Affordable housing is one of the current Government’s pillar aimed at Sustainable Development and Economic growth. According to Mr. Charles Kerich, the Nairobi County Housing Minister, the first proposed Low cost housing project in Nairobi is scheduled to commence before the end of the year. The approved and recommended rates are, not less than Kshs. 600,000 for a single room social unit, not less than Kshs. 1 million for a 1 bedroom low cost unit and not more than Kshs. 3 million for a 3 bedroom low cost unit. This is per the adopted low-cost Housing framework. All these endeavors fall also under the ‘Urban Renewal Initiative’.
As per this years Kenya Property Development Association’s (KPDA) report, the urban population stands at 22% of the total population, the number grows at the rate of 4.2% (roughly 0.5 million) every year. Almost 61% of the urban households live in slums, and by extension, undignified standards of living. The estimation is, low income households, which by extension is the larger populace, can afford units below Kshs. 4m, but can they?
Having that in mind, the most ambitious social-housing flagship project in Africa is in Ethiopia. The hardships experienced with the development are not to be ignored. The poor can barely afford the down payment and those who can, struggle to meet repayments, bearing in mind that most of these projects haven’t fully incorporated the Tenant Purchase System (TPS), and that is if they actually have. Most developers just want the deposits and balance paid within a short time.
Another insightful exemplar is Angola’s $3.5 bn social-housing project, on the outskirts of Luanda, the capital. The apartments offered started at $84,000 (roughly Kshs. 8,232,000), in a county where the general populace earns a little over $4,000 (roughly Kshs. 392,000). Again, the question is, what policy is to be adopted? Are the houses really Low Cost?
This follow for other African Countries, case and point, Cameroon and South Africa. These projects are being rolled out two folds: The government builds the houses and then sells to the parties interested, then, there is, the facilitation by the government to private developers to deliver the same, this is by subsidizing the materials and the land.
Part of the things that need to be addressed to effectively address the issue of the housing deficit, as well as the constrained affordability of houses:
- Proper policies that are all inclusive and envisage the long-term goals.
- Affordability of the land.
- Availability of skilled labor at a reasonably low price
- Availability of cheap materials
- Undeveloped and noncompetitive construction industry and
- Corruption and misappropriation of funds.
Before we embark on the roll out of these projects as a country, a proper reconnaissance and benchmark should be undertaken and all the pros and cons considered, so that we don’t fall into the same pit falls the other African countries have.
Article by Muraguri Chiuri
