House prices would sharply fall if the government injected funds into development of essential infrastructure in Nairobi satellite towns.
Housing and property development firm Lettas Developers director Patrick Muchoki said allowing individual housing companies to handle road improvements and sinking of boreholes, all crucial developments in enticing customers by making properties usable, is contributing to rising cost of land and houses.
“In some countries I have visited, it is the government’s duty to connect sewer lines, water supply, electricity, roads and drainage to proposed housing estates. This helps in lowering prices and planning housing developments in any given area unlike in Kenya where individual firms subdivide plots and proceed to put up infrastructure, passing on the cost to the buyers,” he said.
Mr Muchoki said the current situation had seen many potential house buyers shy away from rural-based housing projects they felt lacked essential infrastructure.
He added that banks must come up with independent off-plan housing development products where repayment for the proposed loans would begin after the houses have been completed and occupied. This, he said, would help more Kenyans acquire houses at much lower prices.
“No one is willing to take a mortgage as many Kenyans feel it is very costly while banks are very cautious and strict when giving out loans. This has adversely affected uptake of newly developed housing units since many cannot raise the required upfront fees”, he said.
Mr Muchoki said building and construction laws should also be reviewed and unified into a single policy regime to avert the current confusion where developers have to deal with national and county government officials involved in construction matters.
The poor regulation has spawned a situation where many people buying apartments within urban areas to access workplaces ignore the need for essential child development facilities like playgrounds and schools’ proximity.
“This has shattered many lives since children are denied open spaces to play in and spend most of their time watching television programmes without supervision, thereby contributing to moral decay. We need proper planning that promotes development of family units that have at least three bedrooms, playgrounds and a kindergarten.”
Lettas Developers is mainly involved in development of stand-alone family housing units within Thika sub-county.
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