSIONS housing for low-income households (79 per cent

Housing in urban Lesotho seems to be both in good between them) are the malaene, rows of rooms, with
condition and largely sufficient for the population. shared services, or the single roomed polata, added
There is crowding, in that many households occupy to the main dwelling on a plot. In them is probably
one too few rooms for their household size, but it is found the future of housing for the majority in urban
not as much a feature of housing in Lesotho as it is Lesotho. Most households have at least two rooms.
in, say, Ghana.31 There is very little housing built of The main formal sector suppliers, chief of which is
temporary materials. LHLDC, have supplied a minority of the stock and
Housing in Lesotho is classified into a typology cannot target the low-income majority because of the
but little seems to be made of the rise or fall in cost of their well-built and serviced housing. As in
popularity of particular types. In general, however, a many other Sub-Saharan African countries, private
rise in bungalows is seen as “a good thing” from the developers only deal with the top of the market. Poor
modernisation point of view. This Profile will differ in servicing and sprawl are major issues which must be
that the house forms relevant for the need estimated faced as need for urban housing increases over the
are likely to be simpler types. The main form of next decade.
END NOTES
1. Leduka (2012).
19. Presentation by MD of LHLDC at the Stakeholders’ Workshop,
2. Mapetla (1996). January 2014
3. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a). 20. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF)
4. “Three or less” in the Development Control Code, 1989 (2013).
5. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a): 1-2. 21. Lesotho Times, November 12th 2010, cited in Leduka (2012).
6. Mapetla (1996). 22. Leduka (2012).
7. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a). 23. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF)
8. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a). (2013).
9. International Monetary Fund (2012). 24. Insights shared at the Second Stakeholders’ Workshop,
September, 2014.
10. Ministry of Works and Public Transport (2010).
25. Leduka (2012).
11. Hall (2002).
26. http://www.matekaneproperty.co.ls/index.php/en/services.
12. Leduka (2012).
13. Rooms for sleeping are the equivalent of habitable rooms
(2013).
(Stakeholder interview, BoS, January, 2014).
28. Stakeholder interview, MGC, 24 January, 2014.
14. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a): table 2.9.
29. UN-HABITAT (2012a).
30. UN-HABITAT (2010a); UN-HABITAT (2012b).
(2013). 31. UN-HABITAT (2012a).

(2013).

04
LESOTHO
POPULATION GROWTH
AND DISTRIBUTION
This chapter uses the Government of Lesotho’s a 100 per cent increase in 19 years) and constitute
own figures on population growth and a production rate of many dwellings per thousand
distribution between urban and rural. Although people.
the numbers are not large, Lesotho’s urban
population is growing quickly and will impose URBAN POPULATION
significantly greater housing needs by 2025 than There are two estimates of national and urban
it did in 2006. These will include services and population which should draw the Profile’s attention.
infrastructure, they will impact affordability, The Continuous Multi-Purpose Survey (CMS) for
habitability, accessibility, location and security of the 1st quarter of 2011/20121 and the Bureau of
tenure, which are all components of the right to Statistics population projections until 2026. In the
adequate housing. CMS, the urban population in 2011/12 is given as
448,383, 27.5 per cent of the national population of
Thus, the need for housing is likely to be a significant 1,627,859.
increment to Lesotho’s urban housing stock (about
TABLE 21 Proportion of Households and Household Population by Residence and Average Household Size - CMS
2011/2012
Total Households Percentage Total Population Percentage Average Household Size

Urban 130,673 34.9 448,383 27.5 3.4
Rural 244,065 65.1 1,179,476 72.5 4.8
National 574,737 100.0 1,627,859 100.0 4.3
Source: CMS2
The population in Figure 42 is much lower than the In 2011-12, CMS4 estimates 130,700 urban
Chapter 1 figure for Maseru 453,571 in 2010 would households with a total population of 448,400.
suggest. Because urban households are smaller at the mean (at
3.4 persons) than total households (at 4.3 persons),
In 2006, the census counted 120,468 urban the proportion of urban households is greater than
households but has not published any numbers of urban population (Table 21).
dwellings. In its absence, this Profile assumes one
household per dwelling (there are 472,371 dwellings On the other hand, the Bureau of Statistics has
nationally).3 The 2006 census figures are the latest estimated population forward until 2026 under
national count of households so the Profile will use it three scenarios.5 As decided in the first stakeholder
as the starting point for the calculations of how much workshop, the Profile uses its medium scenario as the
new housing is required by 2025. basis for its housing need estimates (Figure 42 and
Table 22).
42
POPULATION GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION
FIGURE 42 National and urban population projections for Lesotho
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
1,000,000
500,000
-
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
Urban Population National population, medium scenario
Source: Lesotho 2006-2026 Projections6
TABLE 22 Population projections for Lesotho and urban Lesotho (thousands; 2010-2025)
2010 2015 2020 2025

National Population 1,892 1,924 1,973 2,039
Percentage urban 24.8 27.0 28.7 30.0
Urban Population 470 520 566 612
Growth in urban population since 2006 41 91 137 183
Percentage growth since 2006 9.6 21.2 31.9 42.7
Source: Lesotho 2006-2026 Projections7
TABLE 23 Number of households projections for urban Lesotho using CMS household sizes (thousands; 2010-2025)
2010 2015 2020 2025

National households at 4.3 p/hh 440 447 459 474
Urban households at 3.4p/hh 138 153 166 180
Growth in urban households since 2006 18 33 46 60
The data from Table 22, it is evident that urban by household size of 3.4,8 the number of urban
growth is quite slow in Lesotho but it is quicker households will grow by 15 per cent by 2010, 28 per
than national growth. Starting with the 2006 cent by 2015, and 50 per cent by 2025. Thus, the
Census households, and predicting the number of urban areas would have 60,000 more households in
urban households by dividing urban population 2025 than in 2006.
POPULATION GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION 43

LESOTHO
TABLE 24 Number of households projections for urban Lesotho using LDHS household sizes (thousands; 2010-2025)
2010 2015 2020 2025

National households at 3.9p/hh 485 493 506 523
Urban households at 2.9p/hh 162 179 195 211
Growth in urban households since 2006 42 59 75 91
The data from Table 24 uses the much smaller LHDS9 helpful to use the CMS household sizes but recognize
urban household size of 2.9 which, naturally, generate that they might be giving an artificially low estimate.
a larger number of urban households. It shows that, In addition, the Profile’s sample survey points towards
in this case, the urban households will have grown a mean household size close to 3.4.
by 42 per cent between 2006 and 2010, 59 per cent
by 2015, 75 per cent by 2020, and 91 per cent by Thus, the Profile uses the projection in Table 23 that
2025. The urban areas would have 76,000 (50 per the urban population will be 2.04 million in 2025
cent) more households in 2025 than in 2006. The comprising 180,000 households; 60,000 more urban
initial growth between 2006 and 2010 of 42 per cent households than found in the census of 2006 and a
in four years is unlikely, however, so it might be more household size of 3.4 as more feasible than 2.9.
HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND HOUSING NEED ACCORDING TO LDHS

TABLE 25 Household head by gender
Household headship Urban Rural Total

Male 62.9 64.0 63.7
Female 37.1 36.0 36.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: LDHS.10
About 37 per cent of urban households are headed by of the members of the de jure households included in
women.11 This is quite a high proportion of women- the occupancy distributions suggests that the reality
headed households even for a region where they are is even less crowded than the data suggest.
common. This reflects the over-representation of
TABLE 26 Household size distributions (percentage
women in Lesotho, the absence of out-migrant males
frequencies)
(who are mostly counted in the household sizes), and
the frequency of in-migrant women working in the No. of people Urban Rural Total
garment factories in Maseru.12 1 26.9 15.1 18.6
The household sizes include any household member 2 20.5 14.8 16.5
who has migrated elsewhere as long as there has been 3 19.2 18.1 18.4
contact with them in the last three years. Thus, many
4 15.2 17.3 16.6
households will have a de facto size of at least one
fewer adult. 5 9.1 13.5 12.2
6 4.5 8.6 7.4
Although 77 per cent of all urban males live in
7 2.3 5.4 4.5
their normal place of residence, migration for work
is so common in Lesotho that only about 60 per 8 1.1 3.1 2.6
cent of men in the working age groups live in their 9+ 0.7 3.6 2.7
household’s place of residence. The migrants are
Mean size of households 2.9 3.9 3.6
about equally divided between elsewhere in Lesotho
and in South Africa but fewer of the younger working Source: LDHS13
age groups are in South Africa. The absence of some
44
In the first Stakeholders’ Workshop, January 2014, the delegates discussed the choice of a crowding threshold.
Taking into account the small room size in housing such as malaene and the propensity for Basotho to live much
of their home life within the rooms, it was decided to adopt the two person per room threshold for calculations
of housing need both now and in the future.
TABLE 26 Need for rooms at 2 persons per room (percentage frequencies)
Rooms needed Urban Current supply (bedrooms)

1 47.4 57.86
2 34.4 24.31
3/3+ 13.6 17.83
4 3.4 -
5 0.7 -
6+ 1.74 1.68
Source: LDHS14
FIGURE 43 (Bed)rooms supplied and rooms needed at 2ppr (LDHS data)

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
1 2 3/3+ 4 5+
Rooms needed Supply (bedrooms)
FIGURE 44 Cumulative need for rooms at 2ppr crowding threshold with current supply added (percentage)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 2 3/3+ 4 5+
Rooms needed Supply (bedrooms)

LESOTHO
The LDHS data 15 show that, if ‘bedrooms’ include all rooms, there are slightly too many urban households
occupying single rooms. If the bedrooms data means that some households have at least one other, living room,
most households are adequately housed at 2 ppr. Those that do not have an additional living room are likely
to be among the poorest households. The Profile’s sample survey adds some regional variation to this but also
counts rooms, whether bedrooms or living rooms, equally. Thus, in its data, the number of rooms occupied is
more accurate as a measure of crowding but it has only a limited sample size. The Bureau of Statistics should be
asked to tabulate data on rooms occupied in the next Census.
HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND HOUSING NEED ACCORDING TO THE PROFILE

SAMPLE SURVEY
TABLE 27 Persons per household (percentage frequencies)
Persons per Maseru low Maseru Middle Leribe Mohale’s Hoek Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka
household income and high income
1 11.9 3.9 1.9 3 6.1 8.6
2 20 10.1 10.3 9.9 12.2 8.6
3 28.1 20.9 15.9 14.9 8.2 8.6
4 20 28.7 31.8 24.8 14.3 31.4
5 8.1 22.5 20.6 11.9 16.3 11.4
6 6.3 8.5 3.7 12.9 12.2 8.6
7 1.9 3.1 6.5 13.9 16.3 8.6
8 3.1 0.8 2.8 4 6.1 0
9 0 0 1.9 4 2 11.4
10+ 0.6 1.6 4.5 1 6.1 2.9
Mean 3.39 4.12 4.58 4.78 5.2 4.8
Median 3 4 4 4 5 4
FIGURE 45 Persons per household (percentage frequencies)
35 Maseru low income
Maseru middle and high income

30
Leribe
25
Mohale’s Hoek
Mokhotlong
20 Thaba-Tseka
15
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+
46
The household size distributions from the Profile’s sample survey show a consistent pattern of most grouped
fairly tightly around four persons apart from Mokhotlong, where there is a very steady percentage of household
sizes up to seven persons, and Maseru low income areas where households are at least one person smaller than
the others with a focus around two to four persons (Table 28 and Figure 45).
FIGURE 46 Rooms occupied
60
50
Maseru low income

40
Leribe
30 Mohale’s Hoek
Mokhotlong
Thaba-Tseka
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+
FIGURE 47 Rooms needed at 2 people per room

60
50
Maseru low income

40
Leribe
30 Mohale’s Hoek
Mokhotlong
Thaba-Tseka
20
10
0
1 2 3 4 5+
Figure 46 shows the distribution of rooms per distribution between one and six rooms. Many
household in the four towns included in the Profile’s needed four, five or six rooms. When this graph is
sample survey. It shows a very different distribution compared with Figure 47, which shows number of
between the low income neighbourhoods in rooms needed, we can see that need for one room
Maseru, where almost all households have only one is lower than the supply except in low income
or two rooms, and the middle and high income neighbourhoods in Maseru, while the need for two
neighbourhoods where there is quite an even rooms is greater than supply everywhere. Three rooms

LESOTHO
are needed by more households than have them there would be a need for 104,000 extra rooms.
except in low income Maseru. Only in Mokhotlong To these must be added the 7,850 rooms needed
and Mohale’s Hoek are four or more rooms needed to reduce crowding. It is also advisable to build in
by significant numbers of households. a factor to avoid obsolescence in the current stock,
which is in quite good condition overall, but needs
A change from 1.68 rooms per household to 1.74 constant renewal. It would be reasonable to renew
rooms per household (Table 27) would require an three per cent of the stock annually; this assumes that
additional 7,850 rooms on the current stock, enough the technology used in Lesotho lasts about 33 years
to make 4,500 dwellings at 1.74 rooms per dwelling. before it needs to be replaced or renovated to such
Thus the current housing shortage to reduce crowding an extent that it is similar to replacement. Over 19
to where each household has two persons per room years (2006-25), this translates to 34,200 dwelling
or less can be expressed as 7,850 rooms or 4,500 equivalents. Policy decisions can be taken about this
dwellings. As chapter 3 shows that crowding tends to and the percentage changed up or down.
be more prevalent in the towns than it is in Maseru,
this component of growth in the housing stock to Together, these give a total new room requirement of
mitigate current crowding should be concentrated in 170,00 rooms equivalent to about 99,000 dwellings.
the towns. This means that 5,200 new dwellings are needed
every year between 2006 and 2025 or one every half
At 1.74 rooms per household and almost 60,000 hour of the working day (Table 29).
extra urban households between 2006 and 2025,
TABLE 29 Need for new urban housing, expressed as rooms and dwellings, by 2025
Rooms Dwellings
Needed to reduce crowding to 2 ppr 7,850 4,511
Needed for extra households by 2025 104,400 60,000
Needed to replace obsolete stock @ 3 per cent of 120,000 per annum 57,456 34,200
Total needed by 2025 169,706 98,711
Needed per year 8,932 5,195
Needed per week 179 104
Needed per day 30 17
Needed per hour 3.7 2.2
Minutes to build one 16.1 27.7
INCOME AND ABILITY TO PAY

In the national statistics, including rural households, the Monthly CPI gives only 2.5 per cent of expenditure
on rentals for housing. It is likely that this is higher in urban areas but there is no detailed breakdown that way.
TABLE 30 Monthly Consumer Price Indices by COICOP Divisions – August 2013
Index numbers Changes

August August Monthly Yearly
July 2013
Divisions Weight 2012 2013 change % change %
Overall CPI 100.0 112.45 117.39 118.40 0.9 5.3
01. Food & Non-alcoholic beverages 38.1 119.63 125.43 125.46 0.0 4.9
02. Alcohol and Tobacco 1.2 116.59 122.81 123.20 0.3 5.7
03. Clothing & Footwear 17.4 102.87 104.37 104.43 0.1 1.5
04. Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and
10.6 120.16 133.62 140.92 5.5 17.3
Other Fuels
48
04. 1 Actual Rentals for Housing 2.5 105.69 106.36 106.90 0.5 1.1
04. 3 Maintenance and repair of the
1.4 108.88 111.85 112.11 0.2 3.0
dwelling
04. 4 Water and miscellaneous services
0.6 114.37 117.68 117.68 0.0 2.9
relating to dwelling
04. 5 Electricity, Gas and other fuels 6.1 129.14 151.12 163.46 8.2 26.6
05. Furnishings, Household Equipment
and Routine Maintenance of the 9.4 108.06 111.34 111.69 0.3 3.4
House
06. Health 1.9 102.73 103.40 103.43 0.0 0.7
07. Transport 8.5 110.38 111.53 111.74 0.2 1.2
08. Communications 1.2 101.14 101.14 101.14 0.0 0.0
09. Recreation and culture 2.4 104.79 105.51 105.41 -0.1 0.6
10. Education 2.7 101.81 115.42 115.42 0.0 13.4
11. Restaurants and Hotels 0.7 105.69 107.16 107.24 0.1 1.5
12. Miscellaneous goods
5.8 106.33 108.84 109.00 0.1 2.5
and services
Source: Statistical Report No. 1916
Note: COICOP = Classification of Individual Consumption according to Purpose
There is a remarkable lack of official data on incomes and expenditures. Nearly 70 per cent of the households in
Silitshena et al. (2005)’s survey earned less than M1,000 per month. Such low household incomes disqualified
them from receiving loans from commercial banks. They had mainly acquired their plots through savings, or
loans from relatives and friends. The cost of building a formal dwelling and obtaining services is beyond most
households in Lesotho.17
FIGURE 48 Annual consumption expenditure, urban Lesotho, 2011/12
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
d
ing
rt
us
ion
ion
ol
ls
o
hin
tio
in
alt
po
te
h
eo
Fo
us
at
ish
at
co
Ho
He
ica
ns
ot
an
uc
cre
Ho
Al
rn
Tra
Cl
un
ell
Ed
Fu
Re
m
isc
m
M
Co
Source: Kingdom of Lesotho (2013a): table 20

LESOTHO
Measures of ownership affordability that some households might feel that they can build
something larger and more expensive so that they
LDHS18 splits the urban population into quintiles can rent out some of the rooms for income. In this
but the amount of money at the boundary or centre case, it is the proportion of the dwelling that they
of each quintile is not stated, so these data are not occupy that should be counted as costing what they
helpful for the Profile. Centre for Affordable Housing can afford. With relatively small household sizes (an
Finance in Africa (CAHF) (2013) reports that nearly urban mean of 2.9),19 single roomed dwellings with
70 per cent of Basotho households earn less than shared services are common accommodation.
M1,000 (about US$99) per month and cannot easily
afford to purchase formally developed dwellings. In the CMS (table 5.3), mean consumption
expenditures within the main report only show the
Concerning how much households can afford as the percentage distribution of each type of expenditure
capital cost of a dwelling to own or rent at market within household expenditure, but no amounts
rents, the Stakeholders’ workshop decided to use a in Maloti are stated. Thus, we know that urban
house cost to household expenditure ratio of 4:1. households spend 17 per cent of their expenditure on
Thus, the nearly 70 per cent of Basotho households housing.20 In the annex of the CMS, table 2021 shows
who earn less than M1,000 (about US$99) per what appear to be amounts in Maloti even though
month can afford a dwelling costing M48,000 the title claims percentages.
(almost US$4,400). It is important to qualify this in
TABLE 31 Annual consumption expenditure, urban Lesotho, 2011/12
Maloti US$ Per cent

Food 9,415 870.15 40
Alcohol 347 32.07 1.5
Clothing 1,176 108.69 5.1
Housing 3,965 366.45 17.3
Furnishing 573 52.96 2.5
Health 283 26.16 1.2
Transport 2,886 266.73 12.6
Communication 1,057 97.69 4.6
Recreation 397 36.69 1.7
Education 1410 130.31 6.1
Hotels 18 1.66 0.1
Miscellaneous 1,423 131.52 6.2
Total 22,952 2,121.26 100
Source: Statistical Report No. 19
22
If mean annual expenditure on housing in urban Currently, mortgages are offered at 2 per cent above
Lesotho is $366, housing is being provided for $30 prime rate. This varied around 10 per cent so the
per month at the mean. The housing total seems to mortgage rate is about 12 per cent. At 12 per cent
include services as they are traditionally linked in interest over 20 years, payments of US$35 per month
CPIs and they appear nowhere else. This might make would pay for a loan of about US$3,200 with a 20
little differences to the majority of households who per cent deposit this represents an owner-occupied
have few services. If households are paying a mean of dwelling costing US$4,000.
17 per cent for their accommodation in the current
housing stock, it is not impossible that they would The Profile’s sample survey encourages policy-makers
pay 20 per cent or $35 per month. A more detailed to cosider slightly more costly housing for households
but similar story emerges from the Profile’s sample at the median. Table 32 shows that median household
survey. expenditures in most urban areas are between 10,000
and 20,000 Maloti per annum (US$900-1,700).
50
Means are not far from the mean in Table 31 so seem to be reasonable representations of reality. The middle and
high income areas of Maseru show much higher means and medians (about three times higher).
TABLE 32 Total household expenditure per annum (Maloti)
Maseru middle and Mohale’s

Maseru low income Leribe Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka
high income Hoek
Mean 24,100 82,900 25,900 16,900 14,700 9,697
25% 10,800 24,400 7,900 3,300 4,100 4,458
Median 18,900 52,400 19,200 9,900 10,500 6,492
75% 29,700 87,200 34,200 19,000 21,700 12,660
From these sample households, willingness to pay for loan payments (Table 33) was asked and the answers show
that median households are willing to pay between M700 and M2,000 per month (US$64 and US$182) to
own a dwelling. At 12 per cent interest over 20 years, this would allow the repayment of loans of US$6,000-
16,500. Adding a 20 per cent deposit, this would pay for housing costing US$7,500-20,650. Maseru’s low
income population can afford a median of only M1,000 per month leading to an affordable loan amount of
M90,000 (US$8,200).
TABLE 33 Willingness or renters to pay for loan payments (Maloti)
Maseru low Maseru middle and high Mohale’s

Leribe Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka*
income income Hoek
Mean 1,520 2,820 2,350 717 1,790 2,000

25% 500 1,000 1,500 250 563 2,000
Median 1,000 2,000 2,000 700 825 2,000
75% 2,250 3,250 3,000 1,200 3,980 2,000
Source: Profile Sample Survey.
Note *: n=2 for renters in Thaba-Tseka
Using data from the housing row in Table 31 and renters’ willingness to pay for loans in Maloti data from Table
33 converted into US$, Table 34 shows the range of affordabilities generated by the above analysis. They span
more than $16,000 of capital cost, four times the lowest estimate of only $4,000. It is important that these
are treated as medians worked out in different ways or for different populations. As such, 50 per cent of each
population cannot afford as much as this and 50 per cent can afford more.
TABLE 34 Estimates of median dwelling affordability (US$)
Loan total at 12% over Dwelling capital cost

Monthly payments
20 years including 20% deposit
Statistical Report No. 19, Continuous
Multi-Purpose Survey, 2013; current 35 3,200 4,000
housing payments
Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in
30 per cent of households could afford 4,400
Africa (CAHF), 2013
Profile’s sample survey lower range 64 6,000 7,500
Maseru’s low-income neighbourhoods 91 8,200 10,250
Profile’s sample survey upper range* 182 16,500 20,650

LESOTHO
Measures of rent affordability 5,200 dwellings. Of these, 60,000 are needed to cope
with the urban population growth between 2006 and
Given that median annual rents in the Profile 2025. The cost of this housing needs to have a mean
sample survey are M5,000 to M6,000 (US$450 and of about US$2,700 (about M30,000) per household
US$550) (see chapter 3), affordability of rents seems as a capital cost, which is only one-third of the
to be 25-30 per cent of household expenditures. minimum mortgage offered by the banks.
If rent represents the amount needed to pay the
room’s cost over 12 years, this could dictate a mean The scale supply of housing since 2006 is unknown.
capital cost of dwellings to rent at about US$2,700 Whatever it is, it will reduce the overall figure required
(M30,000). If it is the amount need to service a loan and it may well be close to the 5,200 dwellings
at 12 per cent over 20 years, this would point to a required per year as the Profile’s sample survey found
dwelling costing about $4,000. Thus, housing needs such low occupancy rates. These dwellings are likely
to be provided for about $3,000-4,000 capital cost; to be built whether government enables them or not
by general agreement in the Stakeholders’ Workshop, as the informal sector will generate the dwellings
the housing that costs only US$3,000-4,000 in to cope with need or demand. To the extent that
Maseru is a single roomed malaene. government wants to be involved or to influence the
standard of the accommodation required, it must
develop policies that enable dwellings to be built in
BRIEF CONCLUSION: ESTIMATING the most efficient way and for the maximum benefit
HOUSING NEEDS for all concerned.
This chapter demonstrates that there is likely to be a
need for 99,000 dwellings (or 170,000 rooms) extra
in 2025 over the supply in 2006. This represents an
annual rate of building of almost 9,000 rooms or
END NOTES
12. Mapetla (1996).
1. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013a).
3. This assumption is essential as BoS does not report number of
dwellings in the Census.
16. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013b): table 1.
17. Maleleka (2009).
19. The number present in the household is often reduced further
by the absence of at least one person counted as living there
8. From CMS (Kingdom of Lesotho, 2013a). but actually migrant.
9. From LDHS (Kingdom of Lesotho, 2010a). 20. Higher than the 10.6 per cent in Table 29.
10. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a): table 2.2. 21. The second of two table 20s.
11. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a). 22. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013a): table 20.
52
05
LAND FOR HOUSING
LAND FOR HOUSING1
INTRODUCTION Space around the house is important for Basotho

