Lüderitz families wait decades for land as oil and gas boom lifts property prices
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Residents of the Namibian port town of Lüderitz say they have waited up to 30 years for land or housing while oil, gas and green-hydrogen investment pushes rents and prices beyond local incomes.
For 22 years, Lüderitz resident Paul Herero and his 80-year-old mother have been waiting for a portion of land to build a home in a town now attracting major investment in oil, gas, green hydrogen and port infrastructure. Herero, vice chairperson of a local small-scale fisheries association, said his mother has been pleading for a plot since 2004, and the family now lives at Sande, an informal settlement on the outskirts of the town.
“They are getting land, left and right, centre,” Herero said, describing a perception that companies are securing land while ordinary residents wait. He acknowledged that some investors have brought positive changes, particularly for small-scale fishing communities seeking recognition and access to fishing opportunities.
Property broker Petrus Kangura said he has been waiting for housing through the Lüderitz Town Council since 2019, and that applicants were required to reapply for the same scheme in 2023 despite years of waiting. He said a list of qualifying applicants was eventually released but he and others who applied earlier were excluded. His mother waited about 30 years before receiving a council house, and he said social housing beneficiaries must rent rather than buy, leaving their children without a guarantee of keeping the homes.
Kangura also pointed to land banking as an obstacle, saying investors from outside the town are buying vacant land and properties without developing them. Demand linked to anticipated oil and gas developments has pushed rental and property prices beyond the reach of many residents, he said.
The Namibian reported that the FNB Namibia House Price Index recorded a 37.7 percent increase, with the average house price rising from N$598,011 in mid-2025 to more than N$1 million in 2026, compared with N$460,500 in 2024. A September 2024 New Era report cited a housing waiting list of about 6,000. In July 2025, the council allocated 50 serviced residential plots at Nautilus Extension 4 to the Namibian Ports Authority for its employees, priced between N$155,000 and N$300,000.
Lüderitz spokesperson Elwin Gaoseb told The Namibian that the plan to expand the town remains and will be implemented through Stubenrauch Planning Consultants, with the council looking at reusing and occupying empty pockets of land to provide residential and business erven. The council has initiated an Urban Development Initiative, also known as the Lüderitz Urban Densification and Infill Project, to guide growth by developing vacant and underused plots within the existing urban fabric.
The Bank of Namibia says the oil and gas industry attracted about N$74.4 billion in foreign direct investment between 2021 and 2025, roughly 56 percent of total FDI inflows in the period, directed at exploration, infrastructure, logistics and support services.