Building of 2,400 Naivasha affordable houses starts February

The construction of 2,400 houses in Naivasha, under the ambitious Affordable Housing Project, will kick off next month.

The houses will be built under a joint partnership between the Nakuru County government, the World Bank and the United Kingdom.

“Once evaluation of the bidders is complete this month, we expect contractors to kick off construction works from February. The county government is working closely with the World Bank to ensure the project that targets workers earning between Sh15,000 and Sh150,000 is successful,” said Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui.

Construction of the houses comes at a time when demand for housing in Naivasha is set to rise, as companies set up shop at the planned Naivasha Special Economic Zone (SEZ), that will be home to the planned Naivasha Industrial Park and the Inland Container Depot.

Several local and foreign investors have also expressed interest in setting up shop at the SEZ.

“With Naivasha hosting a multibillion-shilling flourishing horticultural sector, a booming hospitality industry, and fast rising to a commercial hub in East Africa, obviously, the demand for housing is expected to shoot up.

That is why we are speeding up the plans to ensure the appetite for housing for workers in the various companies that seek to set up shop is quenched. So far Nakuru is among counties in urgent need of affordable houses,” said Mr Kinyanjui.

Last year, the county government reclaimed land meant for housing and which had been grabbed, paving way for the project to kick off.

Mr Kinyanjui, who is also the Council of Governors’ Urban Planning, Housing, Development, Lands, Infrastructure and Energy committee chairperson, also urged county governments to set aside money to support the Affordable Housing project.

"For this ambitious project to be successful, county governments must closely work with the national government,” he said.

The World Bank last year selected Nakuru as the pioneer county for the realisation of the ambitious half a million houses project by 2022.

The multilateral lender said Nakuru had most of the critical infrastructure needed for the construction.

The houses will be built on a 55 acre-land in Naivasha on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway near GK Prisons.

Nakuru has emerged as one of the most attractive investor destinations with key projects underway or in the pipeline. Besides the planned dry port, a business park being established by electricity generarot KenGen is also expected to draw firms.

Nakuru is among 23 counties that have provided land for the affordable housing programme.

It has been grappling with housing shortages for years.

Nakuru town for instance which is set to become a city, still has insufficient housing despite efforts to address the shortage.

There is a shortfall of both residential and commercial units.

According to a 2016 report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Nakuru requires at least 10,000 housing units to meet the current demand.

However, only about 3,000 units are available, creating a shortfall of 8,000 units.