Urithi Housing Cooperative Society to construct 400 houses in three counties

Urithi Housing Cooperative Society is set to construct more than 400 residential houses to the tune of Sh1 billion in Nakuru, Kiambu and Kajiado in the next one year.

The 7,000 member society plans to boost the local supply mainly targeting the growing middle class. The Sacco Chairman Samuel Maina, said the plan targets urban centres that have seen rising settlements such as Nakuru, Thika, Juja and Kitengela.

“We have already broken the groundwork in Thika, Kitengela and Juja with Nakuru expected to start in two weeks. Our target is to construct more than 400 houses in the target urban centres. Once the housing units are ready, the starting selling price will be Sh2.8 million per unit of a three-bedroom house,” said Mr Maina.

More than 80 per cent of houses coming up in urban centres are done by the private sector while the Government is concentrating on low income areas mainly in the informal settlement. In the recent past, there has been a shift in terms of developers and homeowners moving away from the high income areas to middle and low income.

In the high end areas, prices of land have gone up by more than 500 per cent for the last one decade. For example, in UpperHill, Nairobi, an acre is going for close to half a billion shillings. However, developers have neglected the low income areas citing high level of risk and low rate of returns.

This is the second project  the Sacco is undertaking. Last year, it constructed 600 housing units that cost Sh1 billion in Kilimambogo, Thika town, targeting its members. Maina said the project will be financed through internal cash  reserves with Sacco members.