Mombasa bets on public-private pact to fund affordable housing

Mombasa.

Mombasa County has joined Nairobi in the execution of affordable housing through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Buxton Point is the county’s affordable housing flagship project. The PPP arrangement entails collaboration between Mombasa County and investors led by Suleiman Shahbal.

It brings together residential and commercial property for sale and rent from both Buxton Point and Mombasa County, respectively. Over 2,000 affordable housing units will be developed.

The project is part of the plan by Mombasa County to upgrade 11 dilapidated estates developed in the 1970s.

The investment is expected to tap more than Sh50 billion. “Already, the State Department has signed pacts with 30 counties to develop affordable housing units,” says Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga. “The Mombasa Buxton Point Project is one of these initiatives.”

In Pangani, Tecnofin, a developer, has entered into a pact with Nairobi County to build 1,550 affordable housing units. Nearby, Jabavu Village, also a property developer, will be developing 1,620 units under a similar partnership. Presidential Delivery Unit Secretary Andrew Wakahiu and Hinga, who toured the Buxton Point, hailed the project as a plus to the Big Four Agenda.

The residential units will comprise one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, youth centre, kindergartens, social halls, open playing fields, and commercial units. The groundbreaking event is on May 1.