Markets & Finance

Mt Kenya Homes locks speculators out of development

Mt Kenya holiday

One of the houses built by Mt Kenya Holiday Homes at Naro Moru in Nyeri. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Luxury homes developer Mt Kenya Holiday Homes says the build-and-transfer system is helping ward off speculators who usually stall projects by sitting on idle plots. The firm said its Sh5 billion 95-unit project in Nyeri has managed to progress quickly and retain only serious investors using this system.

Project manager Reginald Akumu said the build-and-transfer concept creates certainty for the buyers as well, with their houses guaranteed to be delivered on time and within budget.

“A lot of developments of this kind are suffering the consequences of having people come buy land and sit on it, and at some point they start competing with the developer on the selling of the land where they undercut the developer,” said Mr Akumu.

The holiday homes are being developed in three phases with the first two consisting of 21 houses each and the third one with 53. It is located at Naromoru area in Kieni East, Nyeri.

Under the system, buyers pay a 20 per cent deposit on the unit cost of a house, which is priced at between Sh23 million and Sh26 million, with building time averaging nine months. Further payments are made in monthly instalments for up to nine months as houses are built.

Holiday homes and gated community developments have been facing delays in completion as land buyers hold back from developing their plots in the hopes of enjoying capital gains on vacant land.

Northwind Consulting Ltd director Dennis Savala, the project’s quantity surveyor, said at least Sh200 million has already been sunk into the project on houses, support infrastructure and the golf course, adding that this figure would rise as they start work on more houses, lighting and roads.

To further deter speculators, the developers will not allow additional houses to be put up once the 95 units are completed.
Mt Kenya Holiday Homes is among several new destination home developments in the Aberdare and Mt Kenya region targeting high net worth buyers.

Real-estate investors have been turning their attention to the high-end tourist attractions in central Kenya region that have been disadvantaged by low premium bed capacity outside of the lodges within the two national parks of Mt Kenya and the Aberdares.

Among those targeted by owners of the holiday homes for rentals include tourists climbing Mt Kenya, who can use the facilities as staging points for their expeditions.

“We are also targeting investment groups and we have already got one women’s group which is putting up a house,” said Mr Akumu.

Other projects in the area include Ol Pejeta’s Mount Kenya Wildlife Estate set on 1,000 acres within the ranch, with 100 homes planned at a cost of between Sh30 million and Sh33 million.

The project is about 60 per cent done, attracting corporate high fliers among the buyers. In Kieni West, the Sangare Hills and Country Homes development is under construction on 450 acres with a cost tag of Sh1.2 billion. At least 200 homes are planned on the development’s first phase.

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