Affordable land lures potential homeowners to rural areas
By Mathew Ndungu, November 28, 2019Despite being a basic need, affordable housing continues to be inaccessible to many people across the globe due to high costs of construction and steep land prices .
Dhahabu Land Ltd director, Peter Kamau says the move by the Kenyan government to make ‘decent and affordable’ housing one of its key development pillars under the Big Four agenda by building 500,000 affordable homes in the next five years is therefore a step in the right direction.
However, due to the housing crisis and a proliferation of slums, more solutions are needed to bridge the housing deficit.
“While a clique of Kenyans prefer to live in urban centres, shortage of sizeable land for construction of spacious and affordable houses, high costs of land, proliferation of land fraud cases in the towns, among other challenges have blocked many Kenyans from owning houses,” he said.
He advised potential home owners to take advantage of the State’s move to open up outskirts of major towns by providing good road networks, electrification and supply of piped water.
“Many Kenyans are already taking advantage of affordability of land in such areas to build their dream homes,” he said.
“We are happy with the government’s commitment to open up rural areas, which is creating a conducive environment for Kenyans to cheaply own land and build,” he said.
Kamau spoke in Matuu, Machakos county where he led hundreds of investors to explore Dhahabu Matuu Plains, a gated community and mixed development project 6km from Matuu town on the Thika-Garissa highway. “More Kenyans should put up houses in such areas to also decongest our over-populated towns,” he said.
He said housing developments led to increased property value in rural areas and assured a clean environment away from pollution. Matuu Plains is located on well-drained red soils, ideal for construction and agriculture. The plots sell at Sh385,000 for an eighth of an acre plot.
According to World Bank recent statistics, the overall yearly housing shortage is conservatively estimated at 150,000 – 200,000 units in urban areas and more than 300,000 units in rural areas.
Data indicates that Kenya needs to build two million affordable city homes to meet its housing deficit and stem the sprawling of slums.
Kamau said the public and private sectors are providing between 30,000 and 50,000 units per year only.