Kenyan investment firm doubtful about the success of multi-billion housing projects under private-public partnership model
The projects, initiated in the last two years, are yet to kick off.
Cytonn Investment says the lack of a framework to facilitate the transfer of public land into special purpose vehicles has hindered the start of Nairobi's Sh300 billion Urban Renewal Programme as well as a project seeking to construct additional hostels in three universities both under the Public – Private Partnerships (PPP’s) plan.
"Similar projects launched by the Kenyan Government such as the Urban Renewal Programme to upgrade the (Nairobi) county’s old estates....and a project to construct Embu University, Kenyatta University (K.U) and Moi University hostels announced in 2017 are all yet to kick off," says Cytonn in its weekly market report.
Phase 1 of the Urban Renewal Scheme was set to kick off in July 2016 but hit a snag owing to documentation issues at the National Land Commission offices. The project entails the construction of 14,000 housing units across the city.
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Hostel programme
Kenyatta, Moi and Embu universities are seeking to build additional hostels under the PPP model in a bid to address the current student accommodation deficit.
Under the deal, Embu will raise its accommodation capacity by 4,000 beds, Moi will get an additional 14,000 beds while KU will house an extra 6,000 students.
Kenya has 72-chartered private and public universities with an estimated bed capacity of 300,000, against a total enrolment of over 770,000 students.
The government, under one of its Big Four Pillar of Affordable Housing , seeks to reduce the housing deficit by constructing 500,000 houses over the next 5-years, mainly through the PPP programme.
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Data from the World Bank shows that Kenya has a housing deficit of over 2 million units, with nearly 61% of urban households living in slums.
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