Land has great significance in Lesotho as it is said that household for vegetable growing and room for
every male Basotho aims to own his own house on a expanding the house. Nowadays, many house owners
large plot before he dies. Recent reforms to reduce build one or many lines of malaene to incur rental
transaction costs of land administration have made income for them. The minimum plot size of 375 m2
this much easier to achieve. is large by Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa standards
but few Basotho would agree to its diminishment.
Land in Lesotho is vested in the Basotho nation and It results, however, in a very spread-out city and
is held in trust by the King. The power to allocate even lower density peri-urban areas under sporadic
land, to grant title to land and to terminate a lease development. This might not matter too much if
is vested in the King. Once allocated, these rights infrastructure could keep pace, if more than one
are enjoyed in perpetuity unless certain breaches are household live on most plots and, more importantly,
committed. In the past, land had no price or value perhaps, if there was abundant fertile land in
and was freely allocated to any Basotho through the mountainous Lesotho.
chiefs. This system of tenure gave free access to land
for housing. As can be seen below, however, Basotho There is a perceived scarcity of cultivable land in
who have leased land feel it is theirs to dispose of so Lesotho (9 per cent of the land); it is also estimated
they will sell leases on it before it is taken off them. to be decreasing. It is partly owing to the location of
growing towns standing on prime agricultural land.
As government has treated land as free to the previous Thus, government and its partners have felt the need
‘owner’ and has assumed it can take over the use of it to find solutions for informal peri-urban growth and
for free so it is probably not surprising that Basotho ribbon development along major roads. The absence
do not feel they should pay for land or pay taxes on of formal land markets, tenure security and the
land. disorderly sub-divisions sanctioned by the customary
chiefs are seen as problems dogging peri-urban areas.2
The Land Act 2010 has proposed land tenure security In response to the sprawl, policy-makers are talking
with a view to promoting efficiency in land services about increasing densities through the development
and enhancing the use of land as an economic asset of high-rise (up to four storeys) but there is a great
in Lesotho. This secured tenure will encourage people potential for increasing densities using existing single
to develop their properties and use them as economic storey forms before multi-storey living need become
assets. A residential lease shall not be granted for a more than just a small component in the housing
term exceeding 90 years. stock.
LAND FOR HOUSING 53

LESOTHO
FIGURE 49 Land subdivisions are marked with a simple 2013 and 2014 to rank 88th in terms of registering
metal post and wire fence property, for 2014.4
A series of new Acts (and draft bills), and the
establishment of a new Land Administration
Authority, have demonstrated significant legislative
and institutional change. The new Acts include:
• The Land Administration Authority Act 2010;
• The Land Act 2010;
• The Land Regulations 2011;
• The Land Court Regulations 2011; and
• The Sectional Titles Draft Bill 2011.5
Lesotho Land Administration Authority Act
RECENT LAND REFORMS Set up under the Land Administration Authority
Lesotho is notable for a major new initiative in the Act 2010, the Land Administration Authority (LAA)
form of the Land Act 2010 and the institutional has merged all the work of government departments
framework that has come into play through it. The that dealt with cadastre, national mapping and deeds
reforms were assisted by the Millennium Challenge registration into a new parastatal agency. Thus, the
Corporation (MCC) which was established by the office and duties of the Commissioner of Lands, the
USA in 2004 to manage the USA’s foreign aid in a Registrar of Deeds and the Chief Surveyor all come
new way that focuses on eradicating poverty through under the LAA.6 It has a statutory mandate from the
sustainable economic growth. Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship
and Parliamentary Affairs but has a great measure
The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s assist- of autonomy in how it fulfils that mandate. It has
ed Land Administration Reform Project (LARP) a Director General who reports to a Board of
Directors, which in turn reports to the Minister of
The implementing agency in Lesotho is the Local Government, Chieftainship and Parliamentary
Millennium Challenge Account-Lesotho (MCAL). Affairs. In addition to the Commissioner of Lands,
The funding agreement (called ‘the Compact’) was it has two other statutory posts, Registrar and Chief
endorsed in September 2008 for five years until Surveyor. The responsibilities of the LAA cover:
September 2013. The priority sectors in Lesotho were
health, water and private sector development (PSD). • the land registration system;
As part of the PSD, the Land Administration Reform • surveying and mapping;
Project (LARP) aimed to:
• land administration;
• Improve land laws and policies; • complaints and disputes relating to registration
• Improve people’s awareness of land rights, and cadastre;
especially women; • collecting ground rent, fees and issue notices;
• Enhance the efficiency of issuing lease titles to • advising the government on changes and additions
people in urban areas of Lesotho, beginning with to land administration laws and policies;
Maseru; and
• co-operating with government and private bodies
• Support the establishment of a Land on all matters relating to land administration.7
Administration Authority (LAA) for the purpose
of providing improved land administration Thus it almost forms a one stop shop for land
services.3 matters. The only function that it does not have is
allocation which is still vested in the Ministry of
Improved land administration services were intended Local Government, Chieftainship and Parliamentary
to help reduce land-related transaction costs and Affairs through the local councils.
inefficiencies and so unlock markets in leasehold land.
They appear to have been so effective that the World The LAA has reduced costs and time by large margins.
Bank has lifted Lesotho a huge 69 places between The registering of title, that used to take between
54
LAND FOR HOUSING
six and 10 years, now takes 11 days with a 90 year The Act has also taken powers over land allocation
lease issued in a month. Many bottlenecks have been away from rural chiefs. As urban development
removed. The cadastral survey has been outsourced extends beyond city boundaries, rural chiefs become
and is now much cheaper. It is proposed that it should important partners for city authorities. This extending
be free for housing below M100,000 in value as a the removal of customary land allocation powers to
pro-poor measure. There are many arguments for not rural chiefs may, thus, have a deleterious effect on
using cadastral surveys for low-income housing plots city growth. While they have legal powers to allocate
as they are relatively expensive and more accurate land, chiefs can be recruited as collaborators in the
than is normally needed for residential purposes. In urban planning process. As suggested in the Ghana
a stakeholder interview, however, the Commissioner Profile,12 for example, the collaboration between
of Lands assured the profile team that the cadastre land-holding chiefs and planning authorities could
was a requirement because Basotho are more prone ensure rational planning of their allocations so that
than most people to encroach on a neighbours’ land servicing can follow and the macro-planning of the
and the cadastral survey is cheaper than litigation. city can continue through their land (road reserves,
Litigation on land is not particularly common and land reserves for city uses such as industry, hospitals,
most is between relatives.8 schools, etc.). When the chiefs are not acting legally,
they can hardly be partners in the development
This reform of land administration from being a process with local authorities. The partnership
major problem has restored faith in the registration needed may now be with the Community Councils.
system and generated a positive attitude to the land
regularising process. In the latter, 45,000 parcels have Land Allocation Committees
been registered out of the 55,000 in the pilot project.9
Under the 2010 Land Act, Local Authorities have
While it is mandated to work for the public good, appointed Land Allocation Committees consisting of
the LAA is intended to be self-sustaining by 2019 councillors and officers to fulfil the function of the
from its fee income. Cost recovery from ground former Urban Land Committees in allocating land
rents on leases, survey fees and the sale of maps and both through regularising customary titles and for
data should enable this in ten years.10 The proposed first-time registrations. When an applicant wishes
revenue sources of the LAA’s mean that it is in its to regularise a plot, (s)he approaches the committee
interest systematically to regularise informal land through the local chief and the officer responsible for
holdings. the committee. The committee may visit the site and
talk to the local chief to verify the site. The applicant
Land Act 2010 is then invited to attend the committee’s meting
The main objectives of the 2010 Land Act are: along with three witnesses and the chief. Rural
Form Cs, which continued to be valid until 2005,
• to modernise land administration; are particularly problematic and need a field visit to
• to regularise peri-urban land and settlements; verify the claim. The committee in Maseru makes
about 60 verifications per month. In formal areas, the
• to facilitate investment, including foreign
committee grants land without needing verification.
investment and create land markets; and
• to abolish customary land tenure in rural areas. Systematic regularisation
The purpose of the Act is to In the past, World Bank upgrading in the 1980s
sought to regularize land tenure rights by
“… repeal and replace the law relating to land,
provide for the grant of titles to land, the replacing existing traditional rights with new-style,
conversion of titles to land, the better securing transferable leases issued by the government. They
of titles to land, the administration of land, the required a cadastral survey (expensive) and were
expropriation of land for public purposes, the believed to be liable to ground rent in the future.
grant of servitudes, the creation of land courts Thus, only those who wished to obtain a mortgage
and the settlement of disputes relating to land; and those who wished to sell their plots were
systematic regularisation and adjudication; and interested in obtaining the new leasehold titles.13 This
for connected purposes”11. is very similar to the response to land regularization
in Malawi.14
LAND FOR HOUSING 55

LESOTHO
A very significant innovation of the 2010 Land Act land transactions.

is a new regularisation of title provided under Part
XI and the Systematic Regularisation Regulations, The Land Act 2010 abolishes ministerial consents
2010 which facilitates retrospective regularisation to most transactions in leased land rights, and those
of informal land allocations. Since 1990, when concerning transfers (Part VI) have been delegated
an amendment to the 1979 Land Act took land to the Director of Lease Services in the LAA. In
allocation powers away from the chiefs in urban these cases, the 2010 Act imposes a 30 day limit on
areas, they have issued customary titles (Form Cs) consents.
backdated to before the 1979 act came into force
Land ceilings
in 1980. This has caused a great deal of difficulty to
the urban authorities although it has been seen as a Part VII of the 2010 Act (detailed in Regulation 31 of
reasonable reaction by chiefs at the removal of their the Land Regulations 2011) continues the provision
customary powers over their communities’ land.15 for a maximum residential plot size of 1,000m2
The Act has removed the efficacy of backdating Form and that no-one can hold residential land in excess
Cs as land holders can now regularise their plots of 5,000m2 in any town. There are exceptions for
relatively freely and quickly. parastatals or where, even in the case of individuals,
the Minister for Land grants consents for the ceiling
Regularisation is defined in the Act to mean one or
to be exceeded.19
both of the following:
• the process of surveying, planning, adjudicating Sectional titles
and registering the boundaries and rights Sectional titles enable separate ownership of a section
associated with a parcel of land informally or sections of a building, and separate from owning
occupied or; the land. This allows apartments to be owner-
• readjustment of boundaries for the purpose of occupied. They are provided for under Section 9(1)
town planning.16 of the 2010 Act, but there is now a separate and
This regularisation is free except for a minimal stamp more detailed Sectional Titles Bill 2011, similar to
duty fee. Although the 2010 Act stipulates that the South African legislation as financial institutions
preparation of a lease should take a maximum of there are accustomed to the South African sectional
three months, the LAA currently claims a turn-round titles practice. Furthermore, Lesotho courts often
of one month from the date of application for a lease follow South African court judgments as established
to its issuance, assuming that matters are generally precedents.20 The bill is currently in the final stages
in order. Johnson and Matela17 report broad support of approval.
from peri-urban communities to the regularisation Leduka (2012)21 accepts that, there are clearly effects
process as it is being implemented. of significant reforms in land administration. Land
There were few disputes in the pilot phase, mainly management, however, remains largely as it was
between family members and mostly dealt with under the Land Act of 1979 because attention has
through mediation. A little land hoarding and been concentrated on land administration mainly the
speculation was found and efforts are made to identify issuance of leases within the shortest possible time. It
the claimants; land belonging to untraceable people was expected that many plots would become available
will revert to the state. The pilot project also found from spontaneous subdivisions and sale of newly
some informal transfers and exchange of formal regularised plots, and that the improved security of
property titles and rights without following the legal tenure would bring many second-hand plots to the
processes.18 market. There is little evidence showing a growth in
the second-hand market although the market for new
Minister’s consents plots seems to be more fluid since the Act came into
force.22
The condition that transactions involving leases
in Lesotho have to be approved by the Minister Property Taxes
responsible for land has delayed transactions for
months or years and has become a major drag on Very few property owners pay property taxes. Only
the leasehold market and mortgage lending. The a small area of central Maseru is gazetted (Figure 50)
requirement for consent was originally included to and can have taxes levied thereon. So difficult is it to
protect unsuspecting land owners from unscrupulous collect the tax, that MMC concentrates on properties
56
LAND FOR HOUSING
in the central business district. Even taxes that are FIGURE 51 Very low densities are usual in peri-urban
collected are quite low. Government institutions do Maseru
not pay tax on their properties.
Administration of ground rent is guided by section
77 of the Land Act 2010 which states that ground
rent is payable to the Commissioner of Lands but
any citizen of Lesotho is entitled to occupy one plot
for his/her own residential use free of ground rent. It
must be paid on extra plots, however. This effectively
removes ground rent as a major source of funding for
urban development in Lesotho. Administration of
the property tax is guided by the Property Rating Act
of 1980.
Ground rent can be raised by MMC and the other
local authorities from registered plots in gazetted FIGURE 52 Intensive vegetable gardening, Khubetsoana
areas. It is paid on any empty plot but only on
occupied plots if they are over 1,000m2, at a rate of
M0.29 per m2 per year (US$26.20 for 1,000 m2) in
the prime area falling to only M0.12 per m2 per year
(US$11 for 1,000m2) in less prime areas. In theory
local authorities can also collect property taxes on
plots of M4,000 (US$360) per annum for high cost
plots, M2,000 (US$180) per annum for medium
cost plots, M1,000 (US$90) per annum for low cost
plots. Very few householders seem to pay rates as they
are not asked (Stakeholders’ workshop discussion, 28
January 2014).
FIGURE 50 Gazetted areas of Maseru (in purple) in

which property tax is levied
FIGURE 53 Huge plots with poor servicing at Mabote
LAND FOR HOUSING 57

LESOTHO
LEGAL AND REGULATORY industrial areas; readjustment of town boundaries for

purposes of town planning and, later, the correction
FRAMEWORK GOVERNING LAND
of defective titles.29
SUPPLY REMAINING FROM BEFORE
THE LAND ACT 2010 During the military rule, someone discovered that
SDA powers could be used to grant land to virtually
Deeds Registry anyone as long as a ‘public interest’ declaration was
made. As this was left to the sole discretion of the
There is a deeds registry system in Lesotho similar
Minister for Lands to define, it gave government
to the one in South Africa. It is laid down in the
powers to allocate land to whomever it chose.
Deeds Registry Act 1967.23 The cost of administering
land recording, through the cadastre and plot Leduka30 shows that those who gained access to
registration, is too expensive for many households. land from government agencies through the years
The background paper to the unpromulgated tended to use patronage, elite networks and wealth to
National Housing Policy24 states that cadastral survey obtain access to government land for housing. In the
cost a maximum of 400 Maloti when carried out government-allocated neighbourhoods of Hillsview
by the survey department staff but at least M1,200 and Maseru East, most of the recipients of free state
when surveyed by a private surveyor. In 2004, a Land land were in the higher income groups. Many had
Bill attempted to rectify some of the problems and used their knowledge of political systems, contacts
to introduce different types of leases to help poorer and being able to afford corrupt payments to gain
people gain formal access to land. Johnson and the land.
Matela (2011)25 describe it as a reform too far and it
did not become law. Following the extension of Maseru’s area in
1980, great use was made of SDAs. One was an
Formal land holdings unsuccessful attempt to order development in
the Mapeleng/Maqalika Reservoir resettlement.31
Formal land titles are leases in Lesotho; there are no Leduka32 also refers to the case of Mabote which was
new freeholds. The 2006 census reports that a few declared an SDA in 1984. The deployment of false
households have an old freehold.26 The leasehold gives documentation on plots, such as the backdated Form
lessees exclusive possession and enjoyment of land Cs, chiefs’ rent-seeking behaviours, their allocating
for 90 years for residential use, subject to statutory land under cover of darkness or over the weekends
conditions that could be attached. In urban areas, 13 and public holidays, and council officers’ connivance
per cent of homeowners have leasehold land.27 with chiefs in sub-division led to such chaos that
Land can also be obtained from government. Leduka the UK government withdrew its sponsorship of the
(2004) demonstrates that wealthier urban residents infrastructure element from the development. Devas
have been the main beneficiaries from state land (1989)33 argues that, by working with, rather than
allocations. The poor are mostly left to fend for against existing property interests, the Mabote Project
themselves in the informal settlements that soak up was eventually successful in ensuring a rational layout
over 80 per cent of the demand for urban land in of plots.
Maseru. Under the Land Act, 2010, SDAs have been
Between 1980 and 1985 (civilian rule), a committee transformed into Land Set Aside for Development
acted as the granting agency, making about 400 grants (LSAD) but the same rules seem to apply and the
of plots per year. It was the policy at that time to same abuse is probably possible.
service the plots before advertising them, thus making
it clear how much they would be charging for the URBAN LAND TENURE
servicing. In addition, a Selected Development Area
Four per cent of households have housing on land
(SDA) designation could be given to land by which
acquired from government agencies. Of this small
earlier interests in the land could be extinguished and
portion, the majority of households acquired their
the Minister could allocate the land.28 This category is
land from Lesotho Housing (84.2 percent) while
a sort of force majeur; it had been conceived to allow
another 10.9 per cent obtained land through the
government to gain title over land for specific policy
Mabote Project. ‘Lesotho Housing’ includes the
objectives, such as the development or reconstruction
LHC and LEHCO-OP separately and their successor
of existing built-up areas (upgrading); construction
the Lesotho Housing and Land Development
or development of new residential, commercial or
58
LAND FOR HOUSING
Corporation (LHLDC). Maseru City Council the legality of the Form C is never questioned by the
provided 4.9 per cent.34 Only seven per cent of authorities. (Leduka, 2012).
owners nationally have bought the land on which
their house stands from a private individual or firm. According to the 2006 Census, in urban areas in
67 per cent have had it allocated by chiefs and 20 per general in 2006, 64 per cent of land-holders had
cent have inherited it. Maseru and Berea have higher Form C, 13 per cent had leasehold and 3.5 per cent
proportions of households with leasehold (8.6 and had a title deed from an old freehold. Only 16.5
5.7 percent respectively) than with an old freehold per cent have no title.39 It is clear from the Profile’s
title deed (3.1 and 2.3 percent respectively).35 sample survey (Table 35), however, that owners in
Maseru have better security (through leases) and
Analysis of urban data in the Maseru Urban Planning more documentation generally, especially in the
and Transport Study36 showed more or less similar low-income areas, than owners elsewhere. While a
land access in Maseru. Most households in Maseru lease is held by the majority of the Maseru owners
(53 per cent) had acquired land from customary in the sample, especially in low-income areas, very
chiefs, 19 per cent had purchased land from others, few had one elsewhere. For those elsewhere who
13 per cent from government agencies, and only have documentation, Form C is the norm, showing
9 per cent by inheritance, Six per cent had gained the pivotal position of the chiefs there, despite the
land from other unspecified sources. Thus, the removal of their powers by the Land Act of 1979.
delivery of land by government and its agencies has The relative scarcity of Form Cs in the low-income
been minimal compared to other actors in housing neighbourhoods of Maseru is a surprise; the greater
delivery. In contrast, 70-80 percent have acquired percentage of leases in Maseru generally and in
their land from or with the assistance of customary the low-income areas in particular, seems to stand
chiefs, especially in peri-urban neighbourhoods.37 testament to the success of upgrading schemes in the
The larger proportion of leases may be testament to past and the recent Land Reforms.
the recent land reforms.
Owners lacking any documentation are a significant
The MUP&T study38 shows that 68 per cent of minority across urban Lesotho but are uncommon
households then had Form Cs; 16 per cent had in Maseru. When asked if they would like a lease,
leaseholds; 3 per cent had deeds of title and 13 per the great majority of owners replied positively. Of the
cent had no title. Clearly, therefore, the chiefs and minority who have tried to obtain a lease, the sample
their Form Cs have been the most predominant survey found that bureaucracy at central or local
ways to access land tenure in urban areas. Indeed, government level is the main problem.
TABLE 35 Land holding documentation (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru middle and Mohale’s

Leribe Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka
income high income Hoek
Lease 77.6 61.5 18.2 6.9 5.1 0.0
Form C 15.5 38.5 48.9 50.6 46.2 50.0
No documents 3.4 9.8 27.3 27.6 35.9 43.3
Title Deed 1.7 0.0 3.4 14.9 0.0 0.0
Other 1.7 1.2 2.3 0.0 12.8 6.7
Informal Land holdings the past, chiefs or headmen allocated the right of use
of land to men under the customary land system. The
Customary Land rights could be inherited by their sons. Under the
In Lesotho, land is regarded as both a national and Land Act of 1979, however, the right to manage land
social asset to be utilized for the benefit of the people. was taken away from the chiefs and replaced with
The traditional system of land tenure in Lesotho is local land administration institutions.40 This was re-
such that the King holds the land in trust for the enacted in the Land Act 2010 which also abolished
nation while individuals could gain rights of use. In customary land allocation in rural areas. Thus, in
theory, there is no customary land in Lesotho.
LAND FOR HOUSING 59

LESOTHO
Arable land in Lesotho is laid out in fields (masimo) be inherited, in contrast to ‘customary’ law under
with narrow uncultivated strips as boundaries. which allocations were not inheritable, reverting to
Despite having no legal status, customary chiefs, the community on the death of the surface user. The
masimo-owners and their clients have been, until allocating authority could revoke an allocation on
recently, the most significant actors in land allocation thirty days written notice or when the land is required
in urban Lesotho. Until June 1980, land outside for public purposes; compensation is payable for
the former colonial ‘urban’ reserves was managed by lawful improvements on the land but not the land
customary chiefs, headmen and individual masimo- itself.44
owners. When the towns expanded onto their land,
customary chiefs became involved in determining Inheritance rules in Lesotho follow male
the way peri-urban areas grew. Whereas chiefs were primogeniture; the senior male inherits everything.
accustomed to providing land to their own people However, a person can nominate any successor before
and to a limited number of newcomers, peri-urban they die if they wish. Thus, there is nothing to prevent
growth brought in strangers who wanted land from women from inheriting if enough forethought is
the chiefs and this led to their exchanging land rights given before death.
for money.41
Squatters
According to Leduka, it was known that individual
42
Because of an active and ever-present chieftaincy
field-owners were being encouraged by their local system, to which Basotho give much deference,
customary chiefs to sell their fields or face state it is commonly held that there are no squatters in
appropriation without compensation. In turn, chiefs Lesotho. Mapetla45 is almost alone in referring to
issued certificates of allocation—the Form Cs—to informal neighbourhoods as ‘squatter settlements’
plot buyers, for a fee, and backdated the certificate but is probably more influenced by their haphazard
to before June 1980, when the Land Act 1979 came layout than by a detailed assessment of their tenure in
into force. In urban areas, 64 per cent have Form C doing so. On closer observation, however, it appears
titles;43 about 30 per cent have no title. In response to as though very many householders are, technically,
the chiefs continuing to have an active role in urban squatters as they hold Form Cs from chiefs who, at
land allocation though Form C issuance after 1980, the time, had no right to issue them. Such backdated
customary tenure was (again) abolished by the Land Form Cs are not like the permits given by chiefs
Act, 2010. In the Profile’s sample survey, about 50 in Ghana46 as their rights are intact. They are more
per cent of all owners in the towns had Form C titles; like the invalid tenure sold by ruling party’s local
20 per cent in Maseru. chairmen to squatters in Zambia in the 1970s.47
The allocations made in customary areas was the Thus, the regularisation process is also referred to as
right of surface user (usufructuary right). The Land an ‘amnesty’ a term used in relation to being forgiven
Act, 1979, allowed the rights under an allocation to for an illegal act.
KEY PLAYERS IN LAND FOR HOUSING

TABLE 36 From whom did owners obtain land (percentage frequencies)

