Market hype after 2013 launch

When the then President Mwai Kibaki launched the Konza Technology City in January 2013, real estate investors trooped in there. Local brokers were even faster in pitching at the nearby Malili market center to cash in on the anticipated land market. Perhaps all were then unaware about the details and pathway to establishing such an intricate private public partnership venture. Speculative land purchases don’t quite apply.

Need for support infrastructure

Inaccessible, unserviced plots

Some of my most trying moments come when and from where least expected. Like when someone you know requests to be shown some plot far out in the middle of some vast undeveloped zone where the costs of relocating the perimeter boundaries would look disproportionately high. Let me share two such experiences. In the first one, someone needed to be shown some plot in interior Kajiado County, far off from any known landmarks. The other was off Kangundo Road, but so far interior that even the owner could not sufficiently describe or remember the location. In each of the cases, the investments date back years, certainly not less than ten.

The plots were derived from sub-division schemes where some investor bought some piece of land and subdivided, generating hundreds of small plots for sale. These were then offered for sale and aggressively marketed through social networks, local newspapers and radio. This commoditization and commercialization of land is becoming a vogue business model with some real estate actors. Sizes of resultant plots have been standardized at fifty by one hundred or one hundred by one hundred feet in width and length. For the majority who prefer dealing in the imperial system of metrics when handling matters land, this translates to about one eighth or one quarter of an acre respectively. But in an attempt to maximize profits, some dealers are even going lower, to one sixteenth acre plots.

Looking at the long queue of investors who recently turned out at the Kasarani Sports complex for the Ekeza Sacco general meeting, one could easily spot several young citizens. And when interviewed, their diverse vibes revolved around one common issue. That they invested to be able to buy some land on which to put up residences. The quest for land and property by young Kenyans, particularly those in urban areas, therefore needs good attention. In some cases, this has been seized by some of the unscrupulous vendors offering plots and houses for sale rather unfeelingly.

By the time most young Kenyans scour the market for land or houses to buy, they will have gone into great lengths to make a saving. Sacrifices will have been made on leisure, food and holidays. They will have kept away from extravagant company, carefully navigated around many demands from relatives and friends, and have had to tolerate binding monthly payments to landlords. It’s therefore cold and callous of anyone who entices them into deals that later sink their savings or aren’t good value for their money. Young Kenyans need a hand as they invest their initial earnings in land or houses, else they live to rue these early sacrifices and decisions. So what are some of the obvious pitfalls and challenges to beware?

First, Saccos are very good vehicles around which young Kenyans can save and accumulate money. They offer rather familiar and friendly institutional faces and also provide loans at comparatively lower interest rates. They were the vehicles of choice for most working Kenyans in the past. They remain good options. That they are ready to offer members loans based on their deposits, membership and guarantees by their fellow colleagues makes them premium options. So those keen on buying land and property as a first bet mustn’t ignore this option. This is why there mustn’t be any let up by the State in policing and regulating the thousands of Saccos countrywide. Lately, chamas, which are organised informal groups of people who try to emulate the Sacco model by collecting regular deposits as they socialize, have joined in. But until they enjoy some legal framework, such groups remain social and informal vehicles without guaranteed mechanisms of securing the collected deposits. But both of these groups have taken great interest in buying land and subdividing it for their members. This is fine. But young investors must watch out for the following.

Good fencing prevents encroachment and disputes

Man is territorial