O
perating in a distorted
economy is like chasing
a rabbit blindfolded.
The faster you run, the riskier
it becomes. That is what befell
some of our budding real estate
developers. Egged on by false
fundamentals, they could build
and sell off plan. The more they
sold, the merrier it got and the
more they built choking in huge
bank loans.
All of a sudden everybody
including radio presenters became
real estate consultants. Wisdom
became cheap and common place.
Even Mama Mboga would advise
you to get yourself a ka-plot
before it is too late!
Like the proverbial quail eggs,
there was a stampede. We
witnessed as the price of a 3
bedroom flat in Westlands
rose from Kshs. 3 Million to
a whooping Kshs. 18 Million
overnight while half an acre plot
in Runda sky rocketed from Kshs.
2.7 Million to Kshs. 45 Million.
Nobody bothered to ask what was
driving this ‘growth’. Asking was
stupid. Just buy or miss the boat.
Today, most developers are stuck
with huge stocks of over-priced
properties. Desperate employees
are also stuck with plots in far
flung places like Kajiado waiting
to cash in on their wisdom.
Unfortunately, they are in for
a long wait. Now is the time to
ask: What drove our real estate
prices and rents over the roof in
Nairobi? Were the fundamentals
sustainable?
As you read this article, you
are probably stuck in traffic or
driving through those lonely dark
alleys taking great care to avoid
the bumps. Spending two or more
hours on traffic has become the
norm. And sometimes you have to
take a motorbike to complete the
journey in good time.
Those driving hoot ner vously
at their gates. You cannot
take chances with security in
this side of town. Usually, you
reach home well past midnight.
Hungr y and wear y, you take a
quick bath followed by a cold
meal. Shower is not common
these sides of the city.
The children are already asleep.
You never get to see them since
you took the leap of faith to own
your own house. You leave the
house too early and come back
quite late. On a lucky day, you
drag yourself to bed well past
midnight.
On some days, night duty calls as
you join the village vigilante to
keep your hood safe from night
prowlers. That’s life for you in
your new hood. The place you call
home. Your home, finally. That’s
the new Nairobian. Pushed out
of the city by sky-rocketing rents
and exorbitant house prices.
It’s a village life right here in
the city. Social amenities such
as schools, churches, hospitals,
restaurants and shops are far
off. You do your shopping for
groceries once a month and pray
that they stay fresh in the fridge
amidst the fluctuating power
supply.
Origin Of Unrealistic Rents
For along time, rents in Kenya
had been stable. Come the late
nineties and the impact of the lull
of National Housing Corporation
(NHC), the parastatal charged
with building new housing units
started to bite. The last major
housing projects they did were
Langata, Kariobangi, Nyayo
Highrise, Uhuru and Kahawa
West (HFCK having built Buru
Buru and Komarock). What
followed was dramatic mis-
management and theft that sent
the parastatal into limbo.
‘‘ However, you
cannot salivate
forever as others
are dramatically
eating in your
presence.
Ordinary
Kenyans also
soon found a way
to eat the crumbs
from the main
table. That’s
how the idea of
palatial homes
in the outskirts
of the city was
mooted.’’
Without new public houses
being developed, growing city
population and the influx of
foreigners –refugees owing to
turmoil in the neighboring
states, Rwanda, Burundi, South
Sudan and Somali, the housing
need in the city rose to crisis
levels in the 1990s.
Naturally, private profiteers took
over to bridge the gap. Partially
aided by a corrupt City Council
and weak approval systems, the
city witnessed an emergence of
estates in no particular order or
plan.
Ever since, Kenyans have been
victims of comical house designs
and buildings collapse with tragic
consequences as anybody who
could acquire a plot by whatever
means within the city built for
himself and others. In up market
areas, a new discovery, the servant