Individuals 32.2 32.9 30.4 5.7 4.9 10.0
Inherited 40.7 4.9 11.1 20.5 50.0 50.0
LHLDC 1.7 40.2 2.8 0.0 0.0 0.0
Chief 22.0 8.5 13.9 43.6 37.5 50.0
LSPP 3.4 9.8 0.0 12.8 0.0 0.0
Council 0.0 2.4 11.1 10.3 0.0 0.0
Other 0.0 1.2 2.8 7.7 12.5 0.0
60
LAND FOR HOUSING
It is evident from the Profile’s sample survey (Table The city authority’s main involvement in land
36) that, as shown by the frequency of Form Cs in delivery has been to help agencies, such as the Lesotho
the small cities, chiefs are still the source of land Housing and Land Development Corporation
for housing there. In towns in Leribe and Maseru, (LHLDC), to acquire land for servicing and
however, about one third of owners obtained the land development by others. When it has been involved in
for their dwellings from individuals. Inheritance is an land subdivision, servicing and allocation, the scale
important land allocation mechanism in Sub-Saharan has been quite trivial but has been controversial. For
Africa. In urban Lesotho, about one in four owners example, the city imposed criteria for land allocation
in the Profile’s sample survey inherited the plot, more such that priority was given to applicants who were
among relatively low-income owners. LHLDC has citizens of Maseru and not already having a plot of
been a source of land for housing for 40 per cent land elsewhere. They should also have cash to pay for
of land-owners in Maseru middle and high income the plot.
neighbourhoods (see below) but almost no-one
elsewhere. Its direct building and sites and services Leduka52 estimates that between 1992 and 2003,
programmes have made a significant contribution the MCC released only 256 plots (an average of 23
to Maseru’s housing land,48 greater than of similar plots per year) with water supply and gravel roads
institutions in Malawi49 or Zambia.50 LSPP and into the market; first priority was given to the council
Councils are very small providers though almost one employees. The absence of vacant land within council
in four between them in Mohale’s Hoek. boundaries and lack of finance to pay compensation
for acquiring land are its main constraints. Under
The Land Administration Authority (LAA) the Land Act, 2010, MMC has a Land Allocation
Committee which allocates land through the city
The Land Administration Authority (LAA) forms a council.
one-stop shop for land matters (see above) except for
allocation. District and community councils
Directorate of Lands, Surveys and Physical Plan- Under the Local Government Act, 1997, one of the
ning (LSPP) most significant functions of district and community
councils is the allocation of land in both rural and
The LSPP, headed by the Commissioner of Lands, urban areas. Land allocation in smaller towns was
was established in 1974. It was responsible for titles the responsibility of community councils. Under the
to land, recording land transactions, surveying Land Act, 2010, the local authorities now have Land
and mapping, physical planning and development Allocation Committees which allocate land through
control, and collecting land revenue on leasehold the local council.
property as well as development charges. The
Commissioner of Lands was the land and planning Minister of Local Government, Chieftainship
authority for Lesotho as a whole, including Maseru. and Parliamentary Affairs
Given its pivotal position in land administration, it is
surprising that so few of the Profile’s survey samples Part IX of the 2010 Land Act provides that the
had received their land through it (Table 35). minister can acquire and expropriate land for public
purposes, which continues the same powers available
Maseru Municipal Council (MMC) under the SDA clause of the Land Act 1979. Some
of the key stakeholders interviewed by Leduka53
The Maseru City Council (MCC) was and (now argued that these powers are continually misused to
as MMC) is the only municipal council in Lesotho grant plots to individuals favoured by the minister.
but it was not a land authority until 1992, when the Such land, set aside for purposes of ‘public interest’,
MCC gained responsibility for acquisition, servicing is not advertised and its availability for development
and disposal of land through sale. However, much is, therefore, not widely known.54 As the MCA’s land
of the formal land acquisition process remains the reform focuses on titling rather than the supply of
responsibility of the Department of Lands, Surveys new land, the flawed systems of land supply that
and Physical Planning (LSPP).51 existed under the Land Act of 1979 have not been
reformed and the minister continues to have the
discretion to award plots to anyone in favour.
LAND FOR HOUSING 61

LESOTHO
Lesotho Housing and Land Development for the rising middle class or its own workers. It
Corporation (LHLDC) provides no significant avenues for the development
of rental housing. Hall58 shows that the aggregate of
Like most state housing providers,55 LHLDC benefits land delivery by all government agencies, including
from formal land allocation by the state (LSPP) and the MMC, could meet barely 10 per cent of the
has its own internal allocation criteria necessitated by demand for urban land in Maseru alone. At a similar
its need to be financially self-sufficient. It receives land period, Leduka59 estimated that all the formal land-
through a process in which it asks local authorities for supply systems combined could only meet about
land and then pays for it at a valuation per square 30 per cent of the potential demand for urban
metre according to location. The field owners are paid housing. Allocation criteria also favour the well-off
what may seem like enormous amounts of money, as they include providing evidence of income from
more than they have ever imagined seeing, let alone regular employment which limits the allocations to
owning. Conscious of this, LHLDC staff members a very small proportion of the urban population.
advise them on prudent ways of investing and using The LHLDC has slightly improved the supply of
the windfall gains. serviced land but not by much in comparison to the
population growth.60
FIGURE 54 Expensive housing on LHLDC fully-serviced
plots in Thetsane
Plot sizes
According to the Planning Standards of 1990, the
minimum plot size at present is 375m2 except for
special types of housing such as 2-3 storey terraced
housing which could be on smaller plots. The normal
range of plot sizes should be 375 to 1,000m2 with a
minimum of 600m2 where septic tanks with soak-
aways are used.61 LEHCO-OP experimented with
190m2 in Khubetsoana. In addition, a relatively small
part is to be built on: from a high of 30 per cent for
the 400-600m2 plots to only 25 per cent for the 800-
1,000m2 plots (Table 37). The argument for large
By 2010/11, the LHLDC had delivered 9,519 plots in urban Lesotho is based around the use of the
serviced sites. Formal title is given to plot beneficiaries yard for farming.
following a cadastral survey which costs between
M600 and M1,000 (US$55-92) per plot. A separate Mapetla62 noted that most of the plots occupied by
cadastral survey is done for each plot to minimise the women in her survey were very spacious but not
litigation. LHLDC tried fitting full services for used for vegetable growing as all the rhetoric in favour
plots aimed at middle to high-income households of large plots suggests. In 2014, the impression that
at Thetsane but they took years to sell as they were not all Basotho are keen vegetable growers is affirmed
initially very expensive; only 10 years or so of inflation by observation. Mapetla63 avers that her beer-brewing
took over to allow their eventual sale.56 women sample may not grow vegetables because they
are renters without the security of a growing season
As is common in Sub-Saharan Africa,57 government and that there was rampant theft in those days.
agencies’ contribution to urban land supply has
been very small in number of plots though may The 375m2 should give 26 plots per hectare and the
occupy large areas. It focuses on the provision of 1000m2 plots should give 10 plots per hectare net
large, owner-occupied, self-contained dwellings density. This should be halved for gross or town
density.
62
LAND FOR HOUSING
TABLE 37 Relationship between plot sizes and coverage in residential plots
Plot size m2 400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000

Max plot coverage % 30 30 30 27 25 25 25
Max size of dwelling m 2
120 150 180 190 200 225 250
Source: Development Control Code, 1989
These regulations are set down with specific comments CAPACITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT
on the use of the plot for gardens, parking spaces, There are major issues about plot sizes for the future
daylighting and air circulation. Also, on the larger of urban areas in Lesotho.
plots, 800m2 and above, “buildings should be sited
so as to facilitate later subdivision as part of future As the need for new housing can be expressed as
densification.” both rooms (170,000) and dwellings (99,000), so
land release might vary considerably depending on
Setbacks are set as five metres to the front and 3.5m at the proportion of the new dwellings that are built on
the sides, unless they are for terraced houses, and the new plots and how many are added on existing plots.
back. The Development Control Code of 1989 sets In this, plot sizes have major implications; the 400m2
out that, normally, only one dwelling is allowed per only take up 40 per cent of the space occupied by the
plot except for the addition of malaene rental units to 1000m2 plots.
an area not exceeding that of the main dwelling. They
should have one toilet between two. Unusually in Southern Africa, the development
of more than one dwelling on a plot is allowed in
Lesotho. The ability to add ranges of (rented) rooms
PRICES OF LAND IN THE FORMAL to the main dwelling is a major resource for increasing
AND INFORMAL SECTORS density and reducing land take in future. If it is used
There is also virtually no information on the sale to increase the coverage of residential accommodation
prices of land; this makes it difficult to establish on plots, it can mitigate many of the effects of large
reasonable ‘market’ prices.64 There is a perception plots so prevalent in Lesotho.
that land is expensive as the price of a 30mx30m
(900m2) plot may be an appreciable proportion of
the development cost.
TABLE 38 Calculation of space per household under the planning standards of one dwelling plus malaene up to the
floor area
Plot sizes in square metres
400 500 600 700 800 900 1,000
Max plot coverage % 30 30 30 27 25 25 25

Max size of dwelling m 2
120 150 180 190 200 225 250
Area of main dwelling m 2
60 75 90 95 100 112.5 125
Number of malaene rooms at 12m allowed*
2
5.0 6.3 7.5 7.9 8.3 9.4 10.4
Number of dwellings** 3.5 4.1 4.8 5.0 5.2 5.7 6.2
Area per dwelling 114 121 126 141 155 158 161
Area required for 99,000 dwellings calculated by

1,128 1,196 1,247 1,394 1,528 1,562 1,590
area per dwelling (hectares)
Note: * Assuming half of the maximum size is the main dwelling and half is the malaene rooms.
** Assuming that two rooms are used by each household (two-roomed dwellings)
LAND FOR HOUSING 63

LESOTHO
Table 38 shows that maximising coverage and (5,000 hectares) shows the potential for reducing
number of malaene rooms (let out in pairs) on each land take. By encouraging large plots with one plus
plot size gives between 114 and 161 square metres one households on them at one end of the scale
of space per household on plots between 400 and and, at the other end, encouraging home-owners to
1,000m2 in area. Looked at another way, maximising provide malaene up to the allowed scale, the scale of
the number of dwellings per plot this way would land saving ranges from 50 per cent to more than
require between 1,128 and 1,590 hectares between 75 per cent. There must be large amounts of space
2006 and 2025. The difference between the land take within existing plots that are not efficiently used that
for 1,000m2 plots developed to their full potential could also make space for much of the new housing
(1,590 hectares) and that for the same plots with only needed (Figure 56).
one main dwelling and one malaene dwelling thereon
FIGURE 55 Space for infilling on the Maseru-Berea boundary
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000 Area required at one dwelling per plot

Land required (Ha)
6,000 Area required at two dwellings per plot
5,000 Area required at maximum allowed

dwellings per plot
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Plot area
FIGURE 56 Area required for new housing against three development scenarios
64
LAND FOR HOUSING
There is some discussion at present about the potential the transaction costs involved in registering land
for increasing density when the forthcoming Sectional and receiving a valid lease. A forthcoming act to
Titles legislation allows multi-storey apartments enable sectional titles is eagerly anticipated. Formal
to be built. It should be noted that such housing is land allocation still discriminates in favour of the
likely to be attractive to the relatively small aspiring middle and high income households, however, and
middle class but may be unsuitable for the majority men rather than women. The legacy of the abolition
of households. The above has shown that there is of customary leases and the spuriously back-dated
great potential for increasing densities in existing Form C leases is a proliferation of neighbourhoods
residential areas and manipulating the land-take for which have no legal title but in which residents feel
new development before it is necessary to build more confident of their security. Plot sizes are very large and
expensively in three- to four-storey blocks or higher. jealously guarded by officials as necessary for Basotho
lifestyles. Potential savings in land take are, however,
possible by using the allowance to construct malaene
BRIEF CONCLUSIONS rooms of an equal area to the main dwelling. There
Land is very important in Lesotho; fertile land is in is great potential for increasing densities in existing
short supply and subject to being built on as urban developments to absorb some of the growth likely in
areas grow. There has recently been a major change the coming years and reduce urban sprawl on scarce
in the land administration system in Lesotho which fertile land.
has made huge cuts in the time taken and, therefore,
END NOTES
25. Johnson and Matela (2011).
1. This chapter draws heavily on a very comprehensive study of
26. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a): 3.
land by Clement R. Leduka for Urban LandMark, Pretoria.
2. Leduka (2012).
28. Section 44 of the LA 1979 provides that:
3. Leduka (2012).
Where it appears to the Minister in the public interest so to
4. http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/
do for purposes of selected development, the Minister may,
lesotho/.
by notice in the Gazette declare any area of land to be a
5. Leduka (2012). selected development area and, thereupon all titles to land
6. Johnson and Matela (2011). within the area shall be extinguished but substitute rights may
7. Section 5(2), Land Act 2010. be granted as provided under this Part.
8. Interview with Clement Leduka, 22 January, 2014. Section 49 provides that:

Titles to land within a selected development area shall be
9. Stakeholder Interview, Lands Commissioner, 22 January,
granted by the Minister and shall be evidenced by a lease,
2014.
which shall be prepared by the Commissioner and executed in
10. Leduka (2012). the manner prescribed.
11. Land Act, 2010: 387. 29. Leduka (2004).
12. UN-HABITAT (2012a). 30. Leduka (2004).
13. Devas (1989). 31. Mosaase (1982): cited in Leduka (2004b).
14. UN-HABITAT (2010a). 32. Leduka (2004).
15. Devas (1989). 33. Devas (1989).
16. Land Act 2010: Part I. 34. (Kingdom of Lesotho, 2009a: 6).
17. Johnson and Matela (2011). 35. (Kingdom of Lesotho, 2009a: figure 1.2).
18. Leduka (2012). 36. (Ministry of Works and Public Transport, 2010).
19. Leduka (2012). 37. Leduka (2000); Leduka (2004).
20. Leduka (2012). 38. (Ministry of Works and Public Transport, 2010).
21. Leduka (2012) 39. Extrapolated from Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a): figure 1.1.
22. Stakeholder interview, RE/MAX, 22 January, 2014. 40. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a)
23. Johnson and Matela (2011). 41. Leduka (2012).
LAND FOR HOUSING 65

LESOTHO
42. Leduka (2004). 55. For example, the State Housing Company in Ghana (UN-
43. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a). HABITAT, 2012a) and the National Housing Authority in
Zambia (UN-HABITAT, 2012b).
44. Leduka (2012).
56. Stakeholder interview, LHLDC, 22 January 2014.
45. Mapetla (1999).
57. UN-HABITAT (2010a); UN-HABITAT (2012a); (UN-HABITAT,
46. (UN-HABITAT (2012a)).
2012b).
47. (UN-HABITAT, 2012b).
58. Hall (2004).
48. But mainly for middle and high income households.
59. Leduka (2004).
49. UN-HABITAT (2010a).
60. Leduka (2012).
50. UN-HABITAT (2012a);
61. In this case, it is stated that 120m2 would not be suitable for
51. Leduka (2012). vegetable growing.
52. Leduka (2012). 62. Mapetla (1996).
53. Leduka (2012). 63. Mapetla (1996).
54. The Lesotho Times of September 1-7 and 8-14, 2011, calls 64. Leduka (2012).
on the former Minister of Local Government to explain the
land (stands/plots) that she had recently granted to nine
government ministers, judges and senior civil servants (but
to no ordinary Basotho) in prime areas in Maseru (Leduka,
2012).
66
06
FINANCE FOR HOUSING
FINANCE FOR HOUSING
INTRODUCTION hinge on the issues of affordability and the transaction

There are two major challenges in Lesotho insofar as costs attached to lending what, for bankers, are
housing finance is concerned; relatively small sums over long periods.
• There is a lack of housing finance for most of the It is evident from the Profile’s sample survey (Table 39)
households in the urban areas; that, as in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, savings (cash
and money held in the bank) are overwhelmingly the
• The formal financial systems exclude most main source of housing finance in urban Lesotho.
households despite the best intentions of bankers Loans from banks and financial institutions are used
to be inclusive. by only a very few households for financing their
These are inter-related and similar to the issues found housing, especially in middle and higher income
in the other Profiles in Sub-Saharan Africa.1 They areas of Maseru.
TABLE 39 Most important source of housing finance (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru medium Mohale’s

Cash and bank balance 82.1 62.9 80.0 73.2 82.9 96.3
Banks and financial
0.0 23.1 8.6 7.2 8.6 0.0
institutions (mortgages)
Friends and relatives 2.5 2.6 8.6 3.6 2.9 0.0
Sale of assets 7.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9 0.0
Private money lenders 2.5 1.3 0.0 3.6 0.0 0.0
Insurance/Pension fund 0.0 0.0 2.9 3.6 0.0 0.0
Other 5.1 10.3 0.0 8.9 2.9 3.7
THE FINANCIAL SECTOR more than half of government revenues. Despite this,
Because Lesotho had several years of economic Lesotho’s banks are still well-capitalised, profitable
stability and a history of fiscal surpluses, it was in and liquid. There are, however, vulnerabilities in
a better position than many countries to cope with the system owing to weak supervision of Non-Bank
unfavourable external developments. It has, however, Financial Institutions (NBFIs). The government’s
been affected by the recent financial crisis and the Medium-Term Macroeconomic Programme
subsequent economic problems as there has been a (MTMP) for 2010-2013 was aimed at strengthening
decline in revenue from the Southern African Customs the financial sector while enhancing access to
Union (SACU). This has been its most important financial services. Its reforms include improving
source of foreign reserves, recently contributing the supervision of banks and non-bank financial
FINANCE FOR HOUSING 67

LESOTHO
institutions, improving access to credit, reducing and hold office for a (renewable) term of 5 years.
transaction costs, and increasing the participation of Other members of the Board of Governors hold Non-
women in the economy.2 Executive posts; they are appointed by the Ministry
of Finance and serve for a (renewable) term of 3 years.
Borrowing money is common in Lesotho; 57 per cent
of adults over 25 years of age report that they had a The Bank has reserve requirements for the commercial
loan in the year to 2011. Despite this, there are not banks which are:
many mortgages (Table 39). Access to formal credit is
limited in Lesotho. Only 3.5 per cent of adults had a • Minimum local asset requirements such that 10
loan from a financial institution and only 6.1 per cent per cent of domestic deposits and balances, other
had a loan from a private lender. Lesotho ranks 154th borrowings, paid-in-capital, and reserves must be
out of 185 countries for ease of obtaining credit (see maintained locally;
chapter 1) according to the World Bank’s 2013 Doing • 25 per cent liquid assets in the form of total
Business indicators.3 currency held, surplus funds at the Central
Bank, deposits with local banks, and government
According to the World Bank’s Global Financial securities;
Inclusion Database (Global Findex), 14.5 per cent
of rural and 36.2 per cent of urban Basotho over 15 • Capital requirements of M10 million or 8 per
years of age have an account with a formal financial cent of risk-weighted assets in line with Basel
institution. Very few have an outstanding loan to buy conventions;
a home: 0.8 per cent of the top 60 per cent of income • Cash reserves amounting to 3 per cent of deposit
earners and 1.2 per cent of the bottom 40 per cent liabilities.6
of income earners. Loans to build a home are slightly The Central Bank supervises commercial banks,
more common but still very scarce: 2.1 per cent of money-lenders, and insurance companies (which
the top 60 per cent of income earners had one, and are the non-banking financial institutions in the
0.8 per cent of the bottom 40 per cent of income country).
earners.4
The CBL has established a Credit Bureau which
The prime bank lending rate in Lesotho is relatively is operated by COMPUSCAN, a South African
low for Sub-Saharan Africa. It has been 9.75 per cent company, but it is awaiting the necessary data on
or thereabouts for a few years. This stability owes credit histories to help commercial banks to determine
much to the Loti (plural, Maloti) being tied to the the credit worthiness of a customer. Its absence was
Rand at par. According to a study in 2010,5 19 per earlier cited by commercial banks as being one of the
cent of households receiving remittances, had spent main obstacles to credit extension.
some money on house-building materials (from table
25). These households estimated that 90 per cent of In 2010, CBL set aside M50 million (US$450,000)
their housing expenditure was met by remittances. to create a Credit Guarantee Facility to give SMMEs
access to credit and training.7
INSTITUTIONAL, LEGAL AND There are three commercial banks, Standard Lesotho
REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS Bank, Nedbank, and the First National Bank. There
is also a PostBank owned by the government designed
GOVERNING HOUSING FINANCE for people who would normally not be able to borrow
The Central Bank of Lesotho (CBL) from a commercial bank. Its motto “Affordable,
accessible, anytime” augers well for its purpose.
The Central Bank of Lesotho is the national regulatory
banking institution. In August 2000, the law was
revised so that the Bank’s sole and primary objective FINANCING PRIVATELY-SUPPLIED
is the achievement and maintenance of price stability HOUSING
in the economy.
Commercial Banks
While the bank has its own budget for its operations,
the paid‐in capital is subscribed and held exclusively Lesotho’s small banking sector is dominated by three
by the government of Lesotho. Its Governor and two commercial banks (Table 40) and one Post Bank.
Deputy Governors (Executive Posts) are all appointed They only have 40 branches between them, of which
by the King, under the advice of the Prime Minister, 27 are outside Maseru. They are currently limiting
68
FINANCE FOR HOUSING
their operations in urban and semi-urban areas. Their (US$68,000) and M4 million (US$360,000) and to
target clientele is the formal sector, mainly medium borrowers with more than M10,000 (US$900) per
and large corporate enterprises and salaried employees month income.14
in and around urban areas.8 Like other commercial
banks in Sub-Saharan Africa, they have focused on Many customers have difficulties raising the 20
high net-worth clients, or on those who have long per cent deposit required unless the mortgage is a
business relationships with them. Recently, however, pension-backed loan. In addition, job insecurity
all three have shown interest in financing micro, small holds some households back from committing to a
and medium enterprises by establishing a dedicated mortgage. There is quite a low default rate in Lesotho
department for them.9 These commercial banks are but there is also a fairly high tolerance of default as
the main source of housing finance. According to the transaction costs of repossession are very high and
CAHF,10 they are likely to increase their mortgage the likely price received through a Court’s ‘forced sale’
business as land titling, through the Land Act 2010 at the end will probably only cover a fraction of the
(see chapter 5), is opening up more opportunities to value of the asset. There is also a reluctance to tarnish
borrow for housing against the value of the newly- the name of the bank by this activity.
registered plot.11 The banks are trying to relax the conditions for
mortgages so that people with lower incomes than
Table 40 Co mmercial banks in Lesotho are currently eligible can raise mortgage finance.
Number of Currently, M300,000 (US$27,000) is the lower
Name of bank Distribution limit for a mortgage and they hope to reduce this
branches
Standard Lesotho Bank 16 In all 10 districts
to M200,000 (US$18,000), but it is likely that the
transaction costs will be so high that they would need
Nedbank 7
some subsidy to avoid making a loss. In the pension
First National Bank 3 fund-backed loans, aimed at lower income workers,
the lower limit for a loan is M100,000 (US$9,000)
Mortgages can be obtained for building a dwelling, with payments of up to M1,500 ($136) per month
home improvement, home purchase and equity and up to 40 per cent of household salaries. Banks
release. The banks try to reach lower-income groups, are also becoming pro-active in giving front-end
that would normally be beyond mortgages, through finance to developers with whom they have done
pension-backed loans which use the accruing pension business before.
fund as the collateral. In some workplaces, there are
On its website,15 SLB advertises mortgages for a
agreements with banks to stop money from salaries at
minimum loan of M100,000 over a maximum of 20
source for loan repayments. Where such agreements
years. The applicant is required to take out home-
exist, workers can raise mortgages up to 100 per cent
owners insurance on the home loan or cede an existing
of the house value up to M750,000 (US$68,000) or
policy with the value equivalent to the amount of the
90 per cent above M750,000.
loan. The interest rate is linked to Prime lending rate
Granting mortgages has recently been rendered much and based on the applicant’s risk profile; as the prime
easier through the Land Administration Authority’s interest rate changes, so repayments can change over
work in promoting registration; many more dwellings the life of the loan. The normal rate is Prime Rate
are now registered and, therefore, ‘bankable’. Being plus two per cent and the loan can be for 20 years
able to register a mortgage bond in a week, and or as long as the client has until retirement (if less).16
not having to await ministerial consent, is a great The exceptions to this are generally two-fold;
improvement for mortgagors. Their lending is on
• Civil servants qualify for a rate of Prime minus
a rising trajectory with mortgage loans increasing
two per cent (with a minimum of 10 per cent).17
by over M294 million (US$29.2 million), or more
than 149 per cent, between 2010 and 2012, to • In pension-backed pension schemes, 60 to 70
M492 million (about US$48.8 million) by 31 March per cent of the pension may be used but all other
2013.12 Standard Lesotho Bank (SLB) has doubled qualifications above are removed.18
its mortgage book since 2009. SLB grants about 350 • Applicants must:
mortgages per annum of which about 200 are to civil
• have been permanently employed for a period of
servants from whom a lien on salary can be taken. It
not less than two years;
has 1,100 outstanding mortgages.13 Nedbank grants
about 12 mortgages per year between M750,000

