Housing developers back modern technologies to ease building cost

Use of outdated technologies and lack of cost-effective building solutions have been identified as factors hindering speedy construction of affordable houses.

According to Heri Homes Chief Executive Officer Kimotho Kimani, the cost of construction in real estate sector could be greatly reduced if players in the industry adopt the use of solutions such as aluminium formwork that has been identified as affordable when compared to other materials.

“Using these kinds of building methods, construction companies can build an eight-storey building in 8 months, down from 24 months they would take when using the brick and mortar method. With such a technology, homeowners would get their houses faster than they would have ordinarily,” he added.

According to Kimani the government has supported real estate developers of affordable housing units by ensuring horizontal infrastructure such as roads and sewer are available including fast-tracking issuance of title deeds and giving rebates on value-added tax.

South Korean firm Kumkang Kind introduced the aluminium formwork solution in Kenya and already has several projects in the pipeline in the country and around the continent.

Locally, the Korean company is working with at least nine developers who projects are spread in Kiambu, Eldoret and Nairobi.

KumKang Kind is currently delivering its solutions to Maisha Housing, Unity Homes, Ovid Construction and Urban Housing Renewal Development LLP.

Outside the Kenyan borders, KumKang Kind is working with developers in Ethiopia, Ghana and Algeria.

Sam Muihia, the Business Development Director of Kumkang Kind East Africa urged players in the construction sector to be open to new ways of building such as aluminium formwork.

According to Muihia, most countries in the west had adopted the building technology to deliver affordable houses to their citizens.

“We cannot continue to use brick and mortal methods while technologies such as aluminium formwork have been available for more than 40 years,” Muihia said.

Additionally, Bola Properties Managing Director Malei Nthiwa called for the upscaling of green solutions in Kenya to cut prices for potential homebuyers.

According to Nthiwa, nine out of ten Kenyans lack a place they can call their homes, despite affordable housing being an ongoing agenda of President Uhuru Kenyatta, a move being attributed to lack of end to end technical solutions and cost-effective building solutions.

At the same time, Nthiwa urged sector stakeholders to adopt market aggregation to spur the growth of affordable housing in Kenya.

He said availing affordable houses would require having all stakeholders under one roof.

“In any project, you need financiers, you need technical experts, and you need legal help and suppliers. Unless the whole ecosystem of people in the construction sector come together and deliberate on how to move this sector forward, affordable housing will be but a dream,” said Nthiwa.

Bola Properties promotes affordable housing solutions, including aluminium formwork, pre-stressed concrete, precast concrete technologies, and water and solar power solutions.

The experts spoke at an event that brought together stakeholders in the construction ecosystem to deliberate on delivering affordable housing in Kenya.

The World Bank estimates that Kenya needs at least 2 million low-income houses annually.

Under the affordable housing programme, the government has committed to construct at least 500,000 housing units.