Real estate developers shift to satellite towns in quest for affordable housing

Nairobi,

Friday, September 29, 2023

KNA by Kamau Maina/Carol Mawia

With the rising cost of land in Nairobi, real estate developers are shifting to the towns in the Nairobi Metropolitan area as they seek to fulfil the government's quest for affordable housing.

The developers held deliberations during the 10th 254 Reality Homes Expo 2023 at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) themed ‘Closing the gap re-imagining affordable housing’.

The main agenda for the expo was to unpack and expose opportunities that can be explored in the Real Estate sector.

Centum’s Real Estate marketing director Martin Kariuki said as developers they were revolutionising housing in various ways including diversification of real estate from areas around the Central Business District (CBD) to areas conveniently commutable from the city due to space and land prices.

Kariuki said this has allowed them as a company to create state-of-the-art estates that are affordable.

He further added that the move is a plan to create a city within a city where major services are accessible within the estate.

Estate Agents Registration board member Ms. Eunice Macharia insisted on the need for citizens to occupy houses whose agents are registered by the board.

She remarked that the government was working to lower the high-interest rates in mortgage housing.

“The government is committed to lowering the high-interest rates in mortgages and Kenya Refinance Mortgage will help them realize their dream of owning a house,” Ms. Macharia stated.

There was also an urge by legal minds to see to it that there are proper planning policies by Real Estate Agents to avoid poor planning.

Lawyer Salome Wanjiru noted that constructing laws have been largely ignored and thus this has resulted in the concrete jungles we have today.

The developers urged for the digitization of land records noting that this was a barrier to international investors and those in the diaspora.

AMG Realtors chief commercial officer Martin Githinji said that the diaspora remittances are the largest foreign exchange earner according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

 “We can double foreign investment if we improve the digitization of land records in this country,” noted Githinji.

There were concerns on the recently enacted housing levy, with stakeholders claiming the government had not made it clear on how the fund would be recompensed in case one did not receive a house.

Courtesy; KNA