Develop houses that suit all buyers, says Lands PS

Players in the real estate sector have been urged to come up with products that suit the desires and financial capabilities of most Kenyans.

Speaking at a conference organised by the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK), African Reals Estate Society and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Principal Secretary in the Lands Ministry Mariam El Maawy told players in the sector to "sell" what consumers want.

"One of the solutions for the housing shortage in the country is to tailor-make products for different segments of the society. Different segments want different things. It is up to you (players in the sector) to come up with viable products that will attract buyers," said Maawy.

"Like technology sector, we need to give out products that get better with time," she said.

Maawy said that Lands ministry was in the process of reducing the number of days it takes to access services from its offices. The ministry is also coming up with new generation title deeds.

"We are also moving the ministry into an ICT era while opening or renovation 10 registries across the country soon," she said.

She urged the players to lobby the Government whenever they want a reduction of taxes in some areas.

"We need to negotiate like other sectors. We should share data so that it is easy to convince the government to work with us."

The two-day conference took place last week and was attended by different players in the real estate sector who included surveyors, valuers, financial institutions and mortgage companies across the region, a move lauded by the PS.

"The cross cutting nature of these industries and the common values we seek calls for interdependency. We will not succeed if we move separately," she said.

According to ISK Chairman Paul Wambua, local players in the sector are already operating beyond their borders.

"ISK has been working in collaboration with the Association of Real Estate Agents Uganda and the Real Estate Agents of Rwanda in development of skills on the region through the Eastern Africa Real Estate Training Centre," said Wambua. "Through the centre, various trainings have been conducted most of which were done by internationally sourced resources persons."

The conference, dubbed Real Estate Financing in the Eastern African Region, focused on financing in the region, emerging markets and trends like Real Estate Investment Trusts, property management, scientific applications and women in real estate.

"I had to come to this event to see the emerging trends in the region and compare notes with Kenyan real estate experts," said Ugandan Carolyne Byokusheka, a chartered valuation surveyor with Byokusheka and Company. "It is encouraging to note we all face similar challenges and the solutions provided here can also be implemented in Uganda."