Building affordable homes

A developer has opted to provide affordable housing in a near large scale approach, writes JECKONIA OTIENO

Affordable and decent housing is still one of the greatest challenges for many Kenyans especially those living in cities and towns.

One of the most affected cities is Nairobi, which over a long time has seen the expansion of slums due to unprecedented population growth. Pundits have argued that the centralisation of services and industries was among the major causes of this upsurge in urban population due to rural-urban migration.

In line with these housing challenges that the country is facing, several developers have taken up the challenge to build affordable houses.

One developer has come up with a plan to try and alleviate the shortage by putting up affordable housing, a model that, if replicated and cascaded down, can ease the housing pressure considerably.

Royal Group, among other companies that are setting trends with their new model for housing the masses by using a unique approach which many developers may have overlooked.

In the expansive Mlolongo area stands the first of their investment of a model residential area which has made good use of space.

The first estate, 360 Court Apartments, rising up four floors, is set on the Embakasi plains. It is fully set and is a one-stop shop as a residential area. The housing estate, which is enclosed to form a community, has six blocks with three and two-bedroom units.

The developer has a vision to house every year between 5,000 and 6,000 people in its projects in Nairobi, Nakuru and Mombasa.

The drive is not just to offer buildings for people to live in but also to make the surrounding environment habitable, unlike what is seen in estates such as Mathare North, Kariobangi and Huruma where high-rise buildings stand back to back with poor planning because of the fragmented land ownership, which allows different developers to put up uncontrolled development in complete disregard of social amenities and organisation.

 Royal Group acquires massive land and plans a proper mass residence in it with quality services, which it then brings up for sale or rental. The tenant has an option of buying a unit.

Basic amenities  

Among some of the basic services in the development is piped water with a borehole to back up the supply of water in case the public water supply system fails. With its own approved septic tank, the estate does not have to rely on unreliable public sewerage system.

Also in the compound is a shopping complex so that tenants do not have to walk long distances looking for shops.

Sunita Patel, the CEO of the group, says that the company thought of contributing towards changing the face of housing in Kenya and decided to come up with a plan to offer affordable housing. She insists on the word affordable because the word low-cost sounds derogatory, according to her.

Noble model   

She states, “We sought to come up with a model that could be followed by the country to help solve the problem of housing once and for all.”

With Phase One of 360 complete and already occupied, the company is now focussing on Phase two which is expected to be complete in the next few months.

On the opposite side of the road a few metres from Mombasa Road...another of its model housing estates, Muthama Heights, which also houses families in 600 apartments.

Patel says that the motive is to be an example to be emulated in methods of housing that have been tried and seen to work. Her argument is that in setting the standards, there is also the intrinsic need to give back to the society and “what other better way than offering one of the most sought after basic need which is housing?”

To develop such estates calls for proper reserach especially where ownership of land is concerned. Patel says that group does its work properly and ensures it has all the facts about the piece of land they are developing so that disputes do not arise as is common due to the incessant underhand deals that bedevil the lands sector.

 The company has also invested heavily in business parks such as the Royal ICT Business Park, Crawford Business Park and Westlands Business Park as well as housing estate projects like Milimani and Ten Trees.

 Ongoing projects include Bohani Palms, Rivera Towers, Sifa Towers, YMA Towers and Zawadi Apartments among others.