Economy

Ngara tenants oppose Kidero’s Sh8.3m houses

house

A dilapidated City Hall house at Shauri Moyo Estate in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE

Tenants in Nairobi County estates targeted for demolition in Governor Evans Kidero’s city renewal project have opposed the plan after it emerged that each flat will cost as much as Sh8.3 million.

The tenants, who have been promised priority allocation of the apartments “at construction cost,” say the price is inordinately high while City Hall has refused to avail bills of quantities to them for verification.

They are also contesting the inclusion of a five per cent mark-up on the apartment prices, contrary to Mr Kidero’s announcement that the houses would be sold to them at zero profit.

The three-bedroom apartments are being offered to the tenants at Sh7.9 million, which rises to Sh8.29 million after factoring in the mark-up.

“The Sh7.9 million cannot be the cost of the construction. It’s too high, but we can’t verify because they have not given us the documents,” Old Ngara Welfare Association chairman Martin Njoroge said in an interview.

“We asked for bills of quantities, but were told no. They said they would give us a schedule of finishes instead, but even this is yet to be availed,” he added.

A schedule of finishes describes the materials to be used and the work to be done for a house and can be used to approximate the construction cost of a unit.

City Hall was yet to respond to our queries by the time of going to press.

Mr Kidero on Tuesday unveiled seven private financiers earmarked as partners in demolishing seven colonial-era estates. The ageing houses are to be replaced with modern residential high-rise structures.

READ: Kidero to demolish seven colonial-era Nairobi estates

Under the plan, Kiewa Group Limited will spend Sh7 billion to redevelop the Old Ngara Estate, which will have 840 apartment units.

Jabavu Village Limited will build 1,470 apartments at Jevanjee Estate, opposite Kariokor Market at a sum of Sh9.1 billion while Sovereign Group Limited will develop 1,050 units at Pangani Estate for Sh7 billion.

KCB will put in Sh9 billion to build 1,050 units at the New Ngara Estate; Stanlib Kenya Limited will spend Sh3.7 billion to put up 1,050 apartment units at Uhuru Estate and Directline Assurance Limited will redevelop Suna Road Estate at a cost of Sh3.5 billion, which will comprise 1,050 units.

The biggest project will be on Ngong Road Estate where a total of 2,520 units will be built by Lordship Africa at a cost of Sh24.2 billion.

George Kimani, who chairs a sub-committee on urban renewal at Pangani Estate, says they want the process restarted afresh and the tenants involved at all stages.

“These houses are supposed to be for low-income people, but when you say Sh8 million-plus for a house, we cannot say that is low-income,” he said.

Mr Kidero on Tuesday said that the tenants would be given first priority when the houses are built, adding they will be put under a tenant- purchase scheme as they cannot participate in the mortgage market effectively.

He added that they would be paid relocation compensation for the construction period, which is estimated at two years.

The tenants, however, say they have no assurance that City Hall will continue paying them the compensation if the project timeline exceeds the two years.

The Old Ngara Estate tenants pay between Sh7,000 and Sh10,000 for one to three-bedroom houses. This is the amount they will receive each month in compensation.

“It will be very hard to get a similar-size house for such amounts. In all likelihood, you will be required to even add Sh13,000 to get a similar house,” Mr Njoroge said.

“If the project drags beyond two years and the county stops paying its part, then things will become very hard for these people, some of whom are old retirees.”

The tenants say that the assurances for compensation beyond two years have only been verbal. With the prices quoted for the tenants, other buyers keen on the houses are likely to pay much higher.

Besides the three-bedroom units, the two-bedrooms have been offered to the tenants at a price of Sh6.4 million and Sh4 million for a one-bedroom unit respectively.

The three-bedroom units in Old Ngara measure 105 square-metres while the two bedroom units are 80 square metres.

A majority of Nairobi residents live in rented houses with the high cost of residential units barring them from buying homes.