The government of Kenya has launched one of the housing projects under the Affordable Housing Programme initiative dubbed the ‘Habitat Heights’. The housing project is one of the first projects developed under the Memorandum of Understanding between the State Department for Housing and Urban Development and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in September 2018 to develop 100,000 housing units.
Location
The development will be located at Lukenya in Machakos County and will involve the construction of 8,888 units. The project is being undertaken by AFRA Holdings Limited through its local subsidiary Singapura Developers Ltd (Kenya) in conjunction with Housing Finance.
According to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, James Macharia, as Kenya launches the Habitat Heights Project, it is expected to be catalytic and being the first major project promoted under the Affordable Housing Programme, it has attracted other investors to participate.
“These kinds of projects cannot succeed without strategic partners, and we are happy to have more partners come on board. There is a rapid rate of urbanisation in Kenya and the need for access to decent and affordable housing is more important than ever,” said Mr Macharia.
Also read: Kenya to construct affordable housing units in Murang’a county.
Urbanization
The CS further added that the world is urbanizing at a very high rate and Kenya is no exception and that is why the country is eager as Kenya launches the Habitat Heights project. “Over 26% of Kenyans live in cities and the urban population is growing at a rate of 4.2 % every year. This level of growth creates tremendous pressure on the housing market,” he said.
“For example, Nairobi requires at least 132,000 new housing units per year to keep pace with its expanding population. Yet only 50,000 homes are constructed, creating a growing housing shortfall of 82,000 units per year. It is said that 61% of urban households in Kenya live in unfitting settlements of which 70-80% in rental units. To address this issue, the government of Kenya has made affordable housing a national priority and is committed to facilitating the construction of the houses between 2017 and 2022, he affirmed.
