Kigali's next homes, and who will look after them

Kigali counted 1,745,555 people at the 2022 census. By 2026 the estimate is just over two million. In 2022 the City of Kigali put the need at 310,000 new homes by 2032, about 20,700 a year.

The homes are coming. Heza Estate, the RSSB development at Batsinda in Kinyinya, has 548 apartments and townhouses priced from Rwf 80 million to Rwf 117 million; its buyers are expected to move in around January 2027.

What it means

Most of these buildings will be owned by many people at once. Their value then depends less on the architecture than on what happens every day: who collects the service charge, who fixes the pump, who keeps the records, how owners vote and how a dispute is settled.

• Owners' associations need running. A building owned unit by unit is governed by its owners together. That works when the association has a budget, statutes and a way to vote before the first owner moves in.
• Owners abroad need sight. An owner who lives outside Rwanda expects to see the unit's income, costs and repairs from a phone, every month, without having to ask.
• Records are value. A full history of repairs, certificates and occupancy gives a buyer, a bank or an insurer what they need to trust a unit. That is why KERUB keeps a record of every unit it manages.

A practical note

If you are buying an apartment off-plan in Kigali, ask the developer four questions: what the service charge will be and how it was worked out, who will manage the building from the first day, whether each unit has its own water and power meter, and when the owners' association will be constituted.