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The co-operative has more than 15 groups under its membership that include Dzimba Dzedu Tega, Mabvuku Tafara Housing and Tongoville Housing Co-operative, among others.
It also includes the SSB, which comprises civil servants.
Chairperson of HEHCU Mr Nelson Mandizvidza said the grouping was formed after Government failed to secure resources to support individual groups since they were numerous.

The loose coalition of individual co-operatives also lacked collective bargaining power.
“The union was formed three years ago after the Ministry of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development failed to facilitate development programmes for individual groups as some lacked professionalism in aspects such as drawings and design, which are done by experts.

“Through a union there is collective work and hence reduction in costs in turn leading to speedy developmental projects,” he said.
Presently, members pay monthly subscriptions of between US$20 andUS$40 for a stand.
Some of the members of the co-operatives are also being employed to undertake various on-site work, a development that allows them to settle their subscriptions.

To date, HEHCU has built over 200 housing  units and Mr Mandizvidza attributes this to the good working relations that they have developed over the years with the Local Government authorities.
“We are supervised by Harare Metropolitan Governor (Mr David Karimanzira) because we cannot obtain permits without Government approval. The development permit that we have is to service the land in aspects such as sewer, water and roads,” said Mr Mandizvidza.

A complete five-roomed house under the union costs about US$9 000 to construct and it is targeting to complete at least three quarters of its projects in the next three years, if all current challenges are solved.
“People we found already on site are proving difficult to deal with as some of them had built their makeshift houses on sewer and water lines,” he said.
The co-operative’s objective is to support Government in meeting the housing demand.

Harare’s housing backlog is estimated at more than one million with the figure expanding with each passing day.
It is the nation’s hope that the policy guideline would ensure that the country provides decent accommodation to its citizens.
Research shows that close to 60 percent of formal workers in Zimbabwe are civil servants who earn a maximum of US$250 and cannot easily get their own houses and land.

Government is finalising the national housing policy that is expected to bring about a synchronised and co-ordinated approach to housing delivery in the country.
The policy will seek to improve the networking and stakeholder co-ordination as well as create a database of stakeholder and co-operating partners in the housing delivery programme.
Government has acquired farms on the capital’s periphery in order to ease accommodation shortages.
It has handed over 27 farms in Mashonaland Central and one in Mashonaland East to Harare City Council for future development under a 50-year grand development plan.-The Sunday Mail