• The eight-block project will have 1,562 apartments standing on 5.2 acres
• The Sh25 billion development is part of the government's low –cost housing programme.
The first block of 160 units of the Pangani Affordable Housing Project is scheduled to be handed over in February 2021, nine months after the groundbreaking ceremony.
Already, nine floors have been completed, Nairobi county Lands and Housing executive Charles Kerich said on Sunday in a progress report on the project.
“So far, the foundation for blocks two, three, four and five is complete," Kerich said.
The same is the case for the foundation of blocks six, seven and eight.
The Sh25 billion Pangani development is part of the government's low –cost housing projects. The eight blocks will have 1,562 apartments standing on 5.2 acres worth Sh4 billion.
Kerich said the pace of construction is one storey in six days.
“The Nairobi county government joint venture development partner has produced exceptional quality work that will be the benchmark for all other affordable housing projects. The county is also ahead of schedule and within cost,” he said.
The original 48 Pangani tenants will be among the first group to own the new units.
Each of those tenants was in May last year given Sh600,000 as resettlement facilitation for two years as the construction continues.
Each will be required to pay a minimum of Sh8,000 per month (depending on size) for 30 years to fully own the unit occupied.
Kerich said the Pangani model (Urban Renewal Programme and Joint Venture Partnership) will be used to develop other county estates.
The 1,562 units will comprise 128 one-bedroom, 248 two-bedroom and 576 three-bedroom houses.
Some 610 three-bedroom units will be available at market rates.
Sixty per cent of the affordable units will cost between Sh1 million and Sh3 million.
The official groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled for August 2018 but was postponed to December when President Uhuru Kenyatta was expected to launch it.
It was further delayed for several months due to what Kerich said was lack of affordable housing guideline.
In September, Nairobi Metropolitan Services Housing director Charles Sikuku highlighted Covid-19, bureaucracy and lack of land documentation as some of the challenges encountered in implementing the project.
“There was also lengthy processing of documentation and statutory approvals, relocation of existing tenants and that of services which hindered the project from kicking off,” he said.
Similar projects will be replicated in Jevanjee, Ngong Road, Uhuru and Suna Road estates as well as at Inspectorate staff quarters.
The provision of affordable housing is part of President Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.
It is meant to reduce the housing backlog that stands at two million.
Some 200,000 units were targeted for construction annually in partnership with the private sector.