LESOTHO
• earn a minimum net monthly income so that the • be a citizen of Lesotho aged between 21 and 55
payments are up to 35 or 40 per cent of joint years;
incomes; • provide all the documentation required (Table
• be a bank customer in good standing; 41)
TABLE 41 Documentation required for a mortgage with SLB
Personal Identity document; proof of income; bank account details; employment details; any existing Standard Lesotho Bank
home loan details, if applicable.
Building Lease; Plan; Deed of Sale drawn by the Attorney; Building Permit; Contractor’s quotations (Contractor must submit
the following: traders licence, licence from Ministry of Works, Income tax clearance certificate, references).
Financial Proof of Income; Identification; Ministerial consent to mortgage from LSPP; Down payment; Where the
arrangement is “turn -key”, the builder should provide an audited set of accounts and credit reference if necessary.
Source: SLB.19
While banks may provide incremental financing for requirements for money lenders21 but their interest
homeowners, generally to finance the cost of adding rates are meant to be pegged at 25 per cent per
a room, such loans are not relevant for the house annum. It is not surprising that they do not comply
purchase market where prices of dwellings in the with this rate.
formal sector (with land registration) are upwards
of M300,000 (US$27,000). Only 9.8 per cent of Other Types of Finance/Financial Market
households in Lesotho purchased their houses and
The credit market is being opened up to more actors
half of these were financed with savings or with work-
through the Credit Reporting Bill. This will set up a
related loan guarantee schemes.20
credit bureau to be used by credit providers and the
Insurance companies Central Bank of Lesotho, a requirement to register
and regulatory procedures for credit providers.22
The insurance industry in Lesotho is monitored and It will help financial institutions to assess credit-
supervised by the Insurance Supervision Department worthiness by establishing a credit information point
of the Central Bank of Lesotho which also acts as on borrowers.23 The ID card system will help in the
Insurance Commissioner. establishment of a credit bureau.24
The six insurance companies operating in Lesotho in
2008 were as follows: Micro-finance
• Lesotho National General Insurance Com- Non-mortgage housing microloans are available
pany; in Lesotho. There are no Grameen Bank-style
institutions but Ozer and Kamat25 found several
• Lesotho National Life Assurance Company; lending institutions in Lesotho in 2008. Blue
Financial Services provides loans, insurance, and other
• Alliance Insurance Company Ltd; financial services primarily to government employees
• Metropolitan Insurance Company; or large corporate employees. Boliba Savings and
Credit is like a credit union mostly used by rural
• Sentinel Insurance Ltd; people. Borrowers usually have to have maintained
an account with Boliba for several months through
• Prosperity Insurance Company. monthly deposits. Basotho Enterprises Development
Under the Insurance Act, 1976, the Central Bank Corporation (BEDCO) is a government-affiliate that
required capital reserves of M65,000 (US$6,500) for provides technical and business training for Basotho
insurance companies and M5,000 (US$500) trust entrepreneurs who wish to improve their education.
deposit for insurance brokers. The Insurance Act of BEDCO used to include small business loans and
2014 will soon repeal this and ask for a more realistic microfinance activities but it has abandoned them
M4 million as capital reserves. Other financial as too many people defaulted on their loans. Ozer
institutions consist of money lenders, of which and Kamat26 suggest that the failure of Basotho to
there are more than 50. There are no specific capital work in groups was the reason for large default rates
70
FINANCE FOR HOUSING
in what is usually a group-based sector. Christian UNCDF has a programme to Support Financial
Action Research and Education (CARE) has linked Inclusion in Lesotho29 aimed at improving and
its work with women and orphans affected by HIV/ expanding access to sustainable financial services in
AIDS with helping them establish Rotating Savings urban and rural areas by low income households,
and Credit Associations (ROSCAs).27 particularly by lending to women, between 2010
and 2013. Its partners are UNCDF, UNDP and
Select Management Services started operations in the Government of Lesotho. Its total project cost is
Lesotho in 2007 and disbursed loans to the value US$4,085,000.
of US$15.7 million to almost 7,700 clients (a mean
of US$2,040 each) through branches in Maseru, The overall emphasis is on services for salaried (and
Mafeteng and towns in Leribe. In 2011, it left the specifically government-employed) individuals who
country owing to the government’s suspension of tend to be urban-based. Although many Basotho
deductions against government employees’ salaries for resort to the services of the semi-formal and informal
the repayment of loans. It re-entered in 2013 under financiers, mainly money-lenders and SACCOs,
the brand “Lesana” with a credit-only licence. Its Rural Savings and Credit Groups (RSCGs), ROSCAs
target market is to grant loans to salaried employees (‘stokvels’ or ‘makholisano’) and burial societies, their
against stringent criteria so that the borrower will not capacity is very limited. There may be a role for them
be over-stretched. Repayments are deducted from in housing-related expenditures such as adding a
salaries. 28 room or improving a dwelling if members realised
that this was possible.30 The key players in the delivery
of finance in Lesotho are summarized in Table 42.
TABLE 42 Formal and semi-formal financial institutions operating in Lesotho in 2010
Institutional type No. Licensed by Supervised by Permitted range of services

Banks 4 CBL CBL Savings and credit
Insurance companies 6 CBL CBL Life and non-life insurance
Insurance brokers 12 CBL n/a Products
Moneylenders 51 CBL n/a Credit only
NGO 1 Ministry of Justice n/a Credit only
Savings and Credit Cooperatives Commissioner for Commissioner for Savings and credit Deposit from
141
(SACCos) Cooperatives Cooperatives both members and non-members
Rural Savings and Credit Groups,
Savings and credit Deposit from
Village savings and Loan Not known Ministry of Justice n/a
members only
Associations (VSLAs)
Source: SUFIL31
It was estimated that, by the end of 2008, there were Neighbourhood money lenders charge 30-35 per
141 SACCOs totalling 34,000 members. The loan cent per month or part of a month.
balance as at the end of 2009 was estimated to be
at US$7.7 million with almost the same amount of Housing funds and government subsidies
savings.32
The only funds specifically set apart for housing in
Knowledge about appropriate finance for housing is Lesotho are those of ministries to build housing for
also poor. In their survey in Matala, Tsolo and Foso their (usually fairly senior) staff members. Thus, there
in Maseru, Akindele and Rakuena33 found that most are no special government funding lines available
of the householders there were not aware of micro- to developers of housing, e.g., government banks
finance and they did not have a formal lease which dedicated to offering housing loans, nor is there
would have made their housing project bankable access to pension funds for housing.
even in microfinance. Form C is not good enough to
make a house or plot bankable.

LESOTHO
LHLDC has received land from the government the incremental building of housing. Although some
through the Department of Lands and Physical incremental building is the room by room kind, most
Planning in the MLGCPA. This has been either is by stages; foundations, wall to lintel level and roof.
free or at much lower than a market price would
have been and constitutes a supply-side subsidy to Capacity needs assessment
subsequent plot owners.
The banking sector is far too small and too
Resource mobilisation and savings systems concentrated in the higher echelons of society to
be useful for anything other than a niche supplier
The cooperative sector has been dormant and of funds for new housing development of the scale
therefore the exact number of SACCOs is not known required in the next decades. As housing registration
but it was estimated that, by the end of 2008, there increases through the regularising process under
were 141 SACCOs totalling 34,000 members with way, it should be possible to borrow money on more
loans at the end of 2009 of about US$7,720,000 and housing plots than in the past. In order to enable
almost the same in savings. In 2010, Lesotho Postal the provision of 5,450 dwellings per annum, large
Bank (LPB) had 70,000 savers with over US$20 amounts of funds should be made available at market
million saved despite only recently being issued with interest rates (to reduce rationing) but in fairly small
a licence to provide credit as well.34 ROSCAs exist in quantities.
Lesotho. They work by giving members, in turn, a
windfall gain of the monthly savings of all members. Taking the affordability medians in chapter 4, the
The members sometimes expect to see a substantial median cost of dwellings should be in the range from
benefit to be shown by the ‘winner’ that month. US$4,000 each to US$20,650. This is a very wide
Savings are mobilised for housing partly through range within which to calculate the need for finance.
TABLE 43 Need for finance according to different median affordability calculations, 2006-2025 (US$)
Total loans
Dwelling capital Loans Investment
required for Total
Source of affordability median cost including per year per year
99,000 dwellings investment
20% deposit (millions) (millions)
(millions)
Statistical Report No. 19, Continuous

Multi-Purpose Survey, 2013; current 4,000 316.8 396.0 26.4 33.0
housing payments
Centre for Affordable Housing
4,400 n/a 435.6 - 36.3
Finance in Africa (CAHF), 2013*
Profile’s sample survey lower range 7,500 594.0 742.5 49.5 61.9
Maseru’s low-income
10,250 811.8 1,014.8 67.7 84.6
neighbourhoods
Profile’s sample survey upper range* 20,650 1,633.5 2,044.4 136.1 170.4
Note * This is not a median but a 70th percentile point.
Table 43 shows that there is a huge variation in how cost. It is doubtful whether any formal bank would
much loan finance and total investment required be willing to transact mortgages of only US$3,000
for the housing needed between 2006 and 2025. so it is not mortgage finance that is required for
Currently, the smallest mortgage offered by SLB is the new housing. As Basotho householders tend
M100,000 or just under US$9,500 which would to build incrementally in layers, finance for one or
demand payments of about US$100 per month. two thousand US dollars per layer is required, with
This is almost exactly three times as much as the relatively short payback periods of, say, five years,
affordability calculations give for the mean dwelling secured on the value of the plot.
72
FINANCE FOR HOUSING
Currently, SLB grants about 350 mortgages per BRIEF CONCLUSION

annum. The housing finance sector is small in Lesotho and
currently, despite its best intentions, only assists a few
CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES: GENDER, households at the top of the market and civil servants
who have preferential treatment and subsidised
DISABILITY, HIV-AIDS, YOUTH
loans. The qualification criteria for mortgages,
Low life expectancy in Lesotho, partly from HIV/ which safeguard the banks’ investment, exclude the
AIDS, reduces the powers of lenders to grant loans great majority of Basotho households. The granting
to adults who may not live a full span. Prospective of mortgages to those who qualify has been made
clients who are HIV positive are unlikely to be able much easier recently by the work of the LAA. A few
to raise a life insurance which is a precondition of organisations grant housing micro-loans but mainly
having a mortgage granted. to salaried employees, again a niche market.
SLB has been involved in financing for building The needs of the majority, for small amounts of money
homes for orphaned and HIV-AIDS infected children (one or two thousand dollars) over short borrowing
in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity periods (a few years at most) are hardly addressed. The
need for new housing in the next decade will place
demands on the financial system to address the needs
of many thousands of households who need less than
US$10,000 for building and extending dwelling for
their own occupation and renting out.
END NOTES
17. On the grounds that the bank has lower transaction costs on
1. UN-HABITAT (2010a); UN-HABITAT (2012a); UN-HABITAT loans to civil servants.
(2012b).
18. Stakeholder interview, Standard Lesotho Bank.
2. Lesotho Review (2011).
19. http://www.standardlesothobank.co.ls/Lesotho/Personal-
3. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) banking/Borrowing/Home-loans
(2013). 1 is easiest, 185 is most difficult to obtain credit.
4. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) (2013).
(2013).
21. Coppock et al. (2013).
5. Crush et al. (2010).
22. http://www.parliament.ls/senate/index.php?option=com_co
6. Coppock et al. (2013). ntent&view=article&id=171%3Acredit-reporting-
7. Ozer and Kamat (2008). bill&catid=37%3Acommittee-reports&Itemid=63
8. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) 23. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF)
(2013). (2013).
9. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) 24. Ozer and Kamat (2008).
(2013). 25. Ozer and Kamat (2008).
10. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) 26. Ozer and Kamat (2008).
(2013).
27. Ozer and Kamat (2008).
11. Given that few dwellings are likely to be sold, it is difficult to
see how the value of property will increase except as a means
and http://www.selectafrica.net/select_africa_countries_
of raising collateral against a loan, if owners are willing to do
lesotho.html
this. The last cannot be taken for granted.
29. Kingdom of Lesotho et al. (2010).
(2013). 30. Insights offered at the Second Stakeholders’ Workshop,
September, 2014.
13. Email discussion with Azael Makara, SLB, February, 2014.
14. Stakeholder interview, Nedbank, 23 January, 2014.
15. http://www.standardlesothobank.co.ls/Lesotho/Personal-
banking/Borrowing/Home-loans. 33. Akindele and Rakuena (2005).
16. Retirement ages vary; Army/ police = 55, Civil service = 60, 34. Kingdom of Lesotho et al. (2010).
teachers/ nurses = 65, academics =70.

07
LESOTHO
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR HOUSING
BASIC URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE FIGURE 57 In the periphery of Maseru, a household

provides water storage and toilet, and has a satellite dish
PROVISION IN A NUTSHELL, ACTORS for television
AND SERVICE PROVIDERS
The right to adequate water and sanitation at an
affordable price is implicit and acknowledged
in various international declarations, covenants,
conventions and statements.1 The main services to
residential areas are provided by public authorities
under the oversight of regulators such as LEWA (in
the case of electricity, water and sewerage). Developers
complain of the lack of coordination among service
agencies, even for large scale developers, servicing may
be late. When services are provided as part of a formal
sector layout, the developer may engage the service
agencies to supervise its installation. Some formal
Institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks
layouts are laid out without services, apart from access
governing infrastructure provision
and standpipe water supplies, but the purchase and
development of plots creates the demand for their In 2010, the human right to water and sanitation4
installation.2 Some formal layouts are laid with basic declared that supply should be
services, such as gravel roads and either full or partial
water reticulation. However, water connections are • Sufficient and continuous for personal and
normally fitted later as demand for them depends on domestic uses providing between 50 and 100
the development of the plots themselves. litres of water per person per day.
• Safe, free from micro-organisms, chemical
As in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, urban
substances and radiological hazards that
areas tell two stories on servicing. The old and formal
constitute a threat to a person’s health under
city is well serviced but may suffer from stoppage of
World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines
supply. The periphery, especially where informally
for drinking-water quality.
developed, is poorly serviced, reliant on public
facilities. • Acceptable in colour, odour and taste; facilities
and services must be culturally appropriate
However, there has been major improvements in and sensitive to gender, lifecycle and privacy
access to servicing in the last few years. Whereas requirements.
Mapetla3 was able to report appalling lack of
• Physically accessible within, or in the immediate
services, hardly any toilets and little clean water, such
vicinity of the household or within 1,000 metres
conditions are not evident now. More evident are the
of the home and collection time should not
myriad of corrugated metal toilet cubicles and the
exceed 30 minutes.
sturdy VIP latrines in evidence all over peri-urban
Maseru and evident in towns such as Mohale’s Hoek. • Affordable, in that water costs should not exceed
3 per cent of household income.5
74
Two public authorities manage the provision of water areas. The tankers are also used to empty Ventilated
in Lesotho; Improved Pit (VIP) latrines.9
• the Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) Where housing has internal plumbing and
in urban areas, i.e., in Maseru and fifteen other sewer connections, the average consumption is
gazetted urban centres in Lesotho (TAMS approximately 120 litres per capita per day (l/c/d).
Consultants & Associates, 1996) and This reduces to about 80l/c/d where the supply is to
• the Department of Rural Water Supply (DRWS) an outside tap, and to 40l/c/d for standpipe users.10
in rural areas. There is a fixed charge within water bills but not
Lesotho Electricity and Water Authority (LEWA) for public standpipes. The system loss of water is
somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent, quite low
Set up by the Lesotho Electricity Authority Act, when the minimum is thought to be about 25 per
2002, LEWA is the regulator for electricity and, cent.11
since 2013, urban water supply and sewerage in
Lesotho. The infrastructure supply companies apply The threshold of responsibilities between WASCO
for tariff review and LEWA publicises the application and DRWS appears to be the boundaries of the
for public comments. Following set procedures, legally defined urban areas so the peri-urban areas of
LEWA decides on the new tariffs and informs the Maseru and other towns are the province of DRWS.12
supplier and the public simultaneously. There is no The two water authorities cannot provide sufficient
government intrusion in the tariff decisions. The first potable water for all their clientele.
tariff review of Water and Sewerage is due in 2014.
Maseru Wastewater Project
Through a clear and transparent process of reviewing
the cost of all the components of infrastructure supply Around 100,000 of Maseru’s inhabitants are expected
(including bulk costs, depreciation of plant, labour to benefit from WASCO’s Maseru Wastewater
costs, returns on investments, and maintenance), Project which is intended to expand and rehabilitate
LEWA tries to ensure good value for money while wastewater and sanitation facilities in the Maqalika
maintaining the sustainability and improving the catchment area. Funding for the M290 million
efficiency of the infrastructure suppliers.6 project comes from the European Union, the Lesotho
Government and the European Investment Bank
The Water and Sewerage Company (EIB).13
The Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) Through a modern and environmentally friendly
– formerly the Water and Sewerage Authority system of waste water collection and treatment, the
(WASA) – is responsible for supplying adequate project should increase sanitation coverage in the city
potable water and safe wastewater disposal services in from 49 to 85 per cent. Taking account of the income
Lesotho’s urban areas. Maseru’s water comes from the levels of the beneficiaries, there are different levels
Mohokare (Caledon) River and the Maqalika Dam. of service available from connection to the central
Treated water production for Maseru is 40 mega litres sewer network to the construction of low-cost onsite
per day. The other 14 urban centres rely on surface toilets.14 The data collection part of the project has
water and wells.7 begun at the time of writing.
In the urban centres across Lesotho, WASCO Maseru Peri-Urban Water Supply
provides safe drinking water to around 47,600
billed connections, plus approximately 400 public Following a feasibility study in 2002, the Maseru
standpipes. More than 3,050 domestic customers use Peri-Urban Water Supply,15 began with Phase I which
prepaid systems and there are over 3,370 communal covered the peri-urban areas of Ha Leqele, Matala, Ha
prepaid card holders.8 Abia, Lithoteng and Masianokeng. Phase II, which
began in 2007, involved a 267-kilometre pipeline
WASCO also provides sewerage mains for over and two reservoirs to supply water to the peri-urban
5,000 customers and operates a sewage tanker areas north-east and south-west of Maseru, supplying
service providing an emptying service for septic and about 5,000 households. This supplied Khubetsoana,
conservancy tanks in areas that have mains water Mabote, Bobojane, Tšosane, Sekhutlong, Tšiu and
but do not have access to piped sewerage; serving Tšenola, in the north-east, and Ratjomose, Tsolo,
more than 8,000 registered customers in all urban part of Ratšoana, Chala and Seleso in the south-west.
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR HOUSING 75

LESOTHO
The Millennium Challenge Account is active in Based on investments already planned for the
Urban and Peri-Urban Water Networks to extend and subsequent five year period, and assuming that
rehabilitate the urban and peri-urban water network, labour-based methods would be adopted where
including extending the networks to Semonkong they were technically feasible, Islam and Majeres22
and augmenting supply to Mazenod. Other towns estimated that the equivalent of 8,271 full-time jobs
targeted are Mafeteng, Mohale’s Hoek, Quthing, per annum, which was equal to 18 percent of the total
Qacha’s Nek, Butha-Buthe, Hlotse, Teyatenyaneng, formal sector jobs, could be created in infrastructure
Semonkong and Mokhotlong.16 implementation.
Roads Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS)

Created in response to reform of the roads sub-sector, The PRS23 recommends that Lesotho should
the Roads Directorate of the Ministry of Public maximise the benefits of physical infrastructure
Works and Transport is primarily for delivery and through integrating its planning and applying
management of the road network. It is responsible sufficient recurrent resources to maintain and expand
for construction, upgrading, rehabilitation and the networks, especially in areas with high growth
maintenance of primary, secondary, tertiary and potential. It recognises that funds need to be allocated
other roads.17 on a multi-year basis so that assets can be acquired and
maintained. The growth of the garment industry is
Electricity seen as an important reason to maintain and improve
water supply to Maseru and its surroundings.
The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority
Additional investments to the residential distribution
(LHDA) is the main generator of electricity in
network will also be needed to serve new households
Lesotho. It sells power to the monopoly transmitter,
in peri-urban areas. It has increased urban migration,
the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) which
creating additional demands for reliable residential
distributes and supplies power to consumers.
supplies. The Metolong Dam and Water Supply
Lesotho Electricity Company distributes power Programme (MDWSP) has been identified as the
to106,000 households and other customers across the least-cost, long-term solution for bulk supply to
country.18 Owing to the shortfall in local generation Maseru and the surrounding lowlands areas. It
capacity, LEC buys power from neighbouring South should make available 75,000 m3 of treated water
Africa and from Mozambique. per day by 2014, enabling Maseru to meet domestic
and industrial requirements for at least the next
Labour-based infrastructure installation 40 years.24 The project will also supply additional
water for domestic and industrial needs in Maseru,
Islam and Majeres (2001)19 show that a labour-based Teyateyaneng, Roma, Mazenod and Morija.
infrastructure installation option was 37 per cent
less expensive in Lesotho than the equipment-based The strategic objectives of PRSP include:
option, even though minimum wages were then
relatively high for Sub-Saharan Africa at US$4.9 per • Developing water infrastructure for communities
day. The break-even wage rate for Lesotho, i.e., the that have no access to water, including installation
wage level up to which the labour-based was more of communal taps and protection of the wells;
competitive than equipment-based methods, was • Developing financing instruments to speed up
US$14.50 per day, which is exceptionally high.20 connections to water and sanitation infrastructure;
The large margin arises from the high mobilisation • Enforcing standards for construction of Ventilated
costs and difficulty in operating equipment in the Improved Pit (VIP) latrines;
highlands of Lesotho. As the large-scale Lesotho
construction sector depends almost entirely on • Building sanitation mains infrastructure;
foreign contractors, a local labour-based industry • Reviewing the institutional framework to
could be very competitive.21 improve co-ordination and accountability among
the Rural Water Supply, WASCO, Ministry of
Natural Resources and other agencies;
• Facilitating the development of household and
community level water harvesting.
76
INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE A private individual or their building contractor who

Infrastructure agencies are encouraged to borrow to wants a water connection must contact WASCO
extend their networks and services. who conduct a survey (which costs M50) to check
whether there is a water main within 150 metres. The
At the plot level, the price of land serviced by LHLDC customer pays the full cost of the connection either
covers the services provided but with a level of cross- initially or in instalment over one year. A refundable
subsidy; high cost plots are charged a premium so fee of M75 is payable for setting up the account.29
that low-cost plots can be cheaper.
During construction, the contractor might have
LEWA allows both electricity and water and sewerage a temporary connection but would then request
suppliers to borrow money to extend their systems. a final one with the meter on completion. Both
The cost of servicing the loans are included in the temporary and final connection should take around
‘return on investment’ category in LEWA’s assessment a month. Compared to other service providers,
of tariffs. LEC has a M20 million levy per year on its water connection is fairly quick. Some stakeholders,
tariffs to extend the network. WASCO has no levy at however, suggest that connection can take up to 6
present. months, and constant follow-up with the water
authority is required.
SUPPLY AND COVERAGE OF WASCO asks developers to make sure every plot is
INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORKS within 15 m of a water main; LHLDC runs a water
main along in front of each of its plot but leaves the
Water supply new plot owner to have the connection made.30 Large
Lesotho is home to one of southern Africa’s principal numbers of connections are just a waist-level tap
water catchment areas. Thus, water is Lesotho’s most coming up out of the ground inside the front fence
valuable and abundant natural resource; it is the of the plot.
most abundant resource as well as being the largest
single source of foreign exchange earnings since the FIGURE 58 Water standpipe just inside a plot for sharing
implementation of the Lesotho Highlands Water among malaene residents
Project (LHWP). It lies in the wetter and uppermost
part of three main river systems, the Senqu, Mohokare/
Caledon and Makhaleng.25 Rainfall together with
winter snowfalls generate about 5.5 billion cubic
metres of water per year and renewable groundwater
resources of around 340 million cubic metres per
year.26 All this makes Lesotho a relatively water-
abundant country in the middle of the water-stressed
area of Southern Africa. As water is a key determinant
of economic growth in Lesotho, its management is
an essential part of sustainable development. The
water crisis affecting urban Lesotho is not an issue of
scarcity but of unequal access. In addition, harmful
substances from waste generated by human activity
affect water quality in the sources.27 Between one and
1.2 million kilolitres of water are treated per month
for Maseru and district.28

LESOTHO
TABLE 44 Source of drinking water, urban, 2009 and 2010/11 (percentage of households)
Characteristic LDHS 2009 CMS 2010/11

Improved source 91.1 96.1
Piped water into dwelling 55.2
58.9
Piped water into yard/plot 8.5
Piped water into someone else’s yard/plot 16.8
Public tap/standpipe 24.3 8.4
Tube well or borehole 5.2 2.4
Protected dug well 0.8
Protected spring 1.8 4.0
Rainwater 0.1 0.8
Non-improved source 4.1 3.8
Unprotected dug well 2.3
Unprotected spring 1.2 3.5
Tanker truck/cart with small tank 0.4 0.1
Surface water 0.1 0.2
Bottled water, improved source for cooking/washing 0.1
Other 4.7 0.1
Missing 0.0
Total 100.0 100.0
Source: LDHS31 and CMS32
There are different versions of the state of water supply in recent official documents (Table 44) but they tell
similar stories. The great majority have access to piped water. Two thirds (2009) to 80 per cent (2010/11) of
urban households have a piped water supply on the plot or at a neighbour’s house. The remainder mainly have
access to improved water through public taps, boreholes and protected ground water sources.
TABLE 45 Main source of water (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru middle Mohale’s

