Homes lead in building sector investments

Residential housing developments led in investment as the construction sector registered a sharp drop in the first seven months of 2017 compared to last year.

Investors spent Sh88.6 billion in the period compared to Sh61 billion invested in commercial construction, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

The Leading Economic Indicator (LEI) 2017 for up to July showed activities compare poorly with 2016 where Sh107.2 billion was spent on residential housing and Sh76 billion for commercial housing.

In galvanised iron sheets trade, 145.1 million tonnes were consumed in the first seven months of 2017 compared to last year’s 155 million indicating a slowdown informed by a slowdown as investors adopted a wait-and-see attitude in the run-up to the August 8 General Election.

Interestingly, most investments took place within urban and peri-urban areas reflecting rising demand for houses for the working class.

Surveys conducted in Nairobi indicate most buildings approvals were high-rise and gated communities hosting apartments. Most tenants find the units cheaper to acquire, enabling them to live within the vicinity of Nairobi CBD while sharing some social amenities.

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This has seen investors offer value-added services within their properties to woo clients. They include tenant-only swimming pools, gyms and in-house pubs, chemists, children’s playroom and rooftop gardens.

Kilimani, Loresho, Parklands, Westlands, Kahawa West, Riruta, South C and Hurlingham areas have attracted most multi-storeyed high-end developments while Nairobi’s peri-urban regions continue to attract standalone residential owner-occupier developments.

HF Development and Investment is among local companies engaged in gated-community developments around Nairobi in partnership with land owners.