In Zimbabwe it has become a norm for people to build cottages on their properties; the reasoning behind this is that a person would want to build the cottage first and move in, then focus on building the main house without the stress of paying rentals.
This reason makes perfect sense because instead of pumping out extra cash to pay rentals, you are better off investing that money towards building your own house.
The other reason why many people want to build a cottage is that it will give them extra income from rentals.
Cottages are regulated by Council By-Laws and as such a cottage must have a proper house plan that should be approved by Council. The number of bedrooms and the size of the cottage is regulated, eg in Harare the maximum size of a cottage is 80sqm which allows you to have at least two fairly sized bedrooms, a lounge and a kitchen.
Some councils do not allow you draw and submit a cottage plan for approval before the main house plan is approved. The reason for this is that a cottage’s position and size should be determined to by the size and position of the main house. This means you cannot draw a cottage plan independently from the main house plan.
In high density suburbs where there are stands with sizes less than 300sqm, cottages are not allowed by council unless if it is a Pre Cast Concrete structure. Most of those cottages you see in the Ghetto are illegal structures.
Cottages can be built using bricks or pre-cast concrete panels. Concrete panels are usually used for temporary structures but in most cases these ‘temporary’ structures become permanent, so if you want to build a pre-cast structure do it right and nice.
A precast concrete cottage is cheaper and faster to build but it has a shorter life span than a brick structure.
When you decide to build a cottage make sure you do it right. You need to understand the by-laws regulating cottages in your area. You need to engage a good architect like OM City Designs to design the cottage plan for you.
A cottage should be a fully functional house and when designing the house plan try to make the cottage comfortable to live in because you do not know how much time you will stay in the cottage before you move into the main house.
Depending on the plan, a cottage can cost anything between $5,000 to $18,000 to build in Zimbabwe.
