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Government to streamline building approval process

Friday, February 28th, 2020 12:00 | By
Housing PS Charles Hinga (right) and Shelter Afrique CEO Andrew Chimphondah brief the press on the Shelter Afrique AGM which will be held in Malindi in June. Photo/PD/Alice Mburu

Milliam Murigi @millymur1

The national government will streamline the building approval process to ensure the cost of construction goes down and eliminate delays.  

Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga says lack of collaboration between county and national governments in approving construction is to blame for curtailing investments in the sector.

“To speed up building plans approvals and reduce illegal developments, all municipalities will be required to have a professional architect seconded from the Architectural Association of Kenya in their development boards,” said Hinga. 

The professionals will help in clearing the backlog for building plans and in offering technical advice on planning and approvals.

However, county governments must also step up and streamline permit processes first.

Unapproved buildings

Currently, most counties are experiencing delays when it comes to building plans approval which is costing the country billions of shillings.

As of last December, Nairobi alone had over 300 unapproved building plans making the value of approved housing projects shrink by Sh69 billion in the 12 months to Sh141.27 billion from Sh210 billion in 2018.

Some of the projects, which have been affected by the delays include Sh6.5bn project by an Indian property developer Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate and its joint venture partner Actis, dubbed Mi Vida Homes.

It is now eight months after the project received full funding from its financiers, but the development has failed to take off owing to the Nairobi county’s delay in approving its architectural plans. 

The other one is a 44-floor residential skyscraper by Lordship Africa in Upperhill, which is supposed to cost Sh5.2 billion.

Group chairman Jonathan Jackson says though he has funds to build delays have hurt their ability to fulfil the promise of finishing construction by mid-2020 and such delays might hurt Nairobi’s suitability as an investment destination.

All these delays have been caused because the country’s automated construction permit management system has been down since July. Other counties that have been affected are Mombasa, Kiambu, and Kisumu.

“Such delays make the cost of construction go up by between 10 to 15 per cent, which is eventually passed to buyers or tenants.

This must come to an end and we must streamline the approval process,” added Hinga.

The PS spoke when he met Shelter Afrique management for a joint communiqué on the forthcoming 39th Annual General Meeting by the Shelter Afrique and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

Shelter Afrique CEO Andrew Chimphondah said Kenya will host Shelter Afrique’s 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and annual housing symposium scheduled to take place on June 8-12 in Malindi, Kenya, the fourth time Kenya is hosting the AGM.

The meeting which will last a week, will see all 44 Member States converge to discuss Shelter Afrique’s performance and turnaround strategy.

The week will also feature a symposium presented by Shelter Afrique managers, focusing on analysis of the success of housing policies in the past 10 years and forecasting likely future developments. 

Play a key role

  “Kenya has remained an active shareholder of Shelter Afrique and is now the largest sovereign shareholder of the company. 

We are happy that Kenya has undertaken to host this year’s meeting as the country presses on with its new affordable housing agenda, which we very much support as a company,” Chimphondah said.

Lauding the cordial working relation between the government and Shelter Afrique, Hinga said the organisation continues to play a key role in Kenya’s affordable housing agenda. 

“We have a lot of synergies with Shelter Afrique and we are constantly exploring ways of working together on issues touching on affordable housing,” said the  PS. 

Shelter Afrique has also invested in the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC) and is offering financial and technical support to private developers engaged in the provision of affordable housing, the PS said. 

 Transport, Infrastructure and Housing Cabinet Secretary James Macharia became the first Vice President of Shelter Afrique during the 38th meeting held in Morocco  last year. 

Shelter-Afrique is a pan African housing finance and development institution established by African governments to address the need for sustainable housing delivery system and related infrastructure projects in Africa.

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