- At least 3,000 people will be employed in the one-year project.
- Housing PS Charles Hinga handed over a certificate to Buxton Point Apartments Limited that shows the national government has approved the company.
Some 1,253 houses of the planned 1,900 at the Buxton project have already been purchased off-plan, chairman Suleiman Shahbal has revealed.
That means Mombasa residents are left with less than 700 units to buy.
The Sh6 billion project, which was launched last Saturday is expected to replace the 545 old dilapidated units on the 14-acre parcel within the Mombasa town.
Shahbal said they are putting up 600 one-bedroom units, 700 two-bedroom units and 600 three-bedroom units, which will be ready by May next year.
A one-bedroom apartment is going for Sh2.3 million, two-bedroom at Sh3.6 million and three-bedroom at Sh4.7 million. They will also put up bed-sitters or a students' hostel that will be going for Sh1.2 million.
Those buying in cash get a seven per cent discount, while those paying in instalments must deposit 20 per cent and pay the balance in four quarterly instalments of 20 per cent.
Shahbal, a businessman-cum-politician eyeing the Mombasa governor's seat next year, said they are happy that finally the Buxton housing project is being embraced.
On Wednesday, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga handed over a certificate to Buxton Point Apartments Limited that shows the national government has approved the company as a qualified strategic partner for affordable housing projects.
“Today, I’m elated to say that some 1,253 units have already gone. They have been sold. If you have ambitions to own a unit here, you must now hurry up,” Shahbal said.
Initially, the project encountered opposition from residents and a section of the region’s politicians who went to court to stop it.
The groundbreaking of the project had been scheduled for January this year, but it was postponed following court injunctions.
On March 3, Mombasa High Court judge Silas Munyao threw out a petition by the Buxton tenants opposing the project.
Munyao said the tenants had been given a three-month notice to vacate and were also offered compensation.
Shahbal said despite the opposition they encountered at first, the Buxton project is going to employ some 3,000 people for the next one year.
“If we have similar 10 projects in Mombasa every year, we will be providing 30,000 job opportunities for our people,” Shahbal said.
Sheikh Khalifa, the chairperson of the Buxton Tenants Welfare Committee, said they have been called “all sorts of names for supporting the project”.
He said they now want the national government to ensure the tenant purchase scheme is in place, so that the 545 initial Buxton Estate tenants benefit from the project.
Tenant purchase scheme is a lease agreement where a portion of the tenant's monthly rent payments is applied toward the purchase of the house.
“We want President Uhuru Kenyatta to come here at Buxton and assure the tenants that they will benefit. We want the tenant purchase scheme to be implemented,” Sheikh Khalifa said.
However, Housing PS Hinga said they have been taken to court by some people in Nairobi because of the tenant purchase scheme.
“As we speak today, Buxton tenants want the tenant purchase scheme, but some people in some Nairobi estates have taken us to court because of this same issue,” Hinga said.
The PS said some individuals want to abuse the court process to frustrate government projects, which is not fair to mwanachi who is targeted by such capital-intensive projects.
However, the PS said he has already engaged eight big banks to help Kenyans in mortgage financing at a very low rate.
“Currently, mortgage financing attracts an interest of about 12 per cent. We want these banks to offer mortgages at a single digit of say nine per cent. Next time when we come to Mombasa, we will come with all these banks because we want Buxton to serve as an example of affordable housing,” he said.
Edited by Henry Makori