Katani Incremental Housing Phase II

Deliverables:

In the second phase, fifty houses are to be constructed. Construction is yet to begin. 

Community capacity:

This project has increased the Federation members' information and finance management, including community procurement capacity. 

Scale:

Thirty-four (34%, which is approximately 16,079,737 people in 2015) of Kenya’s total population (n = 47 293 345 in 2015) lives in urban areas. By 2030 this number is projected to reach sixty-three (63%). An estimated seventy-one (71%) of the urban population lives in slums. The informal settlement dwellers in urban cities can rarely secure tenure, particularly where lands are privately owned. For example, in Nakuru there are very few informal settlements on public land. Majority of the plots on which informal settlements are located in Nakuru are owned by individuals who have legal title over the land. As a result over the years the Federation in Kenya has tried alternative housing projects other than the in situ model by starting the greenfield project to establish a new model. The land on which the project is located is not next to better employment opportunities but the area is good for small scale trading because it is an upcoming settlement. The model has become so popular that Federation groups have started buying land through the Akiba Mashinani Trust (AMT) for affordable housing development. The demand is high in Federation groups in major towns like Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu.

Impact:

The project has greatly impacted slum dwellers throughout the Kenya who are part of the Federation. It has inspired more and more communities to explore Federation organizing strategies for securing their land tenure. This project has impacted the Federation’s methods especially in terms of information and finance management, including community procurement.

The Federation has demonstrated that community labour and innovative construction technologies learned through exchange with other Federations in the SDI network, have been able to cut the unit cost of construction by half (from US$6,250 to US$3,646 per unit).

Resources Leveraged:

The Federation has managed to negotiate for the reduction of electricity costs by half for the second phase of the project.

Market Generated Returns:

US$81,250 which is the value of land and housing in 2014.

Costs recovered from community:

The money repaid by Federation members is put into a revolving fund managed by the AMT in order to fund projects in the next phase. To date, US$34,198 has been repaid.