By Advent Shoko | ZiGoats
Harare City Council has given beneficiaries of illegal settlements regularisation 14 days to complete requirements or risk losing their homes, reviving a contentious land dispute that has left thousands of families caught between housing desperation, questionable land deals and the threat of demolition.
In a public notice dated 26 October 2026 and signed by Acting Town Clerk W.S. Chiwawa, the council ordered residents and housing associations that previously received partial certificates of compliance to settle outstanding fees, submit building plans and complete required infrastructure works.
The notice warns that failure to comply within 14 calendar days will trigger enforcement action without further notice. If the period runs from the date of publication, the deadline falls on 9 November 2026.
The directive applies to people and organisations occupying council, State and privately owned land before the stated regularisation cut-off date of 23 September 2023, provided their settlements were recommended for regularisation and they received partial certificates of compliance.
This means the notice does not offer a blanket amnesty to everyone occupying land illegally. Those whose properties cannot be regularised, particularly structures on ecologically sensitive land and sites reserved for public facilities, face a separate and potentially more immediate risk of demolition.
What Residents Must Do Within 14 Days
The council has outlined six requirements for beneficiaries seeking to regularise their properties:
- Visit the relevant district office and pay prescribed penalties for illegally occupying council land.
- Pay the full intrinsic value of the land.
- Settle penalties for unauthorised building or construction.
- Submit architectural plans for council approval.
- Pay penalties relating to unauthorised roads, water and sewer infrastructure, including illegal connections.
- Complete outstanding infrastructure works required under the regularisation framework.
Residents who meet the requirements will have rates accounts opened, allowing the council to formally bill them for their properties and services.
However, those who fail to comply risk demolition, with the council warning that owners will bear the costs of demolishing structures, removing rubble, clearing sites and restoring the affected land.
The notice also orders the immediate enforcement of rules against ongoing construction without council approval.
“Council will act firmly, decisively and WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR,” the notice reads.
It adds that no one, “regardless of status, position, political affiliation or influence”, is exempt from the law.
A Regularisation Lifeline That Comes With Conditions
Harare’s latest directive follows a broader effort to bring unapproved residential stands and settlements into the formal planning system.
In May 2025, reports on the council’s regularisation programme indicated that thousands of housing stands had been assessed, with partial certificates of compliance issued to some settlements subject to outstanding infrastructure upgrades.
The arrangement offered some residents a chance to retain their homes rather than face immediate demolition. But partial compliance was not the same as full approval.
The October notice now makes that distinction central: beneficiaries who received the reprieve must complete the outstanding requirements or face enforcement.
The council has also made clear that some land uses cannot be regularised. Structures on ecologically sensitive land and sites reserved for public facilities that cannot be regularised are liable to demolition, as are unauthorised developments that fall outside the applicable framework.
That leaves an important question for affected families: how many can meet the financial and infrastructure requirements within just two weeks?
Land Barons, Political Connections And A Broken Waiting List
Harare’s land crisis goes beyond illegal construction. It has also exposed weaknesses in land allocation, housing administration and political accountability.
For years, desperate home seekers have turned to housing cooperatives and informal developers in the hope of securing residential stands. Some have paid substantial sums for land without receiving valid documentation or guarantees that their properties comply with planning regulations.
A September 2024 report by The Zimbabwe Independent highlighted the scale of the problem during a commission of inquiry into Harare City Council operations.
Council housing principal officer Edgar Dzehonye told the inquiry that the city’s housing waiting list had effectively become a formality because land invasions were increasingly followed by attempts to regularise the occupants.
“We have had situations where we have people who invade council land and then council resolves to regularise those people,” Dzehonye said.
The report put the waiting list at more than 100,000 people. Dzehonye explained that people who had waited longer could be overtaken by applicants in cooperatives whose settlements were prioritised for regularisation.
In practice, this created a damaging imbalance: people who followed official procedures could find themselves behind those who occupied land first and subsequently sought recognition.
Research published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications in 2024 also examined how politically connected actors, informal land transactions and weak enforcement have shaped Harare’s peri-urban land market. Such practices have exposed home seekers to financial losses and the threat of demolition.
Political connections have repeatedly featured in investigations into the crisis. In August 2024, a commission of inquiry heard allegations that councillors had been involved in the unauthorised allocation of thousands of stands ahead of the 2023 elections.
These allegations underline why enforcement must extend beyond residents who built on the land to those who illegally allocated, sold or facilitated its occupation.
The council’s latest declaration that no one will be spared regardless of political influence will therefore be judged not only by the number of houses demolished, but also by whether those responsible for unlawful land sales and allocations face meaningful consequences.
Demolitions Have Already Triggered Public Controversy
The latest warning also revives memories of previous demolition campaigns that left residents facing the loss of homes they had spent years building.
In November 2024, Harare City Council halted a controversial demolition exercise following public pressure and intervention by then Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe, who described the council’s actions as “inhumane”.
The council had planned to demolish more than 5,000 houses in illegal settlements while enforcing about 37 High Court orders, according to NewsDay.
The episode exposed the tension between enforcing planning laws and protecting families who may have bought land in good faith, sometimes believing that developers or housing cooperatives had the necessary authority.
It also raised a difficult question: should residents bear the full consequences when land is sold unlawfully, while the people who collected their money escape accountability?
At the same time, leaving illegal developments untouched can undermine planned urban growth, deprive communities of adequate roads and sanitation, and expose families to flooding or the loss of land reserved for schools, clinics and other public amenities.
The challenge is to enforce the law consistently while ensuring that legitimate home seekers are not treated as the only offenders in a system that has repeatedly failed them.
What Affected Residents Should Do Now
Residents who believe their properties qualify for regularisation should visit their respective council district offices immediately to confirm their status, outstanding payments and the specific requirements applicable to their settlements.
They should also verify the authenticity of allocation documents and obtain written confirmation of any payments or approvals. Anyone who purchased land through a cooperative or private developer should establish whether the land was lawfully allocated and whether the development has the necessary planning approvals.
The council’s notice directs enquiries to the Director of Urban Planning Services at Cleveland House, third floor, office 315, corner Leopold Takawira Street and Speke Avenue, or the Director of Housing and Community Services at the Housing Department headquarters, No. 2 Remembrance Drive, Mbare.
For residents who have already invested their life savings in their homes, the 14-day deadline leaves little room for delay.
But the wider test for Harare will be whether this latest crackdown restores orderly development, protects public land and holds illegal land dealers accountable — or whether ordinary home seekers once again bear the heaviest cost of the city’s housing crisis.
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