This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
Architects in Nairobi County are facing a tough time as the county's housing approvals have come to a standstill. The county has not approved a single development plan in the last six months, leaving hundreds of millions of shillings in revenue from developers uncollected.
The Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) has expressed concern over the stagnation of approvals, which has denied the county government hundreds of millions of shillings in revenue. According to AAK President Mugure Njendu, the situation is placing an enormous burden on professionals and property developers in the sector.
The county's technical committee that approves building plans has not met since June, resulting in hundreds of plans stuck at City Hall. The committee had previously met every two weeks. The delays in approving building plans have dented earnings for the county, with Nairobi earning Sh1.12 billion in 2018 from approvals.
However, the county's revenue from approvals has plummeted to Sh307 million in the first half of 2019, down from Sh1.12 billion in 2018. 'As you are aware, construction permitting is a key revenue source for the county but has been declining in the recent past,' said Ms Njendu.
She noted that there has been a noted decrease in approvals in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. 'In the first quarter of 2019, approvals worth Sh32 billion were processed while in the second quarter this dropped to Sh27 billion,' she said.
Ms Njendu also pointed out that the county collected Sh1.12 billion from approval fees in 2018 but has only been able to collect Sh307.4 million by June 2019.
