The County Government of Nairobi has said it will terminate its contracts with the 600 tenants that are residing in the Nairobi council houses to give room for refurbishment.
According to County official Tom Odongo, the tenants will be required to sign a new agreement with the county government once the Sh300 billion project, described as “urban renewal and re-development”, is finished.
This comes amid raising fears that the Nairobi County intends to permanently evict the tenants from these houses, whose rents are subsidized.
Mr Odongo told the media in his office that the tenants of the houses will be offered living spaces on a first-come-first served basis once refurbishment of the new houses is completed.
The law requires county governments to compensate tenants three months’ rent in the event of an eviction. However, Mr Odongo said the county government will pay evicted tenants money equal to their rent of up to 24 months.
Five of the estates set for demolition to give room for new high-rise apartments are Jeevanjee, Bachelor Quarters, Pangani, and Old and New Ngara.
Other old estates targeted in the programme are Bahati, Mbotela, Ziwani, Makongeni, Kaloleni, Jericho and Shauri Moyo.
Currently, the county government collects rent from 14,000 housing units.
The first phase of the redevelopment project will see over 12,000 housing units built to accommodate 100,000 people.