Tap in the house 9.6 54.3 31.1 4.0 6.1 0.0
Tap on the plot 69.4 42.6 22.3 20.2 34.7 0.0
Own Borehole 1.9 0.8 7.8 2.0 0.0 0.0
Communal Public tap 7.0 0.0 17.5 52.5 51.0 54.3
Public Borehole or Spring 4.5 0.0 17.5 14.1 8.2 45.7
Water Vendor 7.6 1.6 1.0 2.0 0.0 0.0
Other 0.0 0.0 2.9 5.1 0.0 0.0
78
Table 45 shows that there are quite marked differences the sample has a majority with water on the plot or in
in the access to water within the urban sector which the dwelling. Elsewhere, the majority rely on public
are hidden in the urban data in Table 45. The water supplies through taps, boreholes or springs.
respondents in the Profile Sample Survey show the Thaba-Tseka is particularly badly served with water
quite marked difference in water supply between supplies. There is evidence from the sample survey
Maseru and the rest of urban Lesotho. In Maseru, 80 that considerably more renters have water supply on
per cent of households have a tap on the plot or in the plot or in the dwelling than owners.
the dwelling while, elsewhere, only towns in Leribe in
TABLE 46 Round trip time to obtain drinking water (percentage of households)
Urban Rural Total

Water on premises 63.4 5.5 22.6
Less than 30 minutes 27.6 61.9 51.8
30 minutes or longer 8.9 31.5 24.8
Don’t know/missing 0.2 1.1 0.8
Source: LHDS.33
The closeness of the urban supply to the households is demonstrated by the few households (about 9 per cent)
who take more than thirty minutes for a round trip to fetch water (Table 46).
TABLE 47 Person who usually collects drinking water (percentage of households)
Urban Rural Total

Adult-female-15+ 24.6 67.9 55.1
Adult-male-15+ 8.8 17.4 14.9
Female-child-under-age-15 1.7 6.6 5.2
Male-child-under-age-15 1.2 2.1 1.9
Other 0.3 0.3 0.3
Water-on-premises 63.4 5.5 22.6
Missing 0.0 0.1 0.1
Source: LDHS.34
Fetching water is mainly an adult duty, usually falling on women (Table 47). Thus, improvements to supply are
likely to improve the lives of women the most.
TABLE 48 Water treatment prior to drinking (percentage of households)*
Urban Rural Total

Boiled 14.5 5.4 8.1
Bleach/chlorine 0.6 0.3 0.4
Strained through cloth 0.2 1.4 1.0
Ceramic, sand or other filter 0.1 0.1 0.1
Other 0.1 0.6 0.5
No treatment 85.0 92.5 90.3
Percentage using an appropriate treatment method† 14.9 6.7 9.2
Source: LDHS.35
* May have more than one method so table adds up to more than 100.
† Appropriate water-treatment methods include boiling, bleaching, straining, filtering, and solar disinfecting.36

LESOTHO
More than four in five urban households do not treat their water before drinking it (Table 48). As most receive
a piped supply, they are left open to the bacterial load in the piped supply but not the worse organisms which
would be found in untreated water.
The tariffs for water supply are shown in Table 49.
TABLE 49 Urban water tariff structure in Lesotho, April 2013
Category Consumption per month Charge (M) per 1000 litres

(m3) Old rate New rate
Band A 20.51 21.93
Standing charge for domestic customers
Other Bands 34.31 36.68
A 0–5 3.36 3.59
B 5.1–10 5.68 6.07
C 10.1–15 9.98 10.67
D >15 13.76 14.71
Standpipe standing charge 0 0
Standpipe customers 4.55 4.86
Source: WASCO.37
For the minority of the population that use metered FIGURE 60 Water tank for roof run-off
domestic supplies, tariffs have been revised at regular
intervals. Before LEWA took over the regulatory role,
the government has interfered in pricing, resulting in
WASCO subsidising the supply over many years.38
WASCO regards up to 10m3 per month (10,000 litres
or 333 litres per day)39 as a reasonable consumption
and (formerly) more than 23 m3 (770 litres per day)
as luxury.40 Molapo’s41 work showed that households
with in-house water supply used an average household
consumption of 500 litres per day, those with in-yard
supply used about 330 litres per day, while public
standpipe users used an average of 43 litres per day.
The per capita amounts represented here are often Molapo 42 argues that there has been an apparently
well below the WHO minimum of 30 l/c/d. contradictory policy that aims to provide services at
affordable rates for the poor while trying to achieve
FIGURE 59 Water tank in newly developing area full cost recovery and, therefore, the ability to expand.
But this policy, including the inequity of a standard
standing charge, has not been able to achieve either.
Instead it has benefited the high income users.
As the tariff is low in areas dominated by low-income
users, there is less incentive from WASCO to extend
the reticulation there than into higher income
areas. In the same way, repairs in or upgrading of
the network serving areas where consumers only pay
M3.59 per 1,000 litres are likely to be a low priority.
On the other hand, when consumers have to turn to
water vendors because of lack of piped supply, they
always pay more per litre.43
80
The payment from government to WASCO for the • run-off from waste dumping sites, sewage works
free water used at public standpipes has not always and agriculture.47
been readily forthcoming so WASCO carried the cost The WASCO treatment plant in Maseru produces
for a time, reducing its ability to maintain or expand around 24 million litres per day, with a seasonal peak
the system.44 of 30 million litres per day but this is now less than
Water quality in urban areas is affected by pollution customer demand.48 In areas beyond the reach of
from many sources including: mains water or where supply is intermittent, house-
owners are fitting tanks (Figure 59 and Figure 60).
• the sheepskin tannery,45
Sanitation
• stonewashed denim factories,46
• the abattoir in Maseru; As is well known, a poorly managed sanitation system
can create a number of environmental problems
• manufacturing and processing industries in
including wind-blown faecal matter and generation
Maseru, Maputsoe, Mafeteng and Butha-Buthe,
of liquid leachate in the ground soil posing serious
including mines, canneries, pharmaceutical
health risks, mostly among the poorer communities.49
companies, breweries, ice-cream factories, flour
mills, fertiliser blenders and packagers, and
clothing manufacturers; and
TABLE 50 Distribution of households and de jure population by type of toilet/latrine facilities

(percentage of households, 2009)
Type of toilet/latrine facility Urban Rural Total

Improved, not shared facility 26.3 22.1 23.5
Flush/pour flush to piped sewer system 2.7 0.1 0.9
Flush/pour flush to septic tank 2.9 0.2 1.0
Flush/pour flush to pit latrine 0.2 0.0 0.1
Ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine 7.5 8.0 7.8
Pit latrine with slab 11.9 11.8 11.9
Composting toilet 1.1 2.0 1.8
Non improved facility 68.7 32.3 43.1
Any facility shared with other households 34.5 5.6 14.2
Flush/pour flush not to sewer/septic tank/pit latrine 0.6 0.0 0.2
Pit latrine without slab/open pit 33.5 26.7 28.7
Bucket 0.1 0.0 0.0
No facility/bush/field 4.4 44.9 32.9
Other 0.5 0.5 0.5
Missing 0.0 0.1 0.1
Source: LDHS. 50
WASCO water customers who have a sewerage the emptying is done by private contractors, in the
connection pay 85 per cent of the water consumed districts the councils empty them.
on the grounds that WASCO estimates that 85 per
cent of water drawn is discharged down the sewer. In order to obtain a sewer connection, WASCO must
Non-waterborne sewerage is charged at 60 per cent of conduct a survey (for which the prospective customer
water consumed. Where there is no sewerage system, pays M50) to find if there is a sewer main within 90
septic tanks, conservancy tanks and VIPs are emptied metres. The connection is than charged at cost.51
at M385 per load. Where they are in sewered areas,
they are charged M557.75 per load. In Maseru,

LESOTHO
There is evidence that the projects to improve urban seen around the urban areas. Table 51 shows 35 per
sanitation have been effective. The changes in access cent with pit latrines in 2011 down from the LDHS54
to VIPs between the 2009 LDHS52 (Table 50) and (Table 50) which shows about 45 per cent (in two
the Statistical Report on access to solid waste and categories of pits) in 2009. Not only have pits been
sanitation services53 (Table 51) are quite dramatic. improved by stronger shelter structures (Figure 61),
From 7.5 per cent with access to VIPs in 2009, the but the reliance on them has been reduced in favour
increase to 47 per cent in 2011 is very commendable of VIPs (Figure 62).
and demonstrated by the numbers of VIPs which are
FIGURE 61 Mass provision of toilet shelters above pit FIGURE 62 VIP toilet showing vault at the rear. Most
latrines ventilation pipes are white instead of the recommended
black so that they would be hot.
TABLE 51 Percentage distribution of households by type of toilet, 2011
Toilet facility Urban Rural

VIP 47.0 18.0
Pit latrine and lavatory 35.0 30.0
No toilet 9.0 50.0
Sewerage system 6.0 1.0
Septic tank/soak away 1.0 0.0
Public toilet 1.0 1.0
Total 100.0 100.0
Source: CMS.55
The two official versions of the distribution of toilet vacuum trucks. LHLDC provide such septic tanks
facilities tell very different stories (Table 50 and Table on parts of their layouts58 though some of their older
51). The 2011 survey56 shows 47 per cent of urban developments had sewerage reticulation. In one of
households with VIP toilets (Figure 62) whereas the their projects the LHLDC provided septic tanks to
2009 figures,57show only 7.5 per cent. Public toilets the first few houses built as the sewer reticulation
are not a feature of life for most Basotho. Septic was delayed and beneficiaries wanted to move in.
tanks in Lesotho’s cities tend not to operate in the The planning regulations stipulate a minimum of
conventional way, letting relatively clean water out 600 m2 for plots with septic tanks which use leaching
into a leaching area. Instead, they seem to operate as trenches and assumes that 120m2 of the plot will be
conservancy tanks simply storing excreta and liquids unsuitable for vegetable growing as a result.
until they can be emptied by privately-operated
82
TABLE 52 Toilet facilities (percentage frequencies)

VIP Latrine 51.0 27.1 35.3 38.1 49.0 65.7
Ordinary Pit Latrine 40.1 14.7 28.4 39.2 30.6 17.1
Septic Tank 5.1 26.4 23.5 3.1 4.1 0.0
Sewerage 2.5 31.0 4.9 2.1 0.0 0.0
None 0.6 0.8 7.8 13.4 16.3 17.1
Ecological Sanitation 0.6 0.0 0.0 2.1 0.0 0.0
Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.1 0.0 0.0
As Table 52 shows, the Profile’s survey sample shows FIGURE 63 Latrine of original LEHCO-OP house.
very similar access to toilets as Table 51 with a
predominance of VIP latrines in Maseru low income
and Thaba-Tseka, probably as a result of recent NGO
activity. It is clear that Maseru middle and high
income and towns in Leribe have more use of septic
tanks than elsewhere. Sewerage is very rare, only a
major provider in the richer parts of Maseru. It is a
problem that, in several small cities, e.g., Mohale’s
Hoek, Mokhotlong and Thaba-Tseka, more than ten
per cent of households have no access to sanitation.
Renters seem to have more access to VIPs than
owners.
Waste disposal
In Lesotho, waste is defined as “any substance that may
be prescribed as waste or any matter, whether liquid,
solid, gaseous, or radio-active, which is discharged,
emitted or disposed [of ] in the environment in such
a volume, composition or manner as to cause an
alteration of the environment”.59 Where solid waste Lesotho benefits from the larger surrounding market
is poorly managed, it poses a risk to human health of South Africa to be able to sell recycled materials
and the environment. Uncontrolled dumping and such as plastic and glass bottles, paper and cardboard,
inadequate waste handling cause problems including and metal of all kinds. A total of 4,700 tonnes of
contaminating water, attracting insects and rodents, scrap metal waste was collected in Maseru in 2012.
and increasing flood risk owing to blocked drainage Households generate only a small percentage of
canals or gullies.60 total waste quantified in Maseru (only 3 per cent in
Figure 64 shows the composition of solid waste 2006). The great majority is generated by commercial
collected in Maseru for the year 2012. It is surprising activities and small scale enterprises. Many of the
that there is no large component of organic waste. latter will be in residential areas.61
Indeed, Table 53 shows that garden refuse and kitchen
waste are significant proportions of all domestic waste
generated. They are particularly high in high income
areas.

LESOTHO
FIGURE 64 Solid Waste collected in Maseru for the year 2012 (percentage frequencies)
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0
Glass Cardboard Paper Cans Plastic
Source: Data from Welcome Transport.62
TABLE 53 Urban households by type of solid waste disposal in 2011
Solid Waste Disposal Number Percentage

Own refuse dump 104,300 77.4
Regularly collected 13,600 10.1
Communal refuse dump 6,000 4.5
No rubbish disposal 5,500 4.1
Burn 2,500 1.8
Irregularly collected 2,300 1.7
Other 60 0.5
Total 134,300 100.0
Source: LDHS, 2009.63
Refuse dumping is generally handled within the plot by dumping or burning. Only 4.5 per cent use communal
refuse dumps and only 10 per cent have regular refuse collections (Table 53).
FIGURE 65 Dumping within the beautiful environment ENERGY

on the periphery of Maseru
The Utilities Reform Programme (2002-2007),
jointly funded by the World Bank and the African
Development Bank (AfDB), restructured the energy
sector to be commercially viable. This led to more
households being connected to the grid. It also
resulted in the formation of the Lesotho Electricity
Authority (LEA) in 2004, now the Lesotho Electricity
and Water Authority (LEWA) with a mandate to
balance the interests of all electricity (and water)
sector stakeholders.64
84
The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority electricity is estimated at 20% and concentrated in
(LHDA) is the main generator of electricity in the lowlands and Senqu river valley. 77 per cent of
Lesotho. It sells power to the monopoly transmitter, Basotho use biomass as the main source of energy.66
the Lesotho Electricity Company (LEC) which
distributes and supplies power to consumers. Half of The established potential of about 6,000 MW of
LEC’s M600 million running costs are purchase of wind power and 4,000MW of pumped storage, plus
electricity in bulk.65 Lesotho generates 72 Megawatts 80 MW of conventional hydropower present great
(MW) per hour from Muela hydro-electric power opportunities to export electricity to the region in
station. In summer, it exports electricity but in winter future in order to increase and reduce imports of
it imports about 67 MW, 40 MW from Mozambique alternative sources of energy. This will increase energy
and 27 MW from South Africa. Household access to security and allow the promotion of electricity use in
sectors that require high consumption of fuel.
TABLE 54 Sources of energy for cooking (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru medium towns in Mohale’s

Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka
income and high income Leribe Hoek
Electricity 68.2 85.3 77.9 27.7 34.7 2.9
Liquified Petroleum Gas 14.6 7.8 10.6 28.7 10.2 34.3
Paraffin 7.0 1.6 5.8 16.0 14.3 22.9
Coal 1.9 3.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Fuel wood 2.5 7.8 5.8 24.5 34.7 40.0
Cow Dung 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.2 6.1 0.0
Other 5.7 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
It is clear from the Profile’s sample survey that cooking officials of the Ministry. Tenders are invited for
with electricity is dominant in Maseru and Leribe, detailed design and supervision of the proposed
but less common in the small towns (Table 54). A road networks. In the following financial year, the
varying minority of households use LPG, paraffin MLGCPA requests resources from the Consolidated
and fuel wood, in varying percentages according to Fund for construction of these roads. Contractors
local circumstances. In each of the sampled cities, will be selected to undertake construction based on
greater percentages of renters had access to electricity their tenders assessed within the requirements set out
than owners. Most urban households have access to by MLGCPA’s engineer.
electricity but many choose not to use it for cooking.
Because of lack of coordination between the planners
Domestic tariffs approved for 2013/14 are 15 per and the engineers, most of the road networks are
cent up on 2012/13 to M1.0345 per Kilowatt hour.67 not implemented up to the standard within which
they were planned. Within low and middle income
areas, roads are generally gravelled and have narrow
ROADS carriageways; they tend to lack street lighting,
Provision of road networks within the residential areas pedestrian walkways and side drains.
is mainly a physical planning function performed
through Local Councils. The design of roads and their In high income and few middle income areas, roads
ancillary works is guided by the planning regulations. are tarred and minimally serviced but still do not
Once a layout is approved, it is sent to the surveyors have reserves according to standards. Upgrading and
to survey the plots, and to mark plot boundaries and maintenance of roads is mainly the responsibility
road reserves as they appear in the plan. of the Local Councils with funding from the
Consolidated Fund.
The construction of the road network is an entirely
different process controlled mainly by Engineering
Department of the MLGCPA. Roads to be
constructed are selected by communities and the

LESOTHO
Where roads are merely graded ground without FIGURE 68 Stony side road in Mohale’s Hoek
engineered surfaces, drivers must negotiate their way
slowly and with many challenges to their vehicles’
suspension (Figure 66 to Figure 68).
The roads sector has been a very good context for
trying out labour-based infrastructure provision.
Many roads contractors started as small and were
used in labour-based contracts in the past. Many are
still used. Labour-intensive road construction is seen
as time consuming but it should be used for its local
developmental benefits.68
FIGURE 66 Roads through sandy ground in Khubetsoana
CAPACITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT

The provision of infrastructure for 60,000 new
dwellings and catching up on shortfalls for many tens
of thousands of others will put a severe strain on the
infrastructure agencies. In addition, If housing policy
insists on fully-serviced single household dwellings,
the number of connections will be substantially more
than if shared services among a group of households
is required. The low affordability for housing makes
it necessary for services to be provided at a cost of
US$300 - 2,600 per household (10 per cent of the
dwelling cost). This really dictates shared services and
dry toilet systems.
FIGURE 67 Typically poor quality road in a rapidly

developing peri-urban area of Maseru BRIEF CONCLUSION
Infrastructure supply in Lesotho is mainly in the
hands of government ministries and agencies.
While servicing in the urban areas of Lesotho still
leaves much to be desired, there have been great
strides recently in improving access to improved
water supply and sanitation. The proliferation of
new water meters and VIP or pit latrines within
plot boundaries is evidence of great efforts recently
to improve servicing in urban Lesotho. The use of
labour-based supply techniques have been shown to
be particularly effective in Lesotho and could point
to an important nexus for job creation and improved
services as increased housing supply is rolled out. The
abundance of water in Lesotho, in the midst of a dry
region, is one of its main natural resources, even to
exporting it to South Africa.
86
Infrastructure providers are one of the main losers Electricity is only available to a minority of urban
when large plots lead to urban sprawl. The cost of households; many still rely on burning carbon-based
servicing should encourage more efficient planning materials for fuel. Hydro- and wind power have great
of urban space. The monitoring of supply and costing potential in Lesotho.
by LEWA should encourage a balance between
institutional viability and affordable servicing costs. The huge demand that is likely in the next decade
creates a need to service dwellings for between
Uncontrolled dumping is one of the main servicing US$300 - 2,600 per household (10 per cent of the
failures even in Maseru. Its closeness to South dwelling cost). This points towards non-sewered
Africa’s recycling markets should encourage a local sanitation as the norm.
commercial collection and recycling industry.
END NOTES
1. UN-HABITAT, 2003h in enabling W&S.
2. Stakeholder interview, LHLDC, 22 January 2014.
36. The percentages in this row do not, however, seem to match
3. Mapetla (1996). the aggregate of these methods but are the difference
4. Resolution 64/292 of the United Nations General Assembly. between 100 and the sum of ‘other’ and ‘no treatment’ lines.
5. http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water. 37. http://www.wasco.co.ls/services/tariffs.php.
shtml. 38. TAMS Consultants & Associates (1996).
6. Stakeholder Interview, LEWA, 22 January, 2014. 39. For a household of five, this is about 60 litres per capita per
7. http://www.lesothoreview.com/water_energy.htm. day (l/c/d), double the WHO minimum.
8. http://www.lesothoreview.com/water_energy.htm. 40. Molapo (2005).
11. Stakeholder Interview, LEWA, 22 January, 2014. 43. Molapo (2005).
12. Molapo (2005) and clarification from WASCO by email, 44. Molapo (2005).
October, 2014. 45. Which generates chromium compounds.
13. http://www.lesothoreview.com/water_energy.htm. 46. Which discharge a blue effluent into the Caledon River.
14. http://www.lesothoreview.com/water_energy.htm. 47. Chakela (1999).
15. Financed by the Arab Bank for Economic Development of 48. (Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), 1996); cited by
Africa (BADEA), the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Molapo (2005).
Countries (OPEC) and the Lesotho government
49. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
16. http://www.lesothoreview.com/construction.htm.
17. http://www.gov.ls/mopwt/mptweb/departments/roads_menu.
51. http://www.wasco.co.ls/services/sewer.php. accessed 12 April,
php, accessed 9 September, 2014.
2014.
18. LEC Annual Report, 2010/11; file:///C:/Users/Graham/
Downloads/Annual%20Report%202011.pdf accessed 9
September, 2014. 53. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
19. Islam and Majeres (2001). 54. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010).
20. In most countries the break-even wage would be five or six 55. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
US dollars. 56. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
21. Islam and Majeres (2001). 57. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010).
22. Islam and Majeres (2001). 58. Stakeholder interview, LHLDC, 22 January 2014.
23. International Monetary Fund (2012). 59. Seholoholo (1998): 3; cited in Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
24. International Monetary Fund (2012). 60. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
25. International Monetary Fund (2012). 61. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
26. http://www.lesothoreview.com/water_energy.htm. 62. Cited in Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c).
27. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c). 63. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a) cited in Kingdom of Lesotho
28. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c). (2013c).
29. http://www.wasco.co.ls/services/default.php. 64. http://www.lesothoreview.com/water_energy.htm.
30. Stakeholder interview, LHLDC, 22 January, 2014. 65. Stakeholder Interview, LEWA, 22 January 2013.
31. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a): table 2.7. 66. International Monetary Fund (2012).
32. Kingdom of Lesotho (2013c). 67. http://www.lea.org.ls/AboutLEA/Reports/TARIFF_

DETERMINATION_LEC_2013_14.pdf.
68. UNCHS and ILO (1995).

