Chinese firm to help ease housing shortage in Nairobi

Chief Investment Officer at Cytonn Investment Elizabeth Nkulu has said that China National Aero Technology International

Engineering Corporation(CATIC) has been selected to build 409 apartments in a move targeting the growing middles class population in the capital Nairobi and address the housing shortage in the city. She said the construction of the housing project values at $30 million started three months ago and is expected to be complete in 2018

“Construction of the 30 million U.S. dollar project began three months ago and is slated to end in December 2018,” Nkukuu said when Cytonn released the 2016 Kenya Listed Banking report.

Nkukuu added that the Chinese firm is already ahead of the targeted schedule and the project should be completed in early 2018.

“CATIC have established a reputation of being very competent in executing large projects in record time,” she said. “We also want to tap into the Chinese construction industry expertise in order to ensure that customers get value for money.”

She added that there is currently a housing shortage for the middle and low income residents in the country as property developers have concentrated on building houses for the high income earners.

The recent economic growth has led to the expansion of the numbers of middle income earners who are seeking to buy or rent modern houses.

According to Cytonn, most Kenyans prefer to buy houses using their savings rather than use loans from financial institutions. Enditem

Several places in Nairobi are recording sharp rise in cost of housing due to rise in land prices. House prices in Nairobi have continued the upward trend to record a 4.2 per cent growth in the first quarter and 14.6 percent increase over the year; the first double digit annual growth rate since 2011. Hass Consult recently unveiled property price trends for the first quarter of 2016, showing upward trend in house prices, while rents remain relatively subdued

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