Early in December, the first batch of houses completed under President Uhuru Kenyatta’s affordable housing project was handed over to homeowners.
Some 1,730 completed units constructed at the Park Road, Ngara site were officially handed over to those who qualified through the Boma Yangu portal. The move paves way for the construction of the second phase in Shauri Moyo, Embakasi and Athi River where some 3,000 units will be constructed.
According to Housing PS Charles Hinga, 310,378 Kenyans have registered in the Boma Yangu and Huduma portal raising over Sh 463million. Those who contributed the minimum 12.5% (Sh187,500) qualify for the allocation.
Hinga said the allocation for the Park Road project which is a mixed settlement considered civil servants and non-civil servants on 60-to-40% criteria. 60% have been occupied by the members of police and Kenya Defence Forces. He also noted another project in Rongai called King’s, which is 65% complete and will be handed over to the government in due course.
“We want Kenyans to understand and see beyond Parkroad, there are so many other developments that are going on. We have a huge pipeline of 5,551 units in different stages being delivered,’ he said.
With regards to misinformation that the government is constructing houses for Kenyans, Hinga said Kenyans are now starting to understand what affordable housing is all about.
Big Four Agenda
“Homeownership is not a privilege for a few. And when we say affordable houses, it is not synonymous with poor quality. With the simplified messages we have been running this should help us tell Kenyans that whatever they are paying for rent, there is a package for them under the affordable housing,” he said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta under his Big Four Agenda promised 500,000 affordable housing units for Kenyans by 2022 as one of the deliverables from his flagship projects. Hinga said some other 5,551 units are under pipeline on various stages of construction. The lowest price for the one-bedroom unit 30 sq metres is set at Sh1.5 million but there might be slight variation for projects not on government land but registered under the AHP programme through the Bomayangu portal.
“Overall we shall have one bedroom of 30sqm selling at Sh1.5 million, 2 bedroom of 40sqm at Sh2million, 2 bedroom 60sqm at Sh3 million, 3 bedroom of 60sqm at Sh3, 550,000 and 3 bedroom 80sqm at Sh 4 million. This will apply for houses within Nairobi,” said Hinga.
In Embu, a two-bedroomed house will cost Sh3.5 million while three bedroomed will go for Sh4.8 million. In Machakos, while a two-bedroom will cost Sh3.3 million, a three-bedroom will cost Sh4.3 million compared to Kiambu where a one-bedroom will cost Sh2.25 million, two-bedroom Sh4 million and a three-bedroom with master en-suite Sh5.4 million.
Under the same project, a one-bedroom in Kisumu will cost Sh2.25 million, two-bedroom Sh3.75 million while a three-bedroom with master en-suite Sh5.4 million. Once a member has been allocated a unit, they will be removed from the AHP Purchase Allocation Waiting List.
So far, the government has identified 40 locations across the country with 20,000 acres of land being set aside to construct 621,523 houses. Nairobi’s Eastlands area is among the locations that will host
