The rise in the cost of construction witnessed this year has been attributed to the cost of building materials and land.
This according to architects has pushed up the cost of constructing a square metre of a house unit by about 38 per cent.
The Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) in its latest built environment report says the cost has risen from (Sh34, 650-77,500) per square metre at the beginning of 2022 to (Sh41, 600-100,800) by December 2023.
“The spike is attributed to the increased costs of construction materials and fuel, exemplified by the surge in the price of steel reinforcement from Sh140.60 per kg in December 2022 to Sh160.26 per kg in December 2023, marking a 13.98 per cent increase, “says the report.
Similarly, AAK says the cost of cement has risen from Sh650 per 50kg bag in December 2022 to Sh750 in December 2023, marking an approximate increase of 15.38 per cent.
“These escalations have been largely a result of the increased import costs, influenced by the devalued currency which has now shed about 25 per cent of its value year-to-date against the US Dollar,” said AAK president Florence Nyole.
The report further highlights the surge in land rates that is likely to also impact the low-cost housing project.
The rates have surged 6.41-fold since December 2007, according to the report.
In urban areas like Nairobi, what was valued at Sh30.3 million has now risen to Sh190.4 million in this year, says the report.
It states that absence of essential planning and legal frameworks such as local physical development plans, zoning regulations, development control regulations and building regulations has contributed to haphazard developments in urban areas.
For instance, AAK says the Nairobi Development Control Ordinances expired in 2014, and the zoning guidelines have been arbitrary.
The association undertook a members’ survey in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Kilifi, Tharaka Nithi and Kiambu counties to gauge the efficiency in granting development control applications.
The findings show that the delays in construction permitting experienced in the counties are not inherent to the systems or external factors, but are as a result of human actions and oversights.
“While 43 per cent of AAK members in Nairobi noted an improvement in approval times with an average of eight weeks, seven per cent reported the most prolonged approval timeline, exceeding 32 weeks,” the report reads.
“In Mombasa, only 16.7 per cent of applications received approvals, with 83.3 per cent remaining unapproved. In most cases, members have to provide facilitation to county officials for successful processing.”
The challenges, the report says, have a potential in jeopardising the affordable housing project, which has a target pipeline of 838,876 units.
According to the report, as at November the number of completed projects by the government stood at 584 units, while the on-going projects from the 2018-2022-cycle stand at 9,477 units.
"A total of 39,879 units have been launched during the current cycle while 34,355 are awaiting launch," AAK says.
The period under review also recorded an influx of projects, with the National Construction Authority (NCA) receiving a total of 4,770 applications from January to October 2023.
About 70.3 per cent of these applications, totalling 3,354, were successfully registered, with residential development making the majority, representing 54 per cent of the total applications.
“This reflects a sustained demand for development,” AAK says.
