Affordable Housing in Kenya

Status, Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The provision of affordable housing remains a problem both in developing and developed countries in the world. The government of Kenya unveiled Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) as one of the big four agenda with a proposal to provide housing to all Kenyans by targeting construction of 500,000 affordable houses by 2022. This study uses the case of Park Road affordable housing project in Ngara Estate in Nairobi to evaluate the current status, opportunities and challenges of the affordable housing programme (AHP) in Kenya. Data are obtained from primary and secondary sources in texts, interviews, content review of print and electronic media, and government of Kenya published manuals on the affordable housing programme. The data are analyzed and presented in form of tables and photographs. Findings reveal that the AHP has presented immense opportunities for artisans in the informal (Jua Kali) sector. There is, however, slow uptake of the completed units since most applicants are unable to raise the 12.5 percent of home value required to participate in the lottery for house allocation. The study recommends that the government should embrace standardized mass production of affordable housing in order to achieve faster roll out of the programme to other parts of Kenya.