08
LESOTHO
CONSTRUCTION
THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR quite a large number for a small city in Sub-Saharan
Africa. As in many other parts of Africa, stakeholder
IN A NUTSHELL INCLUDING THE
interviews reveal a growing Chinese presence.
INFORMAL SECTOR Construction in Lesotho is very heavily influenced
Most national construction industries in Sub- by its surrounding neighbour, South Africa. Many
Saharan Africa are characterized by the “missing construction and materials supplies companies and
middle” in which there are a few large construction many building materials imports originate in South
companies, many thousands of single artisans who Africa. Consumers of formal sector housing expect
may work in groups, and nothing in between in the South African standards of housing in Lesotho1 but
middle-sized category. This seems to be not the case it costs roughly twice the price of similar housing
in Lesotho as there are firms of all sizes; even those in Ladybrand, the nearest South African town to
in the small-scale, labour-intensive sector can tackle Maseru.
significant construction projects (). Indeed, there are
telephone numbers for 36 construction contractors Lesotho is graded 145th out of 188 by IFC and The
listed in the Maseru section of the Yellow Pages, World Bank2 on ease of getting a construction permit.
FIGURE 69 Simple, labour-intensive construction is used even for large dwellings
88
CONSTRUCTION
FIGURE 70 Construction as percentage of Gross domestic Product
5
Per cent of GDP
0
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: National Accounts3
Reaching its peak at 11 per cent of real GDP in Both of these factors are influential in a lack of good
1996, at which time it was a top performer in Africa, finishing work in construction projects. The Ministry
construction in Lesotho lost much of its place in of Works and Public Transport is responsible for work
the economy over the first years of the twenty-first on the government sites. The local authority building
century.4 From 10-11 per cent in 1999 and 2000, inspectors are only involved at the permission stage
almost the same as manufacturing, it had fallen to before it goes to site.
only 4 per cent by 2008 while manufacturing had
risen to 17 per cent (and had reached about 20 per According to ITT,7 the construction industry in
cent in 2002-04) ( Figure 70). The construction sector Lesotho is fragmented and unco-ordinated. There is a
grew by 7.7 per cent in 2008 and 7.9 percent in 2009, poor institutional and regulatory environment which
mainly because of major construction projects whose hinders the development and growth of the industry.
impact of development is substantial and sustained.5 The work available in Lesotho fluctuates so that its
leading companies must look to South Africa to
sustain a continuous workload. Smaller firms depend
INSTITUTIONAL, LEGAL AND largely on sub-contracting and work provided by
REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS households.
GOVERNING THE CONSTRUCTION There is no professional registration and regulation in
SECTOR Lesotho, though some firms register in South Africa.
According to ITT,6 Basotho are well placed to obtain Indeed, ITT recommends the establishment of two
good jobs in South Africa for which local candidates independent bodies;
are hindered by the former ‘Bantu education system’ • the Lesotho Construction Industry Council
which held back the education of the majority of (LCIC) to establish and maintain a registration
South Africans. Thus, many educated Basotho are not system for contractors; and
working in Lesotho, and this affects the construction
sector as well as other sectors. • the Council for Built Environment Professions
(CBEP) to establish and maintain a system for
As in the other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for training accreditation and conduct of key built
which Profiles have been produced, e.g., Ghana and environment professionals.8
Zambia, there is a problem of supervision on site.
This is exacerbated in Lesotho by a lack of official
supervision of work on site through inspections
from the local building control function. There are
only three building inspectors employed by MCC.
CONSTRUCTION 89
LESOTHO
In order to sustain the LCIC and improve training There is an influx of Chinese contracting companies
and development in the industry, ITT9 proposes who use Chinese labour and materials. This is seen
the raising of a small levy (0.5 per cent) on all large by local contractors as a threat to their local industry.
construction projects.
The building regulations in Lesotho are inherited
There are no national Procurement regulations from the British colonial authorities. Oversight from
locally or best practice guidelines because of the building inspectors is random and sporadic owing to
lack of a Contractors’ Association but there is also understaffing.
a professional registration issue in that tenderers for
contracts in construction and related professions must A large and unregulated informal construction sector
be registered in South Africa if they are to attest their inevitably allows some poor construction to occur
qualification. Local professional bodies are required (Figure 71 ) but it should not be assumed that informal
to remove the unfair advantage to foreign contractors and poor construction necessarily go together. In
and professionals. addition, the idea of a formal-informal dichotomy is
less accurate than a formal-informal continuum with
Large construction jobs, such as formal estate both formal and informal contractors working on the
developments, can be held up for many months same projects.
or a year awaiting planning permission from local
authorities because they lack the institutional capacity FIGURE 71 Poor construction occurs occasionally
to act quickly, especially when technical details are
involved. Builders complain that even MCC does
not have the capacity to assess technical details of
applications. This increases delays and imposes high
transaction costs on would-be formal developers.10
Officially, Local Councils should carry out several
inspections during construction including for
excavation work, foundation work, concrete work,
steel work for slabs, frame, damp-proof course,
drainage, timber scaffolding, and electrical. After
completing the final inspection, the council should
issue a certificate authorising use, which can take up
to 4 weeks, but it is rarely issued.11
Box 1: Requirements for a Building Permit application
An applicant must submit the following documents to the Building Control Office
1. An application on the prescribed form obtained from the building control office of the Maseru City Council.
2. Documentary evidence of the ownership of the land or the right of occupancy such as a copy of Lease/Title deed or similar legally
valid documentation, two copies.
3. Four copies of a Block Plan extracted from the cadastral map obtainable at Land Survey and Physical Planning (LSPP) clearly
marking the location of the proposed site for development and directions to site.
4. Four copies of the Site Plan drawn to scale which should clearly indicate the following:
(a) The site boundaries and their measurements with beacon number if any;
(b) The registered number or other designation of such site;
(c) Dimensioned position of any building line, position and width of any servitude or right of way to which the site is subject;
90
CONSTRUCTION
(d) The direction of north;

(e) The existing and intended point of access from any public street, and the position, width and name of any street relative to
such access;
(f) The position of any service line and any connection point thereto, and of any sewer, storm water drain or surface channel
existing upon such site;
(g) The details of any existing or proposed boundary wall/fencing, gate(s) such as material specification and height(s), etc.;
(h) The position and external dimensions of any existing and or proposed building(s), structures such as conservancy tank, soak
pit, sewer line, manhole chambers, etc.
5. Four sets of Architectural Drawing(s) showing dimensioned floor plan(s) indicating usage of each room, section(s), elevations, roof,
drainage plan, details of staircase(s), details of windows, doors, openings, material specifications, etc. Electrical layout may be
incorporated in the floor plans unless separate electrical drawing is furnished.
6. Three sets of Drainage Plan indicating the following:
(a) The position, size, gradient of pipes and any connecting point to any drain in relation to a datum established on the site and
the level of the ground relative thereto;
(b) The position of any point of access to the interior of the drain;
(c) The position of any trapped gully;
(d) The position and detail of any septic tank, conservancy tank, soak pit, French drain, etc.;
(e) The position and size of any soil pipe, water pipe, ventilation pipe or device;
(f) The position of any well, borehole or water course on the site which may be affected by any proposed septic tank or French
drain.
7. Two sets of Structural Engineering Drawings, one set of Design Calculation and Certificate of Supervision in the prescribed form
duly signed by a qualified Structural Engineer.
8. Four sets of Fire Protection Plan.
9. Payment Receipt of plan scrutinising fee as assessed by the Building control Office and obtained from the Treasury of Maseru City
Council.
All drawings should also indicate the name of work, scale, date of drawing, by whom drawn and the signature with name of the
applicant/owner, and Architect/Engineer. For single storey residential building, documents mentioned in 7 and 8 may not be required.
Without information in steps 3, 4 and 5, a permit may not be issued to the applicant.
Source: MCC Building Control office.
ORGANISATION: ACTORS, The informal construction process in Lesotho is

incremental, but not all in the same way. At least
SUPPLIERS, CONTRACTORS AND
some have used the room-by-room construction so
SERVICE PROVIDERS common in East and Southern Africa, but most use
There is no equivalent of a National Construction the layer-by-layer incremental building. It is generally
Council in Lesotho although one has been financed by savings and uses small contractors paid
recommended in the IT Transport consultancy in stages in a labour-only contract. In urban areas,
report.12 Registration of contractors, monitored by owners tend to collect materials and build their
the Ministry of Works and Public Transport, is not houses after all the materials have been assembled.13
adequately administered with no proof of competence The stages are not unusual; foundations, walls to lintel
required from the applicant. The MoW used to level, and complete. There may be a conventional
provide the technical expertise for all government architect’s drawing or just rule of thumb construction
construction works. Following decentralization and design. In a survey in Matala, Tsolo and Foso in
procurement reform, however, there is now a lack of cla Maseru, Akindele14 found a mean of three years as
rity in roles between the MoW and the line ministries the construction time.
who are involved in particular developments.
CONSTRUCTION 91
LESOTHO
FIGURE 72 Developing area with a house finished to lintel level awaiting the final stages
FIGURE 73 Informal construction using high quality Suppliers of materials

materials; machine cut stone and local bricks
Construction materials suppliers fall into several
categories. There are several branches of large South
African chains of suppliers, such as Cash Build,
whose buyers are based in South Africa and dealing
mostly with their stores there. The Lesotho branches
are treated in the same way as their South African
branches. They receive the standard set of materials
from the usual suppliers except for a few local
products such as Loti and Majara bricks; Lesotho
Brick and Paving’s cement bricks, blocks and paving
slabs; and AfriSam cement.17 There is also a set of
Lesotho-based suppliers which deal mainly in South
African products but are also on the lookout for
local replacements. Thus, they will sell locally-made
window and door frames, steel grilles, concrete lintels,
Formal contractors not surprisingly find difficulty nails and paint (just starting) in addition to cement,
in constructing housing which is to be sold at less bricks and sandstone.18 Further down the supply
than M300,000 (US$27,000). Formal private sector scale are the many small retailers of a particular type
developers are discouraged from housing provision of product such as aluminium doors and windows.
because of difficulties experienced in obtaining Sometimes these are attached to the manufacturer.
land.15 The lack of infrastructure to potential building In the absence of local wholesalers, even large
sites is a problem for the construction industry construction companies buy from companies such as
which contributes to inflating building costs. As Cash Build and only benefit by a few per cent for
infrastructure is expected only after the development being large customers.
is complete, contractors add 38 per cent to their price
to cope with fitting it when it is available.16 Imported materials are taxed at 14 per cent.19
There is a very successful incursion in the market from

Chinese contractors who are said to bring in Chinese BUILDING MATERIALS: TRADITIONAL
workers. The local contractors cannot compete on AND INDUSTRIALISED PRODUCTION
price and are expecting a shrinking of their business.
Sandstone
As much as possible, LHLDC uses local artisans for The traditional dwelling in Lesotho is the stone-
its infrastructure works. built rondavel with a thatched roof. This is locally
Banks are also becoming pro-active in giving front- available and won both by medium-sized and large-
end finance to developers with whom they have done scale concerns. There are enough sandstone deposits
business before. to quarry for building stone to make it a common
material. It is produced by major suppliers (Smart
92
CONSTRUCTION
Stone) and small ones. It is traditionally used as Burnt bricks

dressed and coursed rubble (Figure 74) but there is These are locally manufactured (formally) in Maseru
now an abundant supply of machine-cut blocks for at Loti Brickworks (Figure 76 and Figure 77 ), Majara
all purposes (Figure 75 ). It is often used as a facing Bricks, and Lesotho Brick and Paving using local clay
for dwellings, often pointed with a dark coloured deposits.
mortar for contrast.
Small-scale, labour-intensive manufacture of burnt
FIGURE 74 Stone-built malaene are common bricks takes place in several sites where clay is plentiful.
They are made with clay from the site mixed with
a little ash, moulded by hand in a wooden mould
(perhaps four at a time), and turned out to dry.
They are piled into a clamp of many thousands which
is plastered with clay and then fired for about a week
(Figure 78 and Figure 79 ). They are sold from the
site for M1 each for first grade, M0.90 for second
grade, and M0.80 for third grade.20 Local bricks are
used extensively in low-cost housing (Figure 80).
FIGURE 76 The entrance to Loti Brickworks and the

AfriSam cement packing plant in Thetsane, Maseru
FIGURE 75 Machine-cut stone stacked on a building site
FIGURE 77 Advertising the range of Loti bricks outside

its Maseru factory
CONSTRUCTION 93
LESOTHO
FIGURE 78 Bricks ready for burning by an informal Cement blocks

manufacturer, Maseru East As is common in Sub-Saharan Africa, hollow cement
blocks and other cement-based components are made
in enterprises of all sizes around the urban areas.
Much of the informal housing in urban and rural
areas alike is built in cement blocks (Figure 81 and
Figure 82).
FIGURE 81 Cement block bungalow
FIGURE 79 A clamp of about 12,000 bricks during their

burning, Maseru East
FIGURE 82 Cement block housing by MLGCPA
FIGURE 80 Local burnt brick used in malaene
FIGURE 83 Complete experimental Hydraform block

dwelling built by MLGCPA
Cement
Cement is imported in bulk from PPC in South

Africa and bagged in Maseru by AfriSam which
manufactures 42.5 strength cement, retailed at M86
(US$8) per 50kg bag. South African PPC cement of
the same strength is also sold in Lesotho. 32 grade is
also available at about M10 less per bag.
94
CONSTRUCTION
FIGURE 84 Hydraform blocks are laid without mortar in a thick sand-cement screed; this leaves the walls
looking as if they have a concrete frame with brick
infill (Figure 85).
Roofing sheets
CI roofing sheets are readily available in 3m and

6m sheets but there also steel strips coated to look
like clay tiles, clay and other tiles, and profiled steel
roofing finishes available, almost all imported from
South Africa.
Gypsum
Gypsum (CaSo2H20) is a soft sulphate mineral used

as a main constituent in many forms of plaster. In
Lesotho, it is imported from South Africa in the
form of plasterboards, known as Rhino-board, and
internal and decorative plasterwork. Gypsum-based
Anhydrite or Alpha-Hemihydrate screeds are used in
the production of self-levelling floor screeds.
Sand
Sand is produced in Lesotho for domestic

consumption. It is locally sourced from river banks
FIGURE 85 Corner and base detail of hydraform under
by local suppliers and individuals.
construction
Aggregates
Aggregates in the form of crushed stone and gravel

are mined locally from quarries. Gravel is used for
filling and compacting after the foundation has been
made. Crushed stone is mixed with cement to make
concrete for cement blocks, frame construction and
floor slabs.
Timber
There is virtually no commercial timber in Lesotho.

Sawn timber and poles are imported from South
Africa. Timber is used in roofing, doors, windows
Other wall materials: hydraform blocks
and finishes in up-market housing.
Although only introduced experimentally into Fitments and fittings

Lesotho, an M7MI Hydraform block making
Most of these are imported from South Africa and,
machine has been used by MLGCPA to make its
more recently, China.
stabilised interlocking blocks for a few dwellings
( Figure 83). The blocks are shaped on the top and
bottom and ends to interlock so they can be laid BUILDING MATERIAL COSTS
without mortar ( Figure 84) although the builders Building materials and components are sold in large
are pointing them for appearance sake. Because the outlets based in South Africa, such as Cash Build,
blocks have a contoured end for interlocking, corners Builders’ City and CTM. There are also medium-
tend have alternate rows of straight (block side) and sized and small enterprises selling materials either in
rebated (block end) surfaces and are, thus, more general or specialising in one type, such as aluminium
vulnerable than conventional rectangular blocks. windows. There is no wholesale market. Prices of
To create a smooth corner, the blocks are covered selected materials are provided in Table 55).
CONSTRUCTION 95
LESOTHO
TABLE 55 Cost of selected building materials
Material Type Unit Cost (Maloti)

Ordinary Portland Cement 42.5 50kg 82.50
Cement
White cement 5kg 51.50
0.4/33 x6metres 211.69
Aluminium Corrugated Roofing sheets each
0.27/0.610x 3metres 72.95
Hand crushed
Crushed Stones 6 cubic metre
Machine crushed 1850.00
Rough 800.00
Sand 6 cubic metre
Smooth 800.00
Wawa (soft wood) 1”x10” 14 foot piece
38x114 mm 114.90
Timber 6.6 metres
50x76 mm 432.00
12x6000 mm 68.00
Steel rods Each
6x6000 mm 18.00
18 x1220 x2440mm 420.00
Plywood Each
20 x1220 x 2440mm 520.00
35x35 cm 74.90
20x30 cm 69.90
Ceramic Tiles 43x43 cm Square metre 79.90
50x50 cm 99.90
60x60 cm 139.9
Emulsion 20 litre 217.95
Paint
Enamel 20 litre 789.95
Water closet 700.00
Shower pan 764.95
Bath tub each 789.00
Plumbing Kitchen sink 479.95
Double sink 934.95
110mm pvc pipe 6metre 160.00
50mm pvc pipe 6metre 74.95
Single switch 70.95
Double switch 118.95
Electrical each
AC circuit panel box (six breakers) 145.00
Energy saving light bulb (11w) 19.90
96
CONSTRUCTION
SKILLS TRAINING CAPACITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Lesotho has a good network of technical and The PRS predicts that employment in construction
vocational training institutions. There appears to be will be quite buoyant in the 2010 decade through
no shortage of skilled workers for the construction major projects such as the Metolong Dam and
industry; indeed, Lesotho exports skilled workers. Lesotho Highlands Phase II, which will create 11,000
Entry level to training schools is Cambridge School new jobs in the 2015 to 2019 period. It then predicts
Certificate. Contractors may take interns from the a fall of 1,600 jobs in construction in FY 2019/20 as
training courses to give them hands-on experience. they are completed. Given the brain-drain of trained
Basotho to South Africa,24 this may seriously impinge
Technical and Vocational Education and Train- on the industry’s ability to supply the 5,200 dwellings
ing (TVET) needed per year (10 urban dwellings per thousand
urban people).25
TVET in Lesotho is regulated by the TVT Act,
no. 25 of 1984 and a 2003 Draft Policy. There are The building of 99,000 dwellings can generate many
35 registered TVET institutions in Lesotho. An jobs; it is possible to calculate how many by using
example is Lerotholi Polytechnic in Maseru. It experience in Ghana in the early 1980s in which a
has courses in building science, civil engineering, formal dwelling was found to generate 17 work
electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical months while and an informal dwelling generated
engineering and commercial studies, among others. 2.9 work months.26 They tend to have very different
TVET in Lesotho is said to be poorly organised and standards of finish and be different sizes. If the split
not necessarily delivering the right combination of of formal to informal continues at 30 : 70, the formal
learning for the skills needed.21 The Government of housing will generate 42,000 work- years while the
Lesotho (GoL) has been hoping to increase access informal dwellings will generate 17,000 work years.
to existing TVET institutions by 80 per cent from The total of 59,000 work years will provide over 3,100
2003 to 2015 through the construction of additional jobs per year over 19 years, an addition of almost ten
workshops and classrooms; by involving the private per cent on construction employment as counted in
sector to assist the expansion of existing centres and the 2006 Census.
establishing new ones. This does not seem to have
been implemented.
BRIEF CONCLUSION
There is a strategy to target disadvantaged groups by Although Lesotho appears to have no missing middle
removing entry barriers (poverty, gender, educational, in the construction industry, the majority of housing
physical) and overcoming negative attitudes towards is built by single artisans and teams of artisans working
supply and delivery of TVET. The institutional in the informal sector. The formal construction
barriers have been recognised as including insufficient industry is very reliant on South Africa for standards,
fiscal capability, the use of a foreign language (English) registration, materials and firms, but local action
as a medium of instruction, inappropriate curricula could reduce this in the future. The need for large
and insufficient staff competence, inadequate amounts of housing could have a major beneficial
infrastructure and technology. Barriers to TVET- effect on the industry, especially if the small-scale
graduates’ obtaining work have been identified as labour-based contractors were involved to the full
restricted opportunities for participating in the and received some help in improving their efficiency.
labour market, poor economic conditions, and the The production of local building materials could also
inadequacy of TVET to meet the needs and demands be labour-based and generate large numbers of jobs.
of enterprises.22
The proposed Council for Built Environment
Professions (CBEP) would, among others, promote
appropriate standards for education and training;
accrediting courses that fulfilled its standards and help
design suitable courses in Lesotho’s TVET system.23
CONSTRUCTION 97
LESOTHO
END NOTES
1. Stakeholder interview, Sigma Construction 24 January 2014. (2013).
2. IFC and The World Bank (2013). 16. Standard Lesotho Bank representative at the first
3. Bureau of Statistics (2013): 5. stakeholders’ workshop, January 2014.
4. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010c): table G.4b. 17. Stakeholder interview, Cash Build, 23 January 2014.
5. http://www.lesothoreview.com/construction.htm. 18. Stakeholder interview, Khotso Build, 23 January 2014.
6. IT Transport Ltd (2011). 19. Brenda Martins, RE/MAX.
7. IT Transport Ltd (2011). 20. Stakeholder interview, Maseru East informal clay brick makers,
8. IT Transport Ltd (2011). 23 January 2014.
9. IT Transport Ltd (2011). 21. Tsiame (2008).
10. Stakeholder interview, Sigma Construction. 22. Tsiame (2008).
11. IFC and The World Bank (2013). 23. IT Transport Ltd (2011).
12. IT Transport Ltd (2011). 24. IT Transport Ltd (2011).
13. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) 25. Using the 2006 population.
(2013). 26. Ziss and Schiller (1982).
14. Akindele (2006).
98
09
HOUSING MARKET
HOUSING MARKET
INTRODUCTION
There is a consistent issue in Anglophone countries in informal sector in which prices are very much lower
Sub-Saharan Africa that the formal housing market than the formal sector and which can be afforded by
is way beyond the affordability of the majority1. most households, if only as rooms to rent. Lesotho
Whatever housing market there may be tends to be seems to follow this trend.
divided into a formal sector for expatriates in which According to CAHF,2 nearly 70 per cent of Basotho
prices are comparable with Europe, a formal sector households earn less than M1,000 (about US$99)
for locals in which prices are very low internationally per month; they cannot afford to purchase the least
but much too high for most local households, and an expensive formally developed houses.
TABLE 56 How owners found out about their plot (percentage frequencies)
Maseru low Maseru middle

Leribe Mohale’s Hoek Mokhotlong Thaba-Tseka
Family 48.3 9.1 26.4 21.2 26.8 33.3
Network of contacts 32.8 37.7 29.7 11.8 2.4 13.3
Chief 15.5 3.9 34.1 45.9 53.7 43.3
Media 3.4 44.2 2.2 2.4 4.9 0.0
Council 0.0 2.6 6.6 4.7 2.4 3.3
Real estate agents 0.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Others 0.0 1.3 1.1 14.1 9.8 6.7
As can be seen in Table 56, the formal methods of THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING
finding land (the media, the council and real estate
OF THE MARKET
agents) are used by very few households in the
Profile’s sample survey in urban Lesotho. Only in In common with many other countries in Sub-
Maseru were they used by almost half of owners. Saharan Africa, there is only a very small market in
Elsewhere, they are hardly used. Real estate agents are used housing. MoW,3 Aliber et al.4 and Leduka 5
almost absent in the market for plots. The family and all conclude that there is virtually no active formal
networks of contacts are the main means in Maseru, property market in Lesotho.
while the chiefs are the most important source in the
towns.
HOUSING MARKET 99
LESOTHO
For most Basotho, it is unquestionable to sell real the house is valued at M500,000 by the mortgage
property; the question “Would you sell your house” valuer, it could realise only, say, M100,000 in the
is met with scorn! The lack of a market has a negative event of a ‘forced’ sale on repossession, accompanied
impact on the ability of banks to regain their assets by significant transaction costs. While one would
if a mortgage defaults on their loan payments. expect some discount in a repossession sale, such
Conversations with both Standard Lesotho Bank a large loss of value suggests that there is very little
and Nedbank officials elicited the same difficulties in demand for used housing.
treating defaults with repossession. The gist is that if
TABLE 57 Circumstances under which owners would sell their dwelling (percentage frequencies
Maseru low Maseru middle Mohale’s

None 86.4 84.0 75.0 60.2 89.7 75.9
Purchase better house 10.2 7.4 20.2 18.1 5.1 10.3
Retirement/going back to the
1.7 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.6 0.0
village
Resolve debt burden 1.7 2.5 1.2 2.4 0.0 0.0
Family disputes 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0 2.6 13.8
Other 0.0 3.7 1.2 10.8 0.0 0.0
It is evident that the owners in the Profile’s sample

suvery overwhelmingly reject the idea of selling
their dwelling under any circumstances (Table 57). Box 2 Small size of the Lesotho real estate
market
Interestingly, more of the owners interviewed in
towns in Leribe, Mohale’s Hoek and Thaba-Tseka Aliber et al7 compared property transfers in Lesotho and
are willing to sell than those in Maseru if it is for Botswana in 1993. They show that in Lesotho,[sic] less than
financing a better home. 170 properties were transferred per year between 1993 and
the first quarter of 2003, compared to over 3 300 property
The renters interviewed in the Profile’s sample survey transactions that were recorded with the Deeds Registry
would tend to look into the national media to find a office in Botswana in 2001 alone. Their analysis of property
dwelling to buy. Personal networks are also a common transfer data and values for 2001 and the first quarter of
method proposed. 2003 shows that the total value of property transfer was
approximately M6 million in Lesotho, which was 80 times
less than the value of property transferred in Botswana in
FORMAL AND INFORMAL HOUSING
the same year.
MARKETS
The International Monetary Fund estimates that real
estate accounts for 9% of Lesotho’s GDP, with an
annual growth of just above 1%.6
100
HOUSING MARKET
RE/MAX Casa Blanca Realty, reported CAHF8 that by the demand from staff of foreign NGOs and
there is an active formal property, market at the high diplomatic missions which has increased the demand
end, with exponential growth recorded in some areas for high quality property and inflated prices at the
over the past few years. This has been pushed along top of the market.
TABLE 58 Monthly rental prices - current rental contracts
Price in Maloti/ month Percentage of total Nationalities

1,900 - 2,500 40 Basotho
2,501 - 5,000 12 Basotho
5,001 - 7,500 16 Basotho / Expatriates
7,501 - 10,000 4 Expatriates
10,001 - 12,500 8 Expatriates
15,001 - 17,500 16 Expatriates
25,001 - 27,500 4 Expatriates
Source: RE/MAX, January 2014
FIGURE 86 For sale notice on new property and allow occupants to borrow against their land. In
this way, Johnson and Matela12 see it as leveraging
the ‘dead capital’ in property to create jobs and other
wealth, following De Soto.13
Some rudimentary data on urban land market activity
has been put together by the consultants on the
Maseru Urban Planning and Transport Study.14 They
show that, beyond the colonial reserve, the property
market seems to exist only in isolated areas and that
the land values in the city in general are relatively
low, with those on the urban fringe being described
as ‘merely symbolic’. This is probably because there is
little viable commercial agriculture which could have
created agricultural use of known value against which
urban land uses would have to compete.15
For the majority, however, the property market is
not a viable investment. The cost of property is
FIGURE 87 Very high-cost housing
beyond most households but also transactions costs
can be very high. According to CAHF,9 registering a
property in Lesotho required six procedures, took 101
days and costs 7.9 per cent of the property. During
2013, however, owing to the activities of the Land
Administration Authority, the number of procedures
has reduced to four taking 43 days and costing 8.7 per
cent of the property value.10 Thus, the World Bank
ranks Lesotho 88th out of 157 countries in terms
of registering property, for 2014, a huge 69 places
rise since 2013 according to the World Bank.11The
desired outcome of the MCA-L land administration
reform is to enable a more active market in housing
HOUSING MARKET 101

