This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
Published on June 18, 2020, over 300,000 people have expressed interest in the 228 low-cost houses put up in Nairobi's Ngara estate.
The Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary, Charles Hinga, announced that allocation will be done based on gender equity and diversity.
According to Mr Hinga, information on the planned sale, which will also consider marginalized and vulnerable groups, is available on their online portals, bomayangu.go.ke and housingandurban.go.ke.
Mr Hinga stated, 'The government will be allocating the completed houses in Parkroad, Ngara. The allocation process of these houses is done in accordance with the Constitution.'
The units, put up by China State Construction Engineering, are part of 1,370 housing units currently under construction at the 7.9-acre parcel formerly owned by the government.
Of the total units, 548 will be reserved for civil servants, while the rest will be sold at fixed prices to other people.
The units are in three different types – a one-bedroomed unit worth Sh1 million, a two-bedroomed unit worth Sh2 million, and a three-bedroomed unit worth Sh3 million.
Beneficiaries who are unable to settle the purchase price on the spot will have to pay a 10 percent deposit with the rest paid over the next 25 years under a rent-to-own arrangement.
Other Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) housing projects are set for commissioning next week, with Mr Hinga projecting to deliver 140,000 units in the next 24 months in different parts of the country.
The AHP programme rides on a public/private partnership where the government provides land that is used by private investors to put up units at their own expense for sale to Kenyans.
Investors benefit from a 30 percent allocation of land, thereby enabling them to recoup their capital outlay in the AHP project.
To generate ready demand, the government recently formed the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company, which will enable banks to give out low-cost mortgages.
