By Ferdinand Mwongela

The Kenyan property sub-sector has been on the rise for the last few years despite the jitters occasioned by the global property market slump last year.

The industry continues to thrive as witnessed last weekend at the 11th edition of the biannual Kenya Homes expo at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Nairobi.

The event themed ‘Exploring the finest home solutions’ lived up to its billing as one of Kenya’s biggest, filling KICC’s Tsavo Ballroom and spilling over into the courtyard. One significant feature at this expo was the prominent place taken by support service and product providers, almost pushing real estate agencies, developers and constructors to the periphery.

This was unlike previous expos that have always seemed to rotate around developers with a few support product providers. A spot check showed that in one wing, out of the 16 exhibition stalls, only about four were occupied by real estate developers and agencies while the rest went to roofing, and tile providers, banks, interior dÈcor companies, cement providers, a pay TV provider and an insurance company.

Housing assistant, minister Margaret, Wanjiru presented awards to the winners.

Another wing had about seven property development companies out of the 14 exhibition stalls. When Home and Away toured the exhibition hall, stalls that were attracting a lot of attention from exhibitors were those of interior dÈcor companies, followed closely by real estate developers and financial service providers in that order.

Bigger and better

One such interior dÈcor stall crowd puller was Bellarufi, run by Christabel Ododa and Ruth Hoffman that promised visitors a different touch in interior decorating. Ododa said their intention was to provide an aesthetically appealing touch that was at the same time functional. She described the expo as a success.

When opening the expo, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Margaret Wanjiru praised the organisers saying this year the event had expanded and improved. She, however, noted that there was need to invest in low-income houses in an effort to house Kenyans from all walks of life. She emphasised on the need for coordination in the sector and proper planning.

"We need to get back to serious planning," she said. The assistant minister decried the prevalence of land grabbing. "Land grabbing in Kenya is an issue," she said, pointing out that one of the ministry’s biggest challenges in its slum upgrading initiative was land grabbing.

National Housing Corporation, NHC, managing director James Rwitha said there was a wide variety of technologies the country could choose from to enhance the provision of houses to meet the current deficit. He said statistics show that by the year 2030, about 60 per cent of Kenyans will be living in urban areas. This means a sustained influx into urban areas, requiring a sustained provision of quality housing. He said NHC would soon establish a technology that would reduce the cost of housing.

Winners

The expo saw Tamarind Properties grab the first prize in the Real Estate Management and Development category, Barclays Bank took the Home Finance and Mortgage crown, Chartis Kenya won in the Health and Insurance category with DÈcor pebbles scooping top prize in Home Interiors and DÈcor followed by Bellarufi and Fairdeal group of companies.

Soliton Telmec won the Home Product Development while Lafarge Gypsum took home the Building and Support Services crown.

The biggest winner was East Africa Portland Cement, which took the overall crown.

This was the forth such expo to be held this year after the Property and Home Living expo held in February followed by the Kisumu property expo and the Mombasa Homes expo in April.