Over 300 Low-Income Earners Receive Title Deeds As Demand For Housing Surpass Supply.
DEMAND for housing in Murang’a County has risen drastically,
surpassing its supply something that has seen a good number of people working within
the county seek shelter elsewhere in towns like Juja and Thika despite availability
of vast land.
Jacob Mwangangi, who is the Chairman of Murang’a County
Cooperatives, reveled this recently Kabuta in Kiharu Constituency during the issuance
of title deeds and launch of Kabuta phase 8 project, a 15-acre parcel of land owned
by the giant Broad Borders Housing Cooperative Society.
Mwangangi pointed out that the county lacked ample investment
in terms of housing that could have otherwise catered for the emerging deficit
caused by the influx of human resource and students in the county.
“There has been a huge and growing number of students in
Murang’a town after Murang’a University College was awarded a charter.
Recently, Pioneer International University also opened a campus in Murang’a
town not mentioning other private colleges that have mushroomed in the town. Likewise,
with the implementation of the devolution, the workforce within the county has tripled,
something that has increased the demand for shelter and housing,” said
Mwangangi.
“As a result,” Mwangangi added, “the cost of housing in
Murang’a has skyrocketed, leaving majority of low-income earners out of reach
for proper housing.”
It is for this reason that Broad Borders Housing cooperative
Society embarked on investing in real estate and housing both for its members and
the members of public at large. The organisation has invested in land in
Murang’a and 26 other counties with traits of fast growing towns that that exceeded
the supply in housing.
Its chairman Mr. Jeremy Karemeri explained that their driving
force was to ensure that their members acquired plots in very affordable and
pocket friendly terms.
“We have always gone out of our way to give our members an
opportunity to pay for their plots in installments. This programme has
attracted quite a number of members especially those low-income earners who
would have otherwise not managed to raise the rump sum in one payment,” said
Jeremy.
“No one should consider themselves as incapable of own a
home for themselves. We at Broad Borders have a package for everyone. We offer
a stepping stone and a spring board for them as we offer them land that they
pay at their own pace,” he added.
He however lamented that the real estate market had been
invaded and infiltrated by cartels who had painted a bad picture in the
industry through their dubious and clandestine deals that had seen so many
people either lose their land or money. To protect its farmers from falling
prey to these cartels, the cooperative went through all due diligence with the
Ministry of Lands and the Registrar of Persons to establish the real ownership
of any parcel of land.
During the launch, over 300 title deeds were issued to
members. Some of the members like Jane Muchai and Rev. James Peter Mwangi
lauded the cooperative for its support saying they would not have been in a
position to own land had it not been the intervention of Broad Borders Cooperative
Society.
“As a woman, I could only manage to raise money to buy
household items but it never crossed my mind that I would one day afford to pay
for my own plot of land for I could not have been able to raise huge amount of
money at once. But the entry of Broad Borders into Murang’a in 2015 gave me a
chance to pay for my plot in small installments till now. I so overjoyed as I
receive my title deed today,” said Jane.
As for Rev. James, Broad Borders was God sent since both the
rich and the poor could now afford a place they could call their own.
“I just paid reasonable deposit and they allowed me to grow
in value as we progressed. I have now cleared my balance with time in small
instalments. The beauty of all this is that by the time I finished my payments,
the value of my plot had almost doubled,” said James.
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