Government invites private land owners to register for affordable housing program

State Department for Housing and Urban Development is inviting private landowners with suitable tracts of land on which the development of affordable mass housing projects can be undertaken, to register for  Affordable Housing Programme (AHP).
Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary, Charles Hinga Mwaura said interested parties will only be required to provide in the AHP Application Form, the owners’ personal details as well as information on the parcels of land.
The PS said this intervention is required because in many instances, private land owners could have a willingness to participate in affordable housing projects but have limited access to financiers.
On the other hand, financiers have capital but do not have clear access to projects. By identifying and evaluating suitable strategic partners from both categories, matching and packaging of projects will be easier and faster.
“We are very interested in getting private land owners into the programme and are calling on anyone who has land that they would like to put in the program to apply before Window 1 closes on February 14th. We are happy to consider putting up projects on private land provided they comply with the Development Framework Guidelines. If successful, these projects will then be added to the Affordable Housing Program Pipeline,” Mr. Hinga added.
The PS pointed out that upon request, the Government will facilitate Strategic Partners developing on such land to deliver affordable homes through interventions such as matching them to financiers and investors also listed as Strategic Partners in the AHP, provision of bulk infrastructure to sites, and/or offtake for affordable housing units constructed on those sites.
The Government is currently receiving applications from strategic partners with technical, financial or technological capabilities and expertise in affordable housing projects in accordance with the Specially Permitted Procurement Method (SPPM) where partners have been categorized in different groups including developers, financers, contractors with special technology, investors, private land owners as well as institutions with land and projects.
The program will create opportunities for local investors and developers by further categorizing developers into those with capacity to develop more than 1,000 affordable houses and those who can only build between 100 and 1000 units.
“The AHP Application Form will require Strategic Partners who are developers to identify which category they fall under as applications will be considered separately. Interested parties are advised that only local investors/developers/consortiums will be considered for projects with number of housing units below 1, 000,” the PS explained.
Suitable strategic partners will be evaluated through various rounds. Window 2 will open shortly after February 14 ,2019 and subsequent rounds will be opened periodically in order to net as many Strategic Partners into the programme as possible.
“After evaluation, successful applications will be issued with a Letter of Invitation to enter into negotiations with The State Department for Housing and Urban Development which is the Contracting Authority,” Mr. Hinga noted.
The Affordable Housing Programme is envisaged to go beyond the provision of homes to include the promotion of social equity and economic development for all 47 counties. An estimated 350,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created in four years to 2022.
The Specially Permitted Procurement Method (SPPM) allows the Government to identify, qualify, and then negotiate with strategic partners to undertake project for the Affordable Housing Program.
The AHP Application Form as well as the instructions on the Call for Applications are available on the BomaYangu Portal at www.bomayangu.go.ke/ahp.
Other documents related to the Affordable Housing Programme including the Development Framework Guidelines, the Affordable Housing Program Pipeline, and a general presentation on the program have also been published on the site.
The State Department for Housing and Urban Development’s core mandate is to provide policy direction and coordination of all matters related to housing and urban planning and development; and for the purposes of Affordable Housing Program under the Big 4 Agenda will provide for development and delivery of 500,000 homes.
By Joseph Ng’ang’a