PS says 582 new houses in Mombasa to be ready in May

Housing PS Charles Hinga speaks after inspecting 605 affordable housing units in Bondeni, Nakuru City. February 6, 2022. [Kennedy Gachuhi, Standard]

The push for the construction of affordable housing has gained momentum with the National Construction Authority (NCA) having registered 565,000 units to be built, the government has said.

Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said yesterday that the proposed housing units are to be built at a cost of Sh2.8 trillion.

Speaking during the inspection of affordable houses under construction at Buxton in Mombasa County yesterday, Hinga said NCA has already approved construction of 225,000 units.

“By October 2021, NCA had registered 565,000 affordable housing units to be constructed in the country,” Hinga said.

The PS was flanked by the chairman of Buxton Point Apartments Suleiman Shahbal and the project chief executive officer Ahmed Badawy. The project will have 2,000 housing units at Sh6 billion.

Shahbal said the first 582 units will be ready for occupation by May, this year.

He appealed to the government to come up with a plan to enable low-income residents to acquire the Buxton houses under a tenant-purchase scheme.

About 500 families who used to live in the Buxton estate houses that were demolished had been offered a chance to buy the new houses but many cannot afford.

Hinga said yesterday President Uhuru Kenyatta will commission the first units at Buxton and hand over keys to the occupants in May, this year.

At the same time, the PS said the government was in talks with National Housing Corporation (NHC) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to buy houses under the affordable housing programme and sell them to low-income Kenyans under the tenant-purchase scheme.

“Those rushing to court to stop the construction of affordable houses should be challenged in the same courts because they do not have the interests of majority Kenyans at heart,” he said.

At Buxton, Hinga said the construction phase has offered 3,000 direct jobs and many people were also selling food to site workers.

A  two-bedroom apartment at Buxton estate will go for Sh3 million compared to Sh6.5 million in the neighbouring Tudor.

The one-bedroom unit will be sold at Sh1.8 million and the three-bedroom unit will fetch Sh4.2 million.