Nairobi Backer 001 | Page 20

Nairobi Metropolis

Will city Housing meets the demand of it’s residents?
National Housing Corporation approximates that there are over 2,000,000 in
Nairobi comprising of 400,000 households who are in need of decent and affordable housing. The level of home ownership in Nairobi is very low at 16%
which is the cause of social instability within city neighborhood.
Owning a home is the only best priority for a real development in any
society in Nairobi and is a promise
of individual autonomy, is the aspiration of most Nairobi households.
Homeownership allows households
to accumulate wealth and social
status, and is the basis for a number
of positive social, economic, family
and civic outcomes. Few Nairobi
households who own their home
currently are enjoying these benefits.
The positive social benefits from
homeownership and stable housing
are compelling. If we have to meet
the Kenya dream of vision 2030,
then Nairobi housing sector should
be the first institute needs reforms.
There is evidence from numerous
studies that attest to the benefits
accruing to many segments of
society. Homeownership boosts the
educational performance of children, induces higher participation in
civic and volunteering activity,
Improves health care outcomes,
lowers crime rates and lessens welfare dependency.
Owning a home is different from
renting. With the home purchase
comes the pride of ownership and
the sense of belonging in a community where one has a financial stake
in the neighborhood.
Perhaps,
homeowners are “happier” just from
having achieved the so-called

“Vision 2030” -- a sense of
accomplishment, a milestone.
Also, ownership
entails greater individual
responsibility.
As discussed above, homeownership requires a large (if
not the largest) financial
outlay of a person’s life
and often requires the responsibility of a mortgage
spanning 30 years. Therefore, it is a long-term commitment, which may alter human
behavior.
It’s the time we should start facing
the realities and act, public policy
makers and the city politician should
be wiser to consider the immense
social benefits of homeownership
for families, local communities and
the nation. Most of the Nairobi residence can’t afford formal housing
built by developers, and as a result,
the majority choose to meet their
housing needs independently and
often informally. This is what a
brought developing of slum dwellings and poor quality housing in
city. The housing backlog is estimated to be four million per units
and 70% of Nairobi’s slum housing
stock comprises single 9m² shacks
made of wood, mud, tin galvanized
sheets, or wattle.

slum settlements. The most worrying thing is the involvement of cartels in housing industry. This cartels
usually have contacts at the registry
of the Ministry of Lands such that
when one is conducting a search,
they are handed doctored search
results showing that land that is
owned by the government actually
belongs to their accomplices in the
cartels. Then the buyer find himself
in trouble whereby he/she end ups
loosing the property due it’s was developed in government land, this act
has killed developers dreams and
even the residents motivation to
acquire own houses.

While the recreational spaces in Nairobi has a bigger landmass than the

Nairobi Backer Advertisement Magazine © March 2014