LESOTHO
HOUSING MARKET REGULATIONS

The formal sector estate agents tend to follow South African practice as most are branches of firms from there.
Charges are made for their services as follows:
TABLE 59 Commission charged by estate agents
For the management of a rental property 10 per cent of monthly rental

For finding a tenant only The first month’s rent
For selling a single property Negotiated between 7 and 10 per cent
For selling in a new development Between 2.5 and 3 per cent
Source: Brenda Martins, RE/MAX.
Transfer costs are quite high; stamp duty is set at 2 has changed recently so that cross-border commuters
per cent of selling price and conveyancing fees are soon fill up their passports. This has led to those who
7 per cent. According to Swedesurvey16transfer of continue to commute only crossing the border at
a property valued at M1 million would cost about weekends. It is also likely to have effects on the price
M73,000, while to register a mortgage of the same of housing in Lesotho as the buying in cheaper South
amount would cost M30,000. Africa and commuting is no longer convenient.
ACTORS AND MARKET FORMAL AND INFORMAL HOUSING

INSTITUTIONS PRICES
There are a few estate agents operating in Maseru, Prices for dwellings can only be averred from
letting property and selling new housing at the top advertisements. At the time of the first Stakeholders’
of the market. Some are local and others branches of Workshop (January, 2014), a two-bedroom dwellings
South African firms. Developers which build estates in Ha Pita was for sale on the internet at M1.2 million
of high-end dwellings may sell them themselves (US$112,000) and similar dwellings there for rental
or engage an agent. The demand for dwellings for at M2,000 to M4,500 (US$188-422) per month. In
expatriate and high-net-worth Basotho may be Maseru West, a one-bedroom share-block18 dwelling
showing signs of fulfilment. MGC’s foray into the is advertised for a monthly rent of M7,480 (US$700)
housing market has been problematic as it is finding and a three bedroom, two-storey flat is demanding
that clients are not easily found for its dwellings at a rental of M13,200 (US$1,238).19 At the top end
Mpilo. Only nine out of 20 are sold and several have of the market, the buy-to-let market or building for
been bought by Basotho living abroad. renting out has experienced considerable growth, with
mid to high level income earners becoming landlords
Both formally- and informally-developed housing is to expatriates. One feature of this is for rich Basotho
mostly built for a known customer who pays for the to build a luxurious retirement home and let it out
work before the completion of the project. There is to an expatriate until they retire and move in. and
thus no sales process involved in most new housing. show two rental properties being advertised by RE/
In the rental market, most informal dwellings are MAX at the time of the first Stakeholder Workshop
let without involving any agent; there is virtually no in January, 2014.
informal sales market but Aliber et al17. report some
growth in numbers of informal estate agents, from Leduka20 argues that house prices in new private
a very low base, but most are likely to be untrained. housing developments in Maseru may have been
influenced by those in South Africa’s metropolitan
The housing market in Lesotho, such as it is, has areas and neighbouring towns. According to Brenda
been part of a larger market in housing extending Martins at RE/MAX, however, high-end property in
seemingly seamlessly into the neighbouring parts of Maseru is twice the price of that in Ladybrand, over
South Africa. In the recent past, local residents could the border in South Africa, owing to its scarcity in
cross the Lesotho-South Africa border at Maseru relation to demand.
Bridge without having their passport stamped. This
102
HOUSING MARKET
FIGURE 88 A two bedroom dwelling at Moshoeshoe II FIGURE 89 A three bedroom dwelling at Hillsview for
for renting at M4,500 per month renting at M15,000 per month
The high-end market segment begins with dwellings As housing starts increase in number as growing urban
with prices over M500,000 (US$45,000) per unit, populations are catered for, there may be increased
while the middle segment comprises houses ranging need for housing market regulation, especially to
between M100,000 (US$9,000) and M500,000 ensure fairness and good information across the
(US$45,000).21 The Land Act 2010 has produced a population. It is likely that households will continue
surge in sales by wealthy owners as they can regularise to be reluctant to sell and to tend to have their own
their customary tenure. There is great demand dwelling built without the need for marketing on
around the M400,000 (US$37,000) capital cost completion. The involvement of agents in renting
mark which is not being met by any of the formal- could improve efficiency if there can be some control
sector providers. Where dwellings are particularly of the charges they demand for their services. The
marketable, the agent will help with the regularisation recent tightening of border crossings is likely to have
process including the survey.22 some upward effects on the prices in Maseru and may
increase demand for high-end housing.
Rents in the informal sector are M45 to M150 per
month (US$4.25-14.00).23
BRIEF CONCLUSION
There is a very small housing market in Lesotho
CAPACITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT
which is mainly at the top end of prices. It operates
The market in housing for sale is quite small and in international contexts with overlaps into South
concentrated at the top end of the price range. Given Africa and globally on the internet. The effect of
the response in the Profile’s small sample survey, it the new border controls, limiting travel to and from
is unlikely that a market will be routinely operating Ladybrand daily, is likely to affect the market in some
across the price ranges in ten years’ time. way but only time will tell. Costs charged by estate
agents are very high.
The remainder of the housing stock is not subject to
a market except in terms of rents.
HOUSING MARKET 103

LESOTHO
END NOTES
1. UN-Habitat (2010a); UN-Habitat (2012a); UN-Habitat (2012b). 12. Johnson and Matela (2011).
2. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) 13. De Soto (2000).
(2013). 14. Ministry of Works and Public Transport (2010).
3. Ministry of Works and Public Transport (2010). 15. Leduka (2012).
4. Aliber et al. (2003). 16. Swedesurvey (2006).
5. Leduka (2012). 17. Aliber et al. (2003).
6. http://www.imf.org/external/country/LSO/index.htm. Accessed 18. In the absence of a current Sectional Title in Lesotho, sharing
24 September, 2014. the title among a group of householders has allowed
7. Aliber et al. (2003). developments similar to condominiums. Each receives a share
8. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) certificate as their ownership document.
(2013). 19. http://www.remax.co.za/.
9. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF) (2013) 20. Leduka (2012).
10. Cost as a percentage of property value assume a value 21. Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa (CAHF)
of fifty times per capita income. Only legally payable (2013).
costs are recorded http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/ 22. Stakeholder interview, RE/MAX, 22 January 2014.
exploreeconomies/lesotho/.
23. Stakeholders’ Workshop discussion.
11. World Bank (2013) http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/
exploreeconomies/lesotho/.
104
10
CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES
THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE HOUSING out. Evictions are a court matter in Lesotho; any
The right to adequate housing is a component of the remedy is through court action. The Land Act 2010
right to an adequate standard of living, as contained provides security of tenure to occupiers of houses and
in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human land, but only to lease holders whose numbers have
Rights and in Article 11 of the International Covenant grown rapidly recently in Maseru but are still a small
of Social, Economic and Cultural Rights. Signatories minority in other towns. About 46 000 home-owners
to the Covenant agree to respect, protect and fulfil were involved in registration project over the past 3
the right to an adequate standard of living, including years. There are no data on the percentage of women
the right to adequate housing. with titles to urban land or property in urban areas.
The obligation to respect requires States not to The Ministry of Law, Human Rights and
interfere directly or indirectly in the enjoyment of Constitutional Affairs is the institution to handle
the right to adequate housing. For example, States cases on breaches of human rights, but none have
should not carry out forced evictions or demolish yet been brought. Habitat for Humanity Lesotho,
homes; they should not deny security of tenure to Women in Law, Southern Africa (WILSA) are active
particular groups; limit women’s access to and control in the promotion and protection of the right to
over housing, land and property; infringe on the right adequate housing.
to privacy and protection of the home; deny housing, The legislation on security of tenure (Land Act,
land and property restitution to particular groups; or 2010) does not grant equal inheritance for women
pollute water resources. but the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act allows
The obligation to protect requires States to prevent a woman to buy and register immovable property
third parties from interfering with the right to adequate in her own name. The Master of the High Court
housing. They should adopt legislation or other protects minors but there is no legislation.
measures to ensure that private actors, e.g., landlords, Evictions are a court matter in Lesotho.
property developers, landowners and corporations,
comply with human rights standards. For instance, The obligation to fulfil requires States to adopt
states should regulate the housing and rental markets, appropriate legislative, administrative, budgetary,
the availability of housing finance, and the provision judicial, promotional and other measures to realise
of infrastructure in ways that do not jeopardize their fully the right to adequate housing. States should
availability, continuity, accessibility, acceptability and formulate a national housing policy or plan.
quality. States should prevent discrimination against
A National Housing Policy should:
women in their inheritance of, access to, and control
over housing, land and property. States should ensure • define the objectives for the development of the
that landlords do not discriminate against particular housing sector, with a focus on disadvantaged
groups and ensure that private actors do not carry out and marginalized groups;
forced evictions.
• identify the resources available to meet these
The Land Act, 2010, protects women, children, goals;
youth, other vulnerable groups from forced • specify the most cost-effective way of using them;
eviction but existing legislation does not control the
• outline the responsibilities and time frame for the
circumstances under which evictions may be carried
implementation of the necessary measures;
CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES 105

LESOTHO
• monitor results and The National Decentralisation Policy3 recognises the

• ensure adequate remedies for violations. inequalities in gender and age which virtually exclude
women and youth from decision-making despite their
Within their available resources and progressively, numbers in decision-making positions (49 per cent
states must also: of local councillors) and it calls for improvements in
• prevent and address homelessness; their inclusion.
• provide the infrastructure required for adequate The construction industry has a particularly important
access to electricity, safe drinking water, adequate link with young workers as it is very easy to enter as a
sanitation, refuse collection and other essential labourer. It is important that there should be training
services; or for young entrants so that they can become skilled
• ensure adequate housing, through housing and have a career trajectory.
subsidies and other measure, to individuals
or groups who are unable to enjoy the right to ACCESS TO HOUSING AND LAND
adequate housing.1
In housing projects and sites and services schemes
Lesotho has ratified the International Covenant on carried out by government and its agencies, there
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the African has been a more or less explicit assumption that
(Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples Rights; recipients would be couples rather than singles. This
the Universal Declaration on Human Rights; and has discriminated against women living without a
the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the male partner.4
Elimination of Discrimination against Women. In
addition, the right to adequate housing is reflected When an employee dies of HIV/AIDS related
in the Constitution which came into effect in conditions, the remainder of the household is likely to
1993. In the following, however, it is evident that suffer if they occupy employment-tied housing. This
the Government of Lesotho has not yet fulfilled its would also happen if the employee was dismissed for
obligations within the right to adequate housing. other reasons. In general, policy should not encourage
employment-tied housing.
GENDER BALANCE AND AGE

DISTRIBUTION WOMEN AND LAND
Article 4(1) of the Constitution of Lesotho spells out
The gender balance in institutions in Lesotho is
that all people, and this must include women and
quite unusual for Sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the
men, are entitled equally to a whole list of rights and
senior officers in government and related agencies
freedoms and Section 18 commits the government not
are women. In the Stakeholder Workshops in other
to make any law that discriminates against any either
countries, there has been a heavy preponderance of
gender. To protect women’s rights, the international
men. In Lesotho, though, the majority there were
community has created legal foundations which
women.
are brought together in the Convention on the
Lesotho has a young population and low life Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against
expectancy (see chapter 1). About 45 per cent of Women (CEDAW) to protect and promote the
the population of Lesotho is under 20, 31 per cent rights of women in particularly vulnerable areas.
is between 15 and 30 years old. About 37 per cent Regionally there are the African Charter on Human
of urban households are headed by women.2 This and Peoples’ Rights, 1981, and the Southern Africa
Profile focuses on the need for housing but there Development Community Declaration on Gender
is a concomitant need for productive work in the and Development, 1997.5
next fifteen years or so. It also means that there
CEDAW, to which Lesotho is a signatory, obliges
are likely to be many households, with or without
states to ensure equal treatment between men and
children, in which the adults are in early stages of
women in land reform. It requires that marriage and
their careers and, therefore, have comparatively low
inheritance laws on land should be based on equal
incomes. This indicates a high demand for small
rights. CEDAW also implies that land tenure reform
rented accommodation which tends currently to be
must ensure women’s property rights during marriage,
provided in malaene and their equivalent.
or at the end of marriage whether by divorce or the
death of the husband.6
106
The Constitution of Lesotho provides for equality of inconvenience is greater in the smaller towns than in
all people in its section 19, but in its section 18(4) Maseru.
it deliberately exempts customary law which still
discriminates against women.7
PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HIV/AIDS
“This is indicative of the property laws, which with The impact and effects of HIV/AIDS are greater
one hand give women powers to access resources on women and children than on men. Widows and
and with the other take them away.” 8 children of male AIDS victims often do not have
the right to inherit his land even though access and
In Basotho customary law, women do not have the ownership of land is fundamental to basic livelihoods
right to own and control land; indeed, are treated in much of Lesotho. This makes it a violation of
as minors and, therefore, cannot be allocated land, women’s human rights.10
inherit it or make decisions about its management
and use. Women are not treated as equal partners in One major impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is
marriage. Upon divorce, a woman is not entitled to the increase in vulnerability of women, children and
any of her marital home’s fixed property including poor households to property grabs by patrilineal kin
land but has to leave and go back to her own family. on the death of a male household heads. In Lesotho,
Daughters cannot inherit their father’s land; where the traditional authorities play a role in helping to
there are no sons such land reverts to the chief for protect the land rights of widows and orphans but are
reallocation. The Land Act of 1979 is gender neutral; not always effective in enforcing their decisions when
it does not specifically set land rights for women. relatives grabbed land.11 Land rights of women need
Thus, following customary law, married women are further protection.12
unable to acquire land unless consent of husbands
Though Mphale et al.13 worked in an agricultural
is acquired because they are regarded as minors. The
context, it is reasonable to translate their findings
Deeds Registry Act 1967 empowers the Registrar to
into the urban milieu. HIV/AIDS strips households
refuse to register a land deed in favour of a married
of their income both by sapping earners’ ability to
woman who cannot register land in her individual
work hard enough to cover household expenses but
capacity.
also by absorbin g income and savings for treatment
Under the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act a and, eventually, funeral expenses. By the time of the
woman can buy and register immovable property in victim’s death, any savings they had are usually used
her own name. Under the Land Act, 2010, married up. Land is rarely sold to defray expenses, however,
persons including women may hold land and women as it is seen as an ultimate source of security for
can also inherit land. In the case of an unmarried children if their parents die. Women’s land rights are
person less than the age of 18 years, a duly authorized not always protected even though they are clearly
trustee or guardian shall hold the title until the person stipulated in law. The situation of widows is worsened
is 18. by perceptions in the community that they are
somehow to blame for husbands’ deaths by AIDS.14
These limitations on women seem particularly
inappropriate in a country in which women are very AIDS orphans are often very young as HIV/AIDS
strongly represented in the governance structures. mainly affects young adults. Thus, many children will
grow up without the guidance of their parents. Men’s
The government is promoting affirmative action to groups generally told Mphale et al.15 that orphans
encourage women to register at TVET institutions are treated fairly but women’s groups told them that
for engineering and related fields.9 orphans were sometimes cheated out of their heritage
Infrastructure affects women and children more than by their paternal uncles. While tradition dictates that
men; not only is their need for a clean environment the extended family takes care of orphans, the impact
and person greater but they also usually bear the of growing poverty, growing numbers, and the fear
burden of fetching water, cleaning in the household, and stigma attached to HIV/AIDS, this system is
and removing wastes. While distances to water, breaking down and orphans are being abandoned. If
sanitation and garbage collection points tend to be AIDS orphans are raised in institutions or by their
quite small in urban Lesotho, time and energy is maternal family, they lose their land benefits and
taken up in accessing the infrastructure for those rights.16
who do not have services on their own plots and
this is usually borne by women and children. The

LESOTHO
The old land administration system was not increases. This is partly because of the type of games
responsive to the effects of HIV/AIDS, especially and activities which appeal to males, and the type
for child-headed households. Currently, however, a of work they do. Important causes of disability in
minor’s rights to land following their parents’ deaths Lesotho include mine accidents, fights or assaults,
can be secured by an official known as the Master sport, and animal-related accidents, all of which are
of the High Court. The local chiefs should report more prevalent among males than among females.18
the deaths of parents in their role as the overseer of
the neighbourhood or village and should always take Disabled people should be taken into account when
the children’s side against marauding uncles. Minors making housing policy. Disabled people are especially
and widows still lose land and dwellings to uncles affected by distance to shops, work, services, etc. As
and other relatives of a dead husband but the police cities spread, distances increase and disabled people
can now be brought in to assert the children’s rights are further adversely affected. Increased city densities
through the Master of the High Court. are likely to improve the quality of life for disabled
people.
Low life expectancy in Lesotho, partly from HIV/
AIDS, reduces the powers of lenders to grant loans
to adults who may not live a full span. Prospective
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
clients who are HIV positive are unlikely to be able Urban areas tend to spread across fertile land which
to raise a life insurance which is a precondition of constitutes only 9 per cent of Lesotho’s land surface.
having a mortgage granted. This sets up conflicts between those concerned with
food growing and those who see urban expansion as
necessary for the country’s development. This should
ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE lead to strategies to minimise the growth of the urban
CHILDREN (OVCS) footprint but Basotho are still wedded to their large
The PRS17 recognises that there are some vulnerable plots; indeed, most conversations about housing
groups including those in slums/squatter settlements, futures hinge on obtaining a plot “30x30” – in other
elderly and OVCs and the poor that need to be words, 900 square metres of land for one household. In
assisted to live in decent dwellings. Habitat for addition, the layer-by-layer incremental development
Humanity Lesotho (HFHL) has concentrated leaves land unoccupied for much longer periods than
much of its efforts on the households of OVCs. It the room-by-room incremental development used in
helps that HFHL can obtain 100 per cent grants much of Sub-Saharan Africa.
from donors for its programmes with OVCs. It is
important to provide an environment for OVCs in a FIGURE 90 Sprawl on fertile land owing to large plots
familial context rather than in a “home”. The ability
of OVCs and their carers to keep deceased fathers’
families from commandeering their homes is being
assisted by HFHL’s training courses for 60 paralegals
to work with the Master of the High Court and to
train communities in inheritance rights and security
of tenure. SLB has been involved in financing
for building homes for orphaned and HIV-AIDS
infected children in conjunction with HFHL.
DISABILITY ISSUES
Disabled people are said to be only 3.7 per cent of
the population in Lesotho but this is likely to be an
undercounting. The World Health Organisation’s Composting sanitation developed elsewhere, some
“World Report on Disability” estimates that 15 per with separation of urine, are being promoted in
cent of the world’s population are disabled of whom Lesotho by their makers. There is currently not been
2 to 4 per cent have significant difficulty functioning. much use of composts from human waste as there is a
taboo issue. There is some NGO activity19 in changing
In the same way that male mortality is higher than attitudes with some success. The experimental uses
female in Lesotho, so the risk of disability seems of toilets which separate urine and faeces, with the
to be higher for males than for females, and as age urine used to irrigate vegetable patches and the latter
108
to be composted for later soil treatment, show good There was once a day set aside once for planting
preliminary results. In addition, some designs include saplings of trees to increase their supply in a country
lining the pit with concrete panels to minimise which has very tree cover.
leaching into ground which might be part of the
water table used by nearby wells.
BRIEF CONCLUSION
Most cooking in urban areas is not done using It is clear that, with respect to the right to adequate
carbon-based local coal, charcoal or wood. As housing, Lesotho is making progress, particularly in
elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, there has been some the improvements in land registration, the spread
development of stoves which burn more efficiently. of improved water and sanitation, and the generally
Many households that have an electricity connection good physical quality of housing. But still has a way
in smaller towns do not use it for cooking, instead to go.
relying on Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), paraffin
or wood. There is some education on how to harvest Despite the presence of many women in positions of
firewood while not damaging the trees and to prevent influence and power, the rights of women to inherit
practices such as grubbing up roots to burn to and own property are still not secure or plainly
mitigate land erosion, which is a serious issue in some evident. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is affecting
districts. Basotho very severely with a high death rate, low
life expectancy and many implications for housing;
Heat and cold, often both on the same day over the especially the remaining years’ life people might have
dry season, pose particular issues of insulation and in which to gather resources for house-building or
energy use. Single-leaf walls of cement blocks are pay off a mortgage loan. The loss of a major earner
likely to be particularly poor insulation. Cement can also plunge households into poverty.
blocks have a very low thermal capacity so they do
not retain heat for long into a cold night. Stone is Under-counting disabled people is unacceptable and
seen as a viable local material with good insulation measures should be taken to do better. Because there
qualities. Heating then poses a problem with respect is a link between numbers present and the application
to energy use, especially when carbon-based. The of beneficial policies, denial of the presence of many
installation of insulation is likely to be too expensive disabled people reduces the likelihood of measures to
for most households and, thus, fuel will continue to help them obtain housing.
be the main defence against cold nights.
The improvements in sanitation and water supply are
Wastes into urban streams have not been much of likely to have beneficial effects ion the environmental
a problem except from commercial and industrial sustainability of urban Lesotho. The insistence on
units. The infamous ‘blue river’ problem arising from large plots, however, coupled with the layer-by-layer
denim manufacture has been cleaned through end of development of housing is likely to increase the urban
pipe technology in the factories. footprint more than is necessary as urban populations
grow. Reducing the sprawl, along with reductions
Increasing plot use may affect vegetable growing in reliance on scarce wood for cooking, could have
less than the perception among policy-makers as the major effects on the sustainability of Lesotho through
proportion of plot used for vegetable cultivation is reducing the loss of fertile land through development
usually quite small and the remainder of the plot is and from erosion.
left fallow.
Since the beginning of global warming, storms
are more prevalent and more violent. This is likely
adversely to affect housing built in earth if they are
not well roofed and on water resistant foundations
and skirtings. It also increases the erosion likely to
result from removal of trees for construction and
contributes to reducing usable life of roads, many of
which lack adequate drainage to keep the water of
their surfaces.

LESOTHO
END NOTES
1. UN-Habitat and UNHCHR (2014) 11. Drimie (2003).

2. Kingdom of Lesotho (2010a). 12. Mutangadura (no date).
3. Kingdom of Lesotho (2014) 13. Mphale et al. (2002).
4. Mapetla (1996). 14. Mphale et al. (2002).
5. Mutangadura (no date). 15. Mphale et al. (2002).
6. Mutangadura (no date). 16. Mphale et al. (2002).
7. Mutangadura (no date). 17. International Monetary Fund (2012).
8. Mapetla (1996): 150. 18. Kingdom of Lesotho (2009a).
9. Tsiame (2008). 19. Notably by Technology for Economic Development.
10. Mutangadura (no date).
110
11
CONCLUSIONS AND WAYS FORWARD
GENERAL Regulations allow malaene as well as main dwelling.

