Authorities ought to explain the exorbitant building approval fee

While receiving the certificate of completion for the Park Road houses in Ngara, Nairobi, from his Public Works counterpart Gordon Kihalangwa recently, Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said the 2022 target of 500,000 affordable housing units would be surpassed as private investors and developers had been roped in.

As partners in the programme, they will enjoy fast-tracking of approvals for projects, 15 per cent corporate tax rate, zero VAT on construction material for the programme and reduced customs tariffs on imported inputs.

Fast-tracking of approvals is commendable. However, the cost of those building permits should be interrogated as they border on official daylight robbery.

For instance, in Mombasa County, an approval which used to cost around Sh5,000 just recently, during the local authorities regime, now costs Sh50,000.

The next approver, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), charges Sh50,000 for the same drawing.

The third approval is by the National Construction Authority (NCA), which also charges Sh50,000.

In total, the private developer pays the three agencies Sh150,000 for approvals of one architectural building drawing.

As a result, the architects, who do the donkey work to produce the drawings, have also raised their charges in equal measure.

The architect can charge even Sh50,000; same with the structural engineer. In total, to build one’s home, one has to spend Sh250,000 on certification alone.

Any attempt at circumventing a step is tantamount to inviting the above authorities to demolish the structure, terming it illegal.

But how did a service that used to be charged less than Sh10,000 before devolution eight years ago skyrocket to Sh250,000?

Majority of ordinary Kenyans cannot afford such high fees, and that can hamper the universal affordable housing dream in the President’s ‘Big Four Agenda’.

The concerned ministry should appoint a judicial probe committee, which would include officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), to look into the legality of such charges and recommend reasonable rates, and if possible, the concerned authorities ordered to refund the excess charges.

It is said that, for the whole of last year, no single building approval was issued in both Nairobi and Mombasa despite applicants having paid the obscene approval charges.

This committee should inquire into the delays as wayward staff could hide the documents until they get huge kickbacks.

A booming construction industry is an indicator of a growing economy.

A construction site employs many people while sellers of materials get a market for their goods. Even food and water vendors find market.

People with money and who would have spent it on building their own houses are discouraged by the exorbitant fees.