400 Mombasa county workers set to own houses

More than 400 county workers will be allocated some of the 2,000 low-cost housing units to be constructed at Miritini in the mainland west.

County Planning, Land and Housing Executive Francis Thoya said a total of 10,000 units would be built, starting with the 2,000. He said the houses in the first phase were expected to cost Sh1 billion to construct.

The official said the project would, for the first time, enable county employees to own houses.

Mr Thoya announced that the county government was moving away from the traditional rental system to an “owner-occupier” one, where the employees stay in the houses while paying for them in monthly instalments.

“The rental system has proved unsustainable as our government incurs huge costs yet the houses keep deteriorating and eventually become inhabitable. That’s why we now want our workers to own the houses,” he said.

Mr Thoya was addressing journalists at Bima Towers in Mombasa on Monday.

The director of Housing, Mr Anthony Ng’ang’a, said the 2.2 million people in the county require 20,000 housing units annually but the regional government can only supply 4,000.

“In the latest project, a one-bedroom unit will cost Sh1.5 million, a two-bedroom unit Sh2.5 million and a three-bedroom unit Sh3.5 million,” said Mr Ng’ang’a.

A total of 5,000 similar units will be constructed on 32 acres at Mwakirunge in Mombasa North, while more houses will be built at Shikaadabu in the south coast.

“As the county government, this is our major plan to solve the housing problem. We want to support home ownership among the low and middle class population, and decongest the city as we increase the number of buildings across the region,” he said.