Organisations that build decent houses for low-income earners
By People.Reporter, February 8, 2022Eiyen Naitangomo is a happy woman.
Never in her life had she dreamt of owning a permanent house, having spent all her life living in a manyatta.
Poverty and nature had conspired to end her housing dream. However, she could not hide her joy, as she was handed the keys to her new house.
“I thought such houses belonged to a certain class. I cannot believe Habitat for Humanity Kenya (HFH Kenya) constructed this house for me. On my own, I would have remained in the one-roomed leaking house with a weak mud wall. Now I have a latrine,” said Naitangomo during her house opening ceremony recently.
Organisations are looking at cutting the cost of construction materials by introducing housing models that can help vulnerable families earning below Sh200 daily afford a decent house.
HFH Kenya is working with the Architectural Association of Kenya to come up with a model that could cut the cost of constructing a house from Sh750,000 to as low as Sh350,000.
HFH Kenya is a non-profit housing organisation that enables low-income families to access decent and affordable shelter. The cost depends on the ability and priority housing needs of a particular family.
A decent modern single room that acts as a kitchen and a bedroom with an outside latrine and a bathroom and water tank goes for Sh350,000.
A one and two-bedroom house are estimated to cost between Sh375,000 and Sh525,000 respectively inclusive of the outside amenities.
The breakdown was informed by the need to cater for more low-income earners, who are left out in many housing solutions.
The Stone house model that HFH Kenya seeks to improve on comes with two bedrooms, gutters, water tank and latrine.
Organisation uses subcontractors from the beneficiaries’ communities to do the construction work. Using The Design Challenge for Ultra Low cost Housing Units in Kenya, HFH Kenya is seeking flexible designs that allow for incremental building (one stage at a time).
This could begin with building a foundation only, then walls and other sections until the house is complete.
Expansion needs
Design includes accommodating future expansion needs. Eligible participants are both student members and fresh graduates.
The winning model will be announced on February 22 paving the way for a design that will significantly lower the cost of construction, enhance the habitability of the house, provide more flexibility in construction and utilise environmentally friendly materials.
According to a 2019 survey by HFH Kenya, the country has an annual housing demand of 250,000 units with an estimated supply of 50,000 units. This translates to a house deficit of 80 per cent.
Only two per cent of the formally constructed houses target low-income earners, the survey shows.
HFH Kenya, the affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, targets vulnerable families earning below Sh200 daily and are either orphaned, widowed, living with disabilities or affected by HIV/Aids.
Due to the rising cost of housing materials, the organisation is not able to build many houses and the process has not reached the masses as per HFH Kenya’s plan. Since its establishment in 1982, HFH Kenya has enabled low-income families in 250 communities to access decent housing. The plan is to reach 100 families in each of the counties of Homa Bay, Laikipia, Machakos, Tana River, Kisumu and Makueni.
Right model
To celebrate this milestone, HFH Kenya Director Ruth Odera, says the organisation is this year raising funds to build 40 houses for 40 vulnerable families.
“If the government could adopt the low cost models, subsidise the cost of construction materials by reducing tax, coupled with community-based solutions like spearheading the formation of youth groups to use local building materials such as soil bricks, we could even build more houses,” said Odera.
She, however, regrets that lack of title deeds remained a challenge to many would be homeowners.
Besides the ongoing challenge, HFH Kenya is already using other ways to drive down the cost.