Genghis, real estate firm partner in home ownership plan

Investment bank Genghis Capital, in partnership with a real estate development advisor Paradigm Projects, will help homebuyers acquire residential houses around Nairobi without conventional bank loan.

Through a rent-to-own home solution called Home Ownership Made Easy (HOME), buyers will be able to obtain a long-term purchasing facility from the developer, with monthly repayments priced at equal or close to prevailing rental rates in the target areas.

Genghis Capital is handling the financing through clients while Paradigm Projects is handling the technical issues.

The development is expected to start in July in Dagoretti, Uthiru, Kikuyu and Ngong Road.

Genghis Capital chief executive Geoffrey Gangla on Wednesday said property ownership requires investors and developers to be innovative in enabling home purchases at reasonable rates.

“Majority of people seeking home ownership do not have enough money to make an outright purchase or the down payment required which are usually steep. HOME is a solution that addresses the interdependency between developers, investors and buyers allowing more people affordable home ownership,” said Mr Gangla.

READ: 1,300 State workers to get home ownership papers

Paradigm Projects director Austin Ogada said majority of developers are unable to exit from projects due to unaffordability of houses since they are usually not able to attract both equity and debt capital for funding of the projects.

“HOME will allow long-term investors to fully underwrite a real estate project thereby significantly de-risking the project for the sake of the equity and debt investors as well as providing an alternative financing platform for the eventual home buyers to enable them purchase the properties being developed,” said Mr Ogada.