Relatively stable economic performance is a great asset This is very pro-poor and should be used as a route
but exposure to South African economic variations into increasing density and the supply of truly
could be a problem. Establish ways in which Lesotho’s affordable housing.
housing sector is protected from cross-border issues, Housing has a relatively lowly place in government
such as changes in customs duties, and fluctuations in structures having no dedicated ministry. Local
the value of the Rand. authorities have many housing-related functions
Housing built with simple materials and labour- delegated to them and will have even more as the
intensive technologies has a great potential for National Decentralisation Policy is implemented.
building the economic growth looked for in Vision They do not, however, have the resources to fulfil these
2020. This should be the focus of supply policies. functions unless revenue streams can be activated and
the central government money allocated to these
The depletion of human resources implicit in the functions can be devolved to the districts. There is
HIV/AIDS pandemic and the brain-drain of educated a need to form a more focused approach to housing
Basotho to South Africa and elsewhere endanger the supply, bringing functions together under one
efficient growth of the economy. Encourage career dedicated ministry. Local authorities should only be
opportunities in construction and housing-related expected to perform functions for which a revenue
professions within Lesotho. stream is evident.
THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK HOUSING SUPPLY

FOR HOUSING The formal private sector concentrates on housing
In light of the absence of the right to adequate at the very top of the market leaving the majority
housing in the Constitution, the government of unserved by formal housing supply. It should not
Lesotho should ratify relevant international treaties receive government subsidies of any form. Instead,
and transpose these into national legislation including it might be a source of marginal funding for low-
the constitution as appropriate. income housing assistance.
The institutional framework for housing has many As in other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the
of the necessary components. Respect for the home great majority of housing in Lesotho is built in the
and limitation of state procurement of property are informal sector by small contractors in partnership
enshrined in the constitution. The PRS is committed with individual owners. The informal stock should
to appropriate urban policies and suggests public- be the focus of policy intervention to enable it to be
private partnerships going forward. But the regulations more efficient without raising its cost. Policies which
controlling housing development are outmoded and hinder informal housing supply should be resisted.
ready for recasting. Regulations should be relevant Helping informal developers/contractors to perform
to the housing affordable by ordinary Basotho rather more effectively is the key way forward for housing
than to a small elite. in Lesotho.
CONCLUSIONS AND WAYS FORWARD 111

LESOTHO
The current housing stock is dominated by the Renters with income close to the mean for the low-
two traditional house types known as malaene and income population could afford a room in a malaene
polata. Both are simple dwellings with suites of one or polata. Such housing should be the focus of supply
or two rooms opening off the outside world. There for renters going forward.
is a growth in the bungalow, especially in Maseru,
but there is little that is beneficial to the poor in this The capital cost for housing affordable to the mean
change. Assisting the development of malaene and low-income households seems to be about M90,000
polata, or their equivalents, may be the most effective ($8,200). This is too little to afford much in the
way of keeping up with housing need. formal sector but could easily pay for a dwelling in
the informal sector. This also points to ways forward
Most housing in urban Lesotho is built of permanent which encourage the informal construction sector
materials though more have mud floors or thatched using simple labour-intensive technologies.
roofs in the towns than in Maseru. Ensuring that the
supply of these materials keeps up with the need for
housing is probably more important than searching
LAND
for other, supposedly cheaper, materials. Plots in Lesotho are very large but this is offset to
some extent by the regulations allowing more than
Owner occupation is the main tenure in towns but one dwelling (one dwelling plus malaene rooms up to
renting is as common as owning among households the same area). Ways should be found to encourage
in Maseru. Rental housing must be encouraged, owners to add malaene rooms (or their equivalent) up
especially through the provision of rooms or suites of to the maximum that they are allowed.
rooms in owner-occupied housing.
Recent reforms over the length of time and transaction
The small formal supply has been led by LHLDC and costs involved in obtaining land for housing have so
government’s own employer housing programme. revolutionized this that Lesotho has risen 69 places
Private contractors have difficulty building for anyone in the World Bank’s ranking of ease of obtaining a
but the rich elite and expatriates. The problems facing registered plot. Continuing progress in the Land
private contractors in building estates of dwellings Reforms seems to be desirable to increase housing
should be removed as a part of improving housing production.
supply.
There is still little gender equality in land ownership
potential. Women should have fully equal rights to
HOUSING NEED own and inherit land. Whatever conflicting messages
Housing need will be driven by the need to maintain are being given by the laws on land should be ironed
and improve the existing stock and to add sufficient out in favour of women’s rights to own land equally
new stock to accommodate 60,000 new urban to men.
households between the 2006 Census and 2025. It is
important to find out from the 2006 census data how The potential of property taxation is being ignored
many dwellings existed then and to estimate how by local authorities who remain underfunded. All
many have been added since then. The balance of the local authorities should introduce and maintain
need can then be calculated for the need to supply property tax procedures commensurate with the built
housing 2015-2025. cost of housing, the area of plots, and the level of
infrastructure provided.
The housing stock needed to encourage reductions
in crowding should be concentrated in the towns. Chiefs are still active in land allocation even though
Owners there should be encouraged to add more they have no legal powers. A way should be found
rooms to their dwellings. to gain their collaboration on peri-urban land
development.
The major need for housing is in the one to three
room range. Only in some towns are larger dwellings Customary land has also been allocated in a non-
needed in any significant percentages of the stock transparent way through backdated Form Cs. As
to accommodate large households. Supply policies public land allocations should be transparent and
should focus on housing with three rooms or fewer. traceable, so should customary land transactions.
112
The land needs for the need for housing by 2025 can Labour-based infrastructure installation has
be greatly reduced by making optimum use of plots been found to be particularly viable in Lesotho.
or cutting down on their size. Encouraging owners to Focus should be put on installing and managing
add malaene rooms up to the maximum that they are infrastructure for housing through labour-based
allowed will save considerable amounts of land. technologies and activities.
There are considerable differences in infrastructure
HOUSING FINANCE between Maseru and the towns where services are
The main finance for housing in Lesotho is a small much less well-provided. Infrastructure for the towns
mortgage-granting sector which grants about 400 should be a priority.
loans per annum to Basotho earning more than $900
Where water is provided it is usually on or near the
a month. Qualification criteria limit them to salaried
plot rather than in public standpipes. Sanitation is
workers who can prove a household income of 2.5 to
mainly by VIP and pit latrines, again close to homes
three times their proposed loan repayments. Finance
rather than as a public facility. Water and sanitation
is needed for the majority, however, and it should be
on or near plots should be the way forward rather
a focus of policy in the future. Amounts of around
than public standpipes and toilets.
US$2-5,000 on loans of only a few years duration
might be suitable. The activities of LEWA in ensuring that tariffs for
electricity and, more recently, water, meet the needs
Almost all owners either built or inherited their
of the providers as well as customers bodes well for
dwelling, very few bought it. The idea that a
an improvement in coverage and sustainability of
household that can finance the incremental building
services.
of a home through the informal sector can afford to
buy a formally-built and financed home is likely to Solid waste is poorly handled, there is much dumping
prove a fallacy and should not be the basis of housing to be seen in the urban environment. There is great
policy for a majority of Basotho households. potential in improving labour-based collection and
management of solid waste and introducing more
Housing micro-finance is in its infancy in Lesotho. It
recycling. The markets of South Africa provide some
is doubtful that MFIs can play a great role in housing
potential for recycling.
supply but they might find a profitable niche market
in loans for the extension of existing housing. Electricity is provided to most of Maseru and towns
in Leribe but not in the other towns where many
Households tend to pay about 17 per cent of their
still use wood and LPG for cooking. It may also be
total expenditure on housing and services. It is likely
that such households have power in the dwellings
that they might be willing to pay 20 per cent to afford,
but choose to cook with other fuels. The extension
at the mean, a dwelling costing M90,000 ($8,200) as
of electricity in towns, however, should be a priority.
owners or to rent (at market rents) housing costing
M30,000 ($2,700) to build. Housing supply and
housing finance supply policies should concentrate CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
on these affordability levels.
Construction in Lesotho is very heavily influenced
INFRASTRUCTURE by its surrounding neighbour, South Africa, with
construction and materials supplies companies and
Infrastructure has improved considerably in the
many building materials imports originating in South
last decade with far more urban households having
Africa. Reducing the exposure of the construction
access to water and improved sanitation. There is still,
industry to South Africa might be a good idea.
however, a servicing deficit, mainly in peri-urban
areas. Infrastructure supply should focus on closing
the supply deficit and supplying infrastructure to the
new housing as it is built at costs affordable to the
occupants.
CONCLUSIONS AND WAYS FORWARD 113

LESOTHO
The informal sector is the major provider of housing FIGURE 91 Group discussions on the Performance
in Lesotho but there are issues over its employment Constraints Matrix at the Second Stakeholders’ Workshop.
conditions. Improvement should be made to
informal sector work conditions through gradually
introducing the ILO ‘decent work agenda’ altering
the most serious breaches of labour regulations
first, e.g., workers’ rights to protection from injury,
and gradually working up towards full compliance.
This should be done gradually to avoid robbing the
informal sector of its advantages in cost and flexibility
as the first tenet of ‘decent work’ is that there should
be enough work for everyone.
There are virtually no dwellings built of junk in
Lesotho, cement block and burnt-brick construction
predominates. This should be taken as a positive
sign of the general affordability of simple housing in There is no registration or regulation institution for
conventional materials. real-estate professionals in Lesotho. A local institution
Incremental development is often layer by layer rather should be established.
than room by room. If people can be encouraged to As in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, most Basotho
build room by room, instead, less land would stand would not think of selling their dwelling so policy
idle and improved housing conditions could follow must not assume that owners will sell smaller housing
more quickly. and use the proceeds to buy larger accommodation.
There is a brain-drain of skilled construction workers There should be no attempt to introduce a market
out of Lesotho. If the housing supply system is artificially, nor should the lack of a market be thought
streamlined to supply a dwelling every half-hour of to be a backward position which will disappear as the
the working day, it should provide many jobs which country ‘develops’.
may attract Basotho skilled workers to stay in the The following matrixes have been developed from
country. the text of the Profile and also from the Second
There are no professional registration institutions in Stakeholders’ Workshop held in September, 2014
Lesotho for professionals involved in housing. Local (Figure 91 ). They set out the constraints encountered
institutions should be fostered. when housing development is to be done and priority
actions to deal with them. They are set out by sector.
HOUSING MARKET
There is little housing market in Lesotho. Most
owners and renters find out about their plot or
rented accommodation from their own networks, few
through real estate practitioners. The rental market
could benefit from better availability of information
but estate agents are currently very expensive in a
regional context.
114
TABLE 59 Housing Sector Performance Constraints Matrix
Land Housing Finance Infrastructure Building Materials & Construction Sector

Institutional & Poor implementation of planning policies. Threshold for borrowing is too high. Lack of coordination of service providers Land acquisition process impedes development
organisational Lack of co-ordination and communication between Micro-lenders do not offer housing hinders provision of basic services. process for contractors.
Framework ministries and departments within them, and with loans. Lack of a body responsible for housing Local authorities lack capacity to process
stakeholders. No Basotho-owned bank. comprising of all relevant stakeholders. development applications and building permits.
Too many actors in the process, e.g., chiefs and Lack of political will to follow set priorities
Slow financial dealings through banks.
councils. Lack of consistent standards among
Chiefs are still active in land allocation even stakeholders. Poor co-ordination between formal and informal
though they have no legal powers and they are sectors.
disregarded.
Disregard of and outdated land use plans.
Lack of co-ordination among relevant disciplines
involved in the land process.
Regulatory & Legislation is contradictory, outdated, e.g., Town Out-dated financial institutions. Lack of compliance with and enforcement of No Construction Council to regulate the industry
Legal Framework and Country Planning Act, and often not followed Stamp duty is too high at 7 per cent. existing standards. or professional registration institutions in the
in management and administration of land. Co-operative banks do not have Work bound by foreign standards. country.
Laws and institutions in land administration and resources to finance housing Lack of coordination in standards among Current regulatory system lacks capacity.
management are not co-ordinated and some different departments.
conflict. Outdated Laws and Regulations.
Plots are too large for servicing. Tenders for infrastructure provision are
No ministry wholly responsible for housing and concentrated at year-ends.
land.
Supply There is still little gender equality in land ownership Qualification criteria for mortgages Though greatly improved recently, there is Private contractors have difficulty building for
potential. Women do not have fully equal rights to limit them to Basotho earning more still a servicing deficit, mainly in peri-urban anyone but the rich elite and expatriates.
own and inherit land. than $900 a month, salaried workers, areas and small towns. More housing more has mud floors or thatched
Land for housing is mainly taken on the fertile with incomes 2.5 to three times their Limited funding for infrastructure works. roofs in the towns than in Maseru.
land as other areas are too rugged for formal repayments. Lack of local production of energy leads to
The great majority of housing in Lesotho is built
development. Limited outreach for financial importation and high prices,
in the informal sector by small contractors in
Compensation rates are too low for field owners to institutions. Connection costs are too high owing to
partnership with individual owners.
release land to government. Current finance only favours the rich. importing almost every component needed.
Land acquisition is cumbersome and expensive; too Poor market information. Lack of innovation and enabling environment Importation of most materials increases cost of
much so to accommodate urban growth. hinders provision of services. construction.

Multiple plots can be allocated to one person. Electricity is poorly provided in the small Customs regulations not consistently applied.
towns where many still use wood and LPG Poor supply of local materials.
for cooking.
115
Demand Land is perceived to be expensive compared to The formal private sector concentrates Demand is high for infrastructure but Housing need will be driven by the need to
116
LESOTHO
earnings. on housing at the very top of the affordability is a constraint. maintain and improve the existing stock and
Acquisition processes hinder housing development. market leaving the majority unserved No education on renewable energies and to add sufficient new stock to accommodate
Informal allocation may overlap formal. by formal housing supply. green technologies. 60,000 new urban households between the
Households are probably willing to 2006 Census and 2025.

pay 20 per cent of their expenditure The major need for housing is in the one to
to afford, at the mean, a dwelling three room range.
costing M90,000 ($8,200) as owners, Formal construction is too expensive for most
or to rent housing costing M30,000 people.
($2,700) to build. Difficulty of maintaining standards in building.
Low demand for housing finance. Lack of statistics and other information.
People tend to have other debts so
have limited capacity for mortgages
even if they qualify.
A household that can finance the
incremental building of a home
through the informal sector probably
cannot afford to buy a formally-built
and financed home.
Policy Poor policy direction, no land use policy. No finance policy including housing. Lack of implementation of draft national Lack of policy on housing construction or
Former lack of political will for policy development Credit bureau has yet to be policies hinders service provision governing the construction sector.
and adoption inaugurated. Non-co-ordination of policies also hinders
provision of services.
Implementation No clear implementation directions. The financial arrangements in place Lack of consistency in implementation and Construction in Lesotho is very heavily
arrangements & Lack of implementation of city plans. are functioning but do not allow for a co-ordination of provision of services. influenced by South Africa.
instruments Lack of co-ordination between formal and informal spread of credit through the population Lack of continuity of programmes and Incremental development is often layer by layer
suppliers. projects. rather than room by room.
Each developer interprets rules in their own way. Poor commitment from employees in Lack of information.
Subsidised land reaches the better-off but not the different institutions. Lack of innovation in construction.
poor. Solid waste is poorly handled, there is
Customary land has been allocated in a non- much dumping to be seen in the urban
transparent way through backdated Form Cs. environment.
The potential of property taxation is being ignored
by local authorities who remain underfunded.
Institutional Lack of political will and capacity for planning, Limited capacity in financial There is human resource capacity but there is Lack of capacity in regulating authorities and in
capacity monitoring and implementing plans. institutions, especially in the districts lack of other capacities. issuing building permits.
Lack of resources and technical support to physical and outskirts of Maseru. Hierarchical structures and lack of team The housing supply needed to 2025 should
planners, especially in the districts. work in institutions, where the senior officer provide many jobs which may attract Basotho
does not fully utilise the expertise of junior skilled workers to stay in the country.
colleagues. Training institutes do not seem to be training
the right skill-set; not addressing the demand
from builders
The depletion of human resources implicit in
the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the brain-drain
of educated Basotho to South Africa and
elsewhere endanger the efficient growth of the
housing supply.
Affordability & Land for formal housing is expensive compared Most people cannot afford housing Ineffective dissemination of information on Low wages.
price-to-income with incomes. loans through low incomes. services. Lack of research into appropriate materials for
issues Developers and financiers set standards according Assisting the development of the Lack of Recognition for Consumer Protection Lesotho.
to international norms rather than local needs and equivalent of malaene and polata may Unit.
affordability. be the most effective way of keeping
up with housing need.

117
TABLE 60 Housing Sector Priorities for Action MATRIX
118
LESOTHO
Institutional & Integration of planning. Financial institutions should improve Establish a sustainable infrastructure Establish a Ministry of Housing.
organisational Institutional reforms, especially their flexibility in dealing with borrowers co-ordinating body. Reduce the land acquisition process in line with
Framework establishment of a Ministry of Land and outside the richest few. This might include improvements in registration.
Housing. threshold charges/incomes. Improve capacity of building control sections in
Post Bank could have potential for councils.
A way should be found to gain the housing loans so should be authorised to Adopt recommendations of previous studies on
collaboration of chiefs on peri-urban offer them construction.
land development. CBL to work with micro-lenders for a way Improve service delivery.
to offer housing loans.
Regulatory & Legal Harmonisation of regulations and laws. Stamp duty should be reduced. Enforce existing standards but review Establish a Construction Council to regulate the
Framework Examine the potential for laws existing laws and formulate appropriate industry and registration institutions for construction-
encouraging housing co-operatives. standards for Lesotho at the earliest related professions.
Enable micro-finance institutions in possible opportunity Establish a locally appropriate Bureau of Construction
offering housing loans. Standards.
Supply Revise land tenure system to facilitate More financial institutions should be able Infrastructure supply should focus on Ensuring that the supply of common materials keeps
and accelerate land acquisition for to offer housing finance. closing the supply deficit and supplying up with the need for housing is probably more
housing. Formal sector housing supply should infrastructure to the new housing as important than searching for other, supposedly
Increase density in inner city areas and not receive government subsidies of any it is built at costs affordable to the cheaper, materials.
infill. form. Instead, it might be a source of occupants. If people can be encouraged to build room by room,
Regulations allow malaene as well marginal funding for low-income housing Encourage Public-Private Partnerships instead of layer by layer, less land would stand idle
as main dwelling. Encouraging assistance. and Public-Community Partnerships in and improved housing conditions could follow more
them should be used as a route into infrastructure provision. quickly.
increasing density and the supply of Given that more than one dwelling Owners should be encouraged to add more rooms to
truly affordable housing. can be built on a plot, servicing should their dwellings.
The land needed for housing by 2025 recognise that several households may Supply policies should focus on housing with three
can be greatly reduced by making need supply from each connection. rooms or fewer.
optimum use of plots or cutting down The extension of electricity in smaller The equivalent of malaene or polata housing should
on their size. towns should be a priority be the focus of supply for renters.
Revisit compensation rates. Encourage use of locally-produced/ manufactured
Improve higher ground to bring more materials and components for construction.
into development for housing. Establish a dedicated branch in the Lesotho Revenue
Authority to deal with construction imports and
exports.
Improve information on availability of local materials
and components.
Demand Equitable and sustainable land Housing supply and housing finance Education on renewable energies and It is important to find out from the 2006 census data
acquisition processes. supply policies should concentrate on green technologies might reduce cost how many dwellings existed then and to estimate
Whatever conflicting messages are housing costing M90,000 ($8,200) for of services. how many have been added since then. The balance
being given by the laws on land should owner-occupation or M30,000 ($2,700) of the need can then be calculated for the need to
be ironed out in favour of women’s to build for renting. supply housing 2015-2025.
rights to own land equally to men. Finance for the majority should be a focus
of policy in the future. Amounts of around Focus on building within M90,000 ($8,200) per
US$2-5,000 on loans of only a few years dwelling.
duration might be suitable. Gradual improvement of the informal sector through
Do not base policy on the idea of housing introducing the ILO decent work agenda.
as a marketable good. Improve information supply and dissemination.
Examine the potential for housing co- It is vital that MLGCPA staff liaise with the Bureau of
operatives with joint loans. Statistics for collection and analysis of appropriate
Encourage a culture of saving. housing data in the 2016 census.
Encourage rental housing, especially
through the provision of rooms or suites
of rooms in owner-occupied housing.
Policy National Land Use Policy and Implement the Credit Bureau to Alignment of policies to each other and The informal stock should be the focus of policy
settlements policy are needed to guide, allow lenders to examine clients’ to new standards (above) intervention to enable it to be more efficient without
monitor and evaluate development and creditworthiness. raising its cost. Policies which hinder informal housing
the relationship between formal and Establish a financial sector regulatory supply should be resisted.
informal land development. body. Helping informal developers/contractors to perform
more effectively is the key way forward for housing in
Lesotho.
Formulate construction components in the proposed
housing policy, including ways for the formal sector to
mentor informal contractors.

119
120
LESOTHO
Implementation Improve local authorities’ capacity to Consider a dedicated institution for Labour-based infrastructure installation Reducing the exposure of the construction industry to
arrangements & manage land. housing micro-finance. has been found to be particularly viable South Africa might be a good idea
instruments Implement existing strategies for land. Improve information on loans available. in Lesotho. Focus should be put on Encourage labour-based construction.
All local authorities should introduce installing and managing infrastructure Improve knowledge dissemination in construction.
and maintain property tax procedures for housing through labour-based
commensurate with the built cost of technologies and activities.
housing and the area of plots. Water and sanitation on or near plots
As public land allocations should be should be the way forward rather than
transparent and traceable, so should public standpipes and toilets.
customary land transactions. Encourage continuity and commitment
Subsidised land should only be used for in infrastructure organisations and local
households below the median income councils.
or the full value of subsidies should be There is great potential in improving
paid by those above median income. labour-based collection and
management of solid waste and
introducing more recycling. The markets
of South Africa provide some potential
for recycling.
Institutional capacity Increase local authority capacity to cope Improve consumer knowledge of credit There is a brain-drain of skilled Improve co-ordination between WASCO, LEC, local
with land issues as called for in the and its implications. construction workers out of Lesotho. authorities, etc.
Decentralisation Policy. Promote and encourage teamwork. Provide a way of sharing skills with the informal
sector and the public.
Recast the curricula of TVET institutions to meet
construction-sector needs.
Encourage career opportunities in construction and
housing-related professions within Lesotho.
Affordability & price-to- Land should be available in small Examine consolidated or shared loans. Empower LEWA as a regulator across New initiatives should focus on using local materials
income issues enough plots to be available without infrastructure provision and a consumer and technologies in labour-intensive construction.
subsidies or market revisions. protection unit. Build to the median price of M90,000 ($8,200) rather
than to an artificially-set standard
END NOTES
1
According to the ILO (1999), ‘decent work’ has the following characteristics:
- there should be sufficient work for all to have full access to income-earning opportunities;
- it generates an adequate income;
- workers’ rights are protected in it;
- it is productive, not just existing as ‘work for work’s sake’;
- it provides adequate social protection. (ILO, 1999).
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HS/078/15E
ISBN(Series): 978-92-1-131927-9
ISBN(Volume): 978-92-1-132686-4
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PROGRAMME

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HS/078/15E

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS PROGRAMME

LESOTHO HOUSING PROFILE

First published in Nairobi in October 2015 by UN-Habitat.

Produced by the Housing Unit

Supervisor: Christophe Lalande

6 06. Finance for housing......................................................................................................67

11 11. Conclusions and Ways Forward....................................................................................111

LIST OF BOXES,FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURE 74 Stone-built malaene are common.................................................................................................................................................................................93

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AfDB African Development Bank Syndrome

CBL Central Bank of Lesotho IMF International Monetary Fund

CBO Community-Based Organisation ITT IT Transport Ltd

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination LAA Land Administration Authority

HBS Household Budget Survey LHWP Lesotho Highlands Water Project

HFHL Habitat for Humanity Lesotho LPB Lesotho Postal Bank

HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus? LPG Liquid Petroleum Gas

MFI Micro-Finance Institution SDA Selected Development Area

MGC Matekane Group of Companies SLB Standard Lesotho Bank

MMC Maseru Municipal Council SMMEs Small, medium and micro

NDP National Decentralisation Policy VIP Ventilated Indirect Pit (latrine)

NDP National Decentralisation Policy WASCO Water and Sewerage Company

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ix

GENERAL HOUSING SUPPLY

Housing has a relatively lowly place in government

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xiii

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WAYS FORWARD

TABLE 1 Key indicators

Urban population 27.6% 2011 CIA

CIA = Central Intelligence Agency (USA) Fact Book.3

TABLE 2 Sex of head of household in 2013

Male Female Total

Following from the greater number of females in Economy

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

FIGURE 1 Ease of doing business in Lesotho

Starting a Business (79)

Resolving Insolvency (75) Dealing with Construction Permit (140)

Enforcing Contracts (139) Getting Electricity (133)

Trading Across Borders (144) Registering Property (157)

Paying Taxes (95) Getting Credit (154)

Protecting Investors (100)

Source: World Bank11

1976 1986 1996 2006 2016 (est) 2026 (est)

Sources: Lesotho Bureau of Statistics20

FIGURE 2 Trends of urban and rural population (percentages, 1976-2026)

FIGURE 3 National and urban populations, 1960 to 2011

Source: Index Mundi22

URBAN AREAS which tend to encourage people to engage more in

Source: Leduka and National Population Projections29

80% Qacha’s Nek

50% Mohale’s Hoek

Source: Leduka and National Population Projections 30

TABLE 5 UN population projections for Lesotho and urban Lesotho (2000-2030)

2000 2010 2020 2030

Source: National Population projections: table 532

HIV/AIDS support systems are severely stretched by poverty;

TABLE 7 Selected urban neighbourhoods for the Profile Sample Survey

Town Sampled neighbourhoods