At least 2,004 housing units have been marked for facelift as Nairobi Metropolitan Services embarks on a new project to renovate old and dilapidated houses.
NMS director general Mohamed Badi said the renovations include repainting the buildings to meet the municipal standards.
The NMS targets 760 units in Buruburu, Kariobangi South, Jamhuri and Kariokor.
“In Kariokor estate, the exercise is undertaken in collaboration with the area MCA through the Ward Development Fund," Badi said.
At the same time, NMS is still conducting the house stock to acquire accurate data of the 16,700 county-owned houses to enhance revenue collection and verify owners.
This is a continuation of the inventory exercise that started in May in collaboration with the Kenya Revenue Authority and the county government.
Along the Outering Road estate, 360 houses were enumerated and 382 in Buruburu.
During the exercise, tenants will be expected to submit a rental or tenancy transfer letter, KRA pin, copies of their national identity card, latest payment receipt and any other relevant documents.
Once the exercise is complete, data will be uploaded onto the newly-launched Nairobi Revenue Services system.
This will enable tenants to easily access payment options while guiding NMS on housing and development decisions on feedback collated.
The inventory exercise will help in the identification of houses targeted for Phase II of the affordable housing programme.
The tenants pay between Sh2,000 to Sh20,000 monthly rent depending on the location.
In the first quarter of this financial year (July to September ), KRA collected Sh99.3million from county houses against a target of Sh150 million.
In May 2019, it was revealed that City Hall is owed Sh224 million by tenants living in the over 16,000 houses across the capital
Nairobi county Housing director Marion Rono at the time said the debt had been accrued by tenants residing in 16,746 houses.
It was also revealed that defaulters were the biggest contributors to the dwindling collections.
Houses in Maringo and Woodley estates are the biggest culprits.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
