Migaa Owners Oppose Sh7bn Affordable Housing Project

More than 300 residents and owners of the upmarket Migaa Golf Estate in Kiambu County have opposed the planned construction of 28 low-cost apartments in their neighbourhood, terming the plan a blatant disregard of the Migaa master plan that they bought into.

The property owners, through Migaa Residents Association, have accused the estate’s developers Home Afrika Limited and Sycamore Pine Limited of deliberately keeping them in the dark about a high-density residential housing project the entities are scheduled to build within the gated community.

Sycamore Pine has signed a deal with China Building Technology Group Kenya for the construction of 1,920 apartment units on 17.2 acres at the Migaa under the State-backed Affordable Housing Programme.

Prices of units at the Samara Estate were initially set at as low as Sh1 million but a two-bedroom house in the estate is now selling off-plan for Sh2.9 million, while a three-bedroom unit is going for Sh3.9 million.

“The proposed high-rise, high-density and low-cost apartments, going by the name Samara Estate, will have close to 2,000 units and more than 10,000 residents in 28 blocks of up to 10 floors each,” the association said in a statement last Friday.

The residents now want the proposed project stopped to protect the Migaa Golf Estate’s masterplan, their property rights and value as marketed and envisioned at the time they bought their property.

“This action is unfortunate and in blatant disregard of the Migaa master plan and the lack of inclusion of the over 300 current residents and landowners of Migaa Golf Estate, by both Home Afrika and the developers of Samara Estate,” the residents said.

RELATED: Work to begin on Sh7bn Samara Estate at Migaa in Kiambu

Phase one of Samara Estate comprising 500 units is planned for completion in 2023 and is funded by Equity Group, Middle East Bank and pre-sales from buyers.

A property owner who spoke with CK on Friday lamented that the low-cost housing project was likely to subject the exclusive neighbourhood to traffic congestion, property devaluation and loss of green space.

“I have spent a fortune to build my dream home. I feel the direction they (developers) are taking toward low-cost housing is going to devalue my property,” he said.

Migaa Golf Estate plots are currently on sale at Sh5.5 million for an eight of acre, with villas going for at least Sh8.5 million. The gated community is marketed as ‘serene, high-end housing estate’.

Meanwhile, Home Afrika CEO Dan Awendo has disputed claims that Samara Estate is located within the Migaa Golf Estate’s master plan, saying fears of property devaluation are out-of-place.

“This is a plan we had from the onset and we created an adjustment within the master plan so that we can eventually develop affordable housing to accommodate middle-income groups,” Mr Awendo told the Standard on Wednesday.

The apartments, he added, are outside the estate and they are affordable housing units, not low-income homes – “so there is no issue of devaluing the property”.

The State Department for Housing and Urban Development has granted Samara Estate’ s developers a certificate for construction under low-cost housing and civil servants housing scheme.

This makes them eligible for incentives such as lower corporate tax of up to 15 per cent and VAT exemption on building materials – all of which are meant to lower prices of the houses.

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