This archive report was first published on 26 September 2019.
Located just three-and-a-half kilometres west of Nakuru's Central Business District, Soilo Estate was previously a vast agricultural farm land owned by a few individuals. The estate draws its name from corrupted English for 'soil.'
Charles Ondimu, a pioneer resident, recalls that in the early 2000s, the land was idle and owners sold it to groups of people who subdivided it. 'A group of workers in factories in Industrial Area bought 40 acres. This was followed by a teachers Sacco, which acquired 42 acres. The members subdivided the land among themselves, after which some sold it to third parties,' he says.
By 2008, a plot measuring 50 by 100 feet, an equivalent to an eighth of an acre, was selling at slightly above Sh200,000, according to Gilbert Kibire, a land expert and real estate developer at Advance Valuers Company. However, it was not until 2013 that the demand for housing in the town pushed land owners to start developing the area, pushing land prices up tenfold.
Today, the least undeveloped plots in the estate are selling at Sh2.5 million, while those closer to the tarmac are selling at Sh3.6 million, Kibire says. The area, which is now a gazetted residential estate, is in the process of being opened up as prices continue to soar with improved infrastructure on roads, water and electricity connection.
James Macharia, a resident, notes that the demand for land in the estate has continued to grow with the ongoing plans to elevate Nakuru town to city status. 'Very few houses are unoccupied. Many people are expressing interest in buying property in the estate, driving the prices higher. This has slowed down the rate at which land was being sold as some hold on anticipating for better prices,' he says.
The growth of the town, however, places the residents at a crossroads; juggling between maintaining their land as agricultural and developing it into commercial and residential properties. 'It places matters food security at stake but with the population and economic growth sacrifices have to be made. Many who own huge tracts of land around the town will have no other option,' says Zipporah Mwaniki, a land owner.
Nakuru County Executive Committee Member for Lands Frank Mwangi notes that the county issued a one-year notice against land sub-division, especially in agricultural zones, awaiting the completion and gazettement of a new spatial plan, which is yet to be launched. 'We are in the process of zoning different areas according to land use. Last year's notice expired in June and we shall be giving the way forward soon,' he says.
Published on September 